[HawksBurnDown]

Wow!

January 22, 2008, 4:42 pm Actor Heath Ledger Is Found Dead

By Sewell Chan

The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment building at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, according to the New York City police. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. The police said they did not suspect foul play and said they found pills near body.

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain”, a 2005 film. The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.”

Calls by The New York Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Thomas J. Lueck contributed reporting.

[derty]

That is so sad. I really like him as an actor. Plus he was good looking ofcourse.

[Fegasderty]

A few photos I found of him...

[Lån-Penge]

Sadly not the first or last time fame proves to be someones downfall.

[TineSeign]

In shock.

[AAAESLLESO]

I was with my girlfriend in the Bronx today when I heard the news and we were both shocked. I really liked him in Brokeback Mountain and the Patriot and I look forward to seeing him as the joker. Extremely tragic my prayers are with him and his family. We have lost a truly great young actor and a great person.

[Q0KmoR8K]

What's the average life expectancy of young celebrities now a days? Does it crack 30?

[SantaGanstag]

HEATH Ledger's ex-fiancee Michelle Williams is now making a tearful dash from Sweden to New York with their two-year-old daughter Matilda after learning of the Aussie actor's shocking death.

Williams, who split with Ledger last September, was in the Nordic country filming her new*movie Mammoth.

The pair met on the set of Ang Lee's 2005 cowboy epic Brokeback Mountain - for which Ledger scored an Oscar nomination - and*he was said to be gutted when the relationship broke down.

Britain's Daily Mail newspaper claimed the 28-year-old began dabbling in drugs.

"Heath totally wanted to be on his own these past few months since he and Michelle split in September," one insider was quoted as saying.

"He adored his daughter Matilda and when Michelle called it quits he missed Matilda so much that he was thrown into a deep, dark depression.

"Heath was living in New York to be close to his daughter. But he hardly ever ventured out any more.

"His close friend and Brokeback co-star, Jake Gyllenhaal has been worried about him for months. And he knew Heath was sinking further into a depression. Jake is Matilda's godfather, and he and Heath had become really close since they did the film Brokeback together. ??"Michelle will be devastated by the news because she always hoped*... they could manage to work out their relationship for the sake of their daughter. ??"Now poor little Matty is left without a father. "

Today family members gathered at his mother's house in the leafy southern Perth suburb of Applecross as they struggled to come to terms with their loss.

"We, Heath's family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda,'' his father Kim said.

They insisted the star did not commit suicide - despite his naked body being found with sleeping pills scattered nearby.

Ledger*started taking the pills after completing I'm Not There, in which he played one of the many incarnations of singer Bob Dylan.

He said late last year he "stressed out a little too much" during the Dylan film and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker in the newest Batman flick The Dark Knight. He called the character a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".

"I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger said.

"I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."

He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour.

Ledger was discovered naked and unconscious by his masseuse and housekeeper when they could not stir him from his bedroom. Sleeping pills were strewn around the bed and there was a bottle next to his body.

They called paramedics about 3.26pm New York time. Ambulance crews were unable to revive the star and he was pronounced dead at the scene just*nine minutes later.

Bottles of Diazepam and Alprazolam, both anti-anxiety drugs prescribed in his name, were also found in the house, according to law enforcement sources.

"Yes pills were found around the body," a New York Police Department spokesman said.

The medical examiner's office*will perform*an autopsy tomorrow, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

NYPD Detectives and the medical examiner would conduct a thorough investigation -*but Ledger's death is not believed to be suspicious.

"As of right now there does not appear to be any criminality at all," the spokesman said.

The news has sent shockwaves around the world.

Ledger first came to prominence by acting as a homosexual athlete in little-known Australian television series Sweat in 1996.

A 19-year-old Ledger left Sydney for Hollywood, where his standout talent was spotted by Mel Gibson when auditioning 500 actors for the role of his son in The Patriot. The casting wa Ledger's first big-time break and led to his leading role in A Knight's Tale.

This month Ledger had been working on his latest movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed by Terry Gilliam, which was due to be released next year.

One of Ledger's most critically acclaimed roles was as a heroin addict in the 2006 Australian movie Candy, in which he starred with Australian Abbie Cornish.

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegrap...l?from=mostpop

[botagozzz]

[ExelePlavisseu]

I've just read this in the paper on my way to work. Fame isn't enough for some people. What a waste.

[WaydayTew]

...Fame isn't enough for some people...

Fame is too much for some people.

Makes me want to see TDK all the more.

[Phouepou]

The assumption here is that 'fame' was the main or only reason for his apparent suicide or the least that we can say, his death. Perhaps 'fame' took a backseat to another reason, or reasons. As of this moment we don't know, and perhaps we will never know.

The greatest lost will be to us, who have already seen his promise in these film vehicles. I shall miss that obvious talent of becoming the person he played - I know not the rest.

[alegsghed]

The assumption here is that 'fame' was the main or only reason for his apparent suicide or the least that we can say, his death. Perhaps 'fame' took a backseat to another reason, or reasons. As of this moment we don't know, and perhaps we will never know.

The greatest lost will be to us, who have already seen his promise in these film vehicles. I shall miss that obvious talent of becoming the person he played - I know not the rest.

This thread should have been called

WHEN TEEN IDOLS START BALDING BOO TICKETY HOO

Honestly, thousands of young men and women, with far fewer opportunities commit suicide every year.

Countless other men and women died in combat in WWII and today in Afghanistan in an effort to help their fellow citizens, and some would argue, their fellow man.

When I see a front page story on the New York Times for every one of those people, I will pay attention to this guy, as much as I like some of his films.

http://gawker.com/5002468/time-to-go-home

Nuff said.

[kimaddison]

Sad. I didn't know his work too well, but I did know of him. Truely sad to hear about this.

[RgtrsKfR]

WHEN TEEN IDOLS START BALDING BOO TICKETY HOO

The name Eyore comes to mind.

[Qeiafib]

Extremely sad. I was at school this afternoon, when the subject came up. I didn't even know about it and they were like, "Yea. He died recently." I was like, "Umm...no way!" It's very sad to think about the fact that he died while having a wife and a daughter.

R.I.P. Heath Ledger!

[BCVB9SOc]

Nuff said.

In your case: Too much said.

I guess you never learned that sometimes it's best to say nothing at all.

[enencephoth]

This is a guy who lived a rather private life and wasn't known for living on the edge. I could understand the snickering and cynicism if it were Paris Hilton, but this guy was a fine actor and seemed to be a devoted father.

[LeslieMoran]

In your case: Too much said.

I guess you never learned that sometimes it's best to say nothing at all.

Far far too much said, just by the existence of this thread.

Where are the threads for all of the Afghanistan veterans who have died?

WWII?

WWI?

Suicide victims from NYC?

Do you actually think that Heath would care if one of us died?

Another thing: It was utterly self serving and dishonest for his father to say in the press conference that it was an "accidental" death. Whoever the beneficiary of his life insurance is, statements like that do not help Heath's cause.

[Clesylafabada]

I didn't realize there was a 'cause.' Or that being famous was a capital offense.

I thought it was about a 28 year old man dying and a 2 year old girl fatherless.