Heath Ledger; April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008
It’ll slowly make it’s way across the internet, and evolve with details as time goes by, but Heath Ledger, Australian Actor, has passed away in his New York Apartment. News.com.au is already calling it a drug overdose, and one has trouble looking at deaths like this without thinking so. But with the news only just out, it is premature to blame anything yet.
Ledger is due to appear on the big screen as the Joker, in the upcoming Batman sequel, The Dark Knight. With the film due to debut in July, it is unlikely that his death will delay or affect the movie, however what post-production work needed to be done is unsure.
He was also currently filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, what effect it will have on that movie is unsure, as no one is quite sure how long in to filming they were.
Needless to say, Australia will mourn the loss of one of its acting sons, even if he had somewhat turned his back on us.
Update
According to theage.com.au NBC is reporting that there were pills found next to his body. This could be the source of the theory that it was drugs, but no one is confirming anything yet. A spokeswoman for Ledger’s attorney said “I’m sorry, we can’t talk about this now, we’re too upset,” before hanging up the phone.
Ledger was apparently found by his housekeeper, who had come to wake him with the info that his masseuse was there for his appointment. His body was found (officially) at 3.30pm Tuesday (7.30am Australian EST Wednesday).
Update - According to the New York Times, Ledger was found in Mary-Kate Olsen’s apartment, Apartment 5A in the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo. Ms. Olsen is in California, and no one is quite sure what he was doing there.
Continuing Update
According to the Courier Mail, Ledger’s family is particularly distraught at the media making it out to be a suicide. He was not that kind of person, the family said. However officials have confirmed that there were pills found in the vicinity of his bed.
Personal Bio
Born in Perth, Western Australia, Heath Ledger was one of our favored sons for a long time. He left school at aged 16 to pursue a film in acting, and made his debut in the Perth filmed Sweat. 1997 saw him debut in the Australian film Blackrock, before he made his big break in the 1999 classic 10 Things I Hate About You.
Many people know Ledger simply for his performance in that movie, especially his song and dance routine, as he sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You“” to Julia Styles.
Probably the role he will be most remembered for is the role he received a “Best Actor in a Drama” Golden Globe nomination for; Brokeback Mountain. Alonside Jake Gyllenhaal, in which he plays Wyoming ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, who has a love affair with aspiring rodeo rider Jack Twist.
Stephen Holden of the New York Times wrote:
“Both Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhaal make this anguished love story physically palpable. Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.”
The Dark Knight
All that being said, his role in the upcoming Batman the Dark Knight could very well have blown Ledger in to legendary status. The talk of the industry was how scary and downright nasty his portrayal of the Joker was going to be.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
This is very sad news indeed. It has also been confirmed that he was NOT found in Olsen apartment. He was in his own. You might want to update that part. That was what some people were reporting for sentationalist reasons only. He will be missed.
What sad and unexpected news. One does wonder if The Dark Knight will be the movie that catapults him to bigger fame like The Crow did for Brandon Lee or Enter The Dragon for his father Bruce Lee.
I suppose with the rumor mill in over-drive, we’ll have to wait a few days and find out what really happened. It’s also sad that the media behaves this way without little regards for the person or their family.
I still can’t believe the news.