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Heath Ledger found dead

edited January 2008 in General
The Academy Award nominee has been found dead in his home.

A police spokesperson has confirmed that actor Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead in his New York home .

TMZ reports that Ledger was found in bed by his housekeeper. It was reported that he was surrounded by over-the-counter sleeping pills.

TMZ says that a masseuse arrived and was let in by the housekeeper. The masseuse knocked on the bedroom door and when there was no answer, opened the bedroom door and found Ledger unconscious. Paramedics were called and found Ledger in full cardiac arrest. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:30 p.m.

The Olsen connection: Ledger was staying at an apartment owned by the Olsen twins.

Ledger, who has a daughter with fellow actor Michelle Williams, was nominated for his role as the cowboy Ennis in 'Brokeback Mountain' and just wrapped filming on 'The Dark Knight' where he played the Joker to Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman.

Ledger was filming 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,' directed by Terry Gilliam at the time of his death.

Selected Filmography:


The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
The Dark Knight
I'm Not There
Casanova
Brokeback Mountain
The Brothers Grimm
Lords of Dogtown
The Order
Ned Kelly
Four Feathers
Monster's Ball
A Knight's Tale
The Patriot
10 Things I Hate about You



:sad:

This is so sad. He was so young!

What a shame.

Comments

  • edited January 2008
    I really couldn't believe it. some friends told me and i thought they were joking...because it just seemed so random and I totally didn't expect that...I would've expected someone like Britney Spears instead.

    he was in his prime too, getting pretty major roles and stuff :(

    i wonder if he had finished filming 'The Dark Knight'--was looking forward to that.
  • edited January 2008
    yeah.. i was in total shock and things didn't sink in till i saw the video on yahoo.. o.O" i'm pretty sure he finished filming dark knight.. cause i really really want to see it!!
  • edited January 2008
    Wow. And Amy Winehouse lives on. I knew there was no God...
  • edited January 2008
    ^no kidding

    I heard it on the radio....Johnny Stob was just saying some random crap and then he was like, "oh right, and Heath Ledger was found dead today in New York. So tomorrow is gonna be super sunny like today!" I was like, what????

    He was only 28, awww :( I absolutey loved his voice too....like, when you heard him talk it was just so....sexy.

    And he has a 2-year old kid too.

    :(
  • edited January 2008
    yeah poor kid, it's going to be really tough for her to remember much of her relationship with her dad when she grows older :'(

    i didn't even realize it but i've seen a lot Heath Ledger's movies...I think he had a lot of talent, and reading about his death and his career, it seems like he really got into his character roles so much that he couldn't sleep...which ties in with the speculation that he OD'd on sleeping pills...

    Here's an interesting excerpt from an NYTimes interview with him:
    It all tied him in knots. “I stressed out a little too much,” Mr. Ledger said.

    He tends to do that. He is here in London filming the latest episode of the “Batman” franchise, “The Dark Knight.” (Mr. Bale, as it happens, plays Batman; Mr. Ledger plays the Joker.) It is a physically and mentally draining role — his Joker is a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy” he said cheerfully — and, as often happens when he throws himself into a part, he is not sleeping much.

    “Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” he said. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” One night he took an Ambien, which failed to work. He took a second one and fell into a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing.

    Even as he spoke, Mr. Ledger was hard-pressed to keep still. He got up and poured more coffee. He stepped outside into the courtyard and smoked a cigarette. He shook his hair out from under its hood, put a rubber band around it, took out the rubber band, put on a hat, took off the hat, put the hood back up. He went outside and had another cigarette. Polite and charming, he nonetheless gave off the sense that the last thing he wanted to do was delve deep into himself for public consumption. “It can be a little distressing to have to overintellectualize yourself,” is how he put it, a little apologetically.
  • edited January 2008
    I was so shocked to hear about this! When my sister told me I was like, "What? like in a movie?" It's just so random because it doesn't sound like something that would happen to him... I would expect Lindsay Lohan or Britney Spears to OD first. He was definitely talented and it's even more sad that this happened when his career was really starting to take off...
  • edited January 2008
    yeah, shit, heath was the man. Gotta give a man props for taking a major homosexual role like brokeback. Well according to that link up there, sounds like it probably was an accidental overdose, he just wanted some sleep.. :/
  • edited January 2008
    What a tragic death, he will be missed. Watching The Dark Knight is going to be such a sad experience.
  • edited January 2008
    man he looks so awesome as the joker too... way better than jack...
    maybe he'll win an oscar...
    i think only one person who has died before the movie released has won best actor right?
    James Dean for giant i think?
  • edited January 2008
    He did a great job in Broke Back Mountain.
  • edited January 2008
    Its just so strange to hear of an actor that was close to our age die....especially at our age now.

    I mean, it would different if we were older and we heard on the news that Brad Pitt died. We'd be like, "awww, he was so cute when he was younger" and our kids would like, "who the hell is Brad Pitt??"

    But i mean, Heath was so young.

    28 years old.

    My bf is that age.

    Its so weird!

    ps I think he looks great as the joker....really creepy, perfect for the role. Ahh man, going to see that will definitely be sad.

    :(
  • edited January 2008
    ^ OMG thats awful!!

    Nice of them to try to cash in on his death.

    What jerks!
  • edited January 2008
    LOL. good for him!!!

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