Heath Ledger Dies!!

[sagedautumn]

I think this was a shock to anyone who heard of it: Actor Heath Ledger died in his New York Apartment at 28 years old!



Heath Ledger Found Dead
TUESDAY JANUARY 22, 2008 04:45 PM EST
TUESDAY JANUARY 22, 2008 05:45 PM EST UPDATED
By Stephen M. Silverman and Kristin Boehm
Heath Ledger on Nov. 13
PHOTO BY: EVAN AGOSTINI / AP

Heath Ledger was found dead at his Manhattan residence, a police spokesman confirms to the Associated Press. He was 28.

Police say the death may be drug-related. The NYPD spokesman tells AP that Ledger had a massage appointment at his Soho apartment. When the housekeeper went to alert Ledger the masseuse was there, she found him at around 3:26 p.m.

He did not respond when they shook him, and the housekeeper called 911, The New York Times reports. He was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m. Authorities later said they did not suspect foul play but that pills were found near the body.

Subletting from Mary-Kate Olsen
The New York Times also reports that the apartment in which he was found is owned by Mary-Kate Olsen.

A source tells PEOPLE Ledger was subletting the apartment from Olsen. "It was Mary Kate’s apartment. This is bad news. Someone found dead from an overdose in your apartment is very, very bad," the source close to Olsen tells PEOPLE.

Ledger was last spotted publicly in London on Saturday on the set of Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Photos show Ledger wearing a clown costume. Other pictures of Ledger out of costume show him with long brown hair and a dark goatee.

Oscar Nomination & A Baby Girl
The Perth, Australia, native was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for 2005's Brokeback Mountain, on whose set he met – and began a romantic relationship with – Michelle Williams. Theirs was described by others on the film as love at first sight. (PHOTOS: See a complete timeline and photos from his life.)

Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger with Matilda in 2006
PHOTO BY: ALECSEY BOLDESKUL

Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born in New York on Oct. 28, 2005. Ledger and Williams, who shared a brownstone together in Brooklyn, split in September 2007.

Ledger began his acting career in 1996, when he was 17, in an Australian TV series called Sweat.

In August 2006, Warner Bros. announced that Ledger would play the Joker in The Dark Knight, a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins

[Isa]

I know, I was shocked too! I didn't know he had personal problems or drug-related problems, he seemed to be a fairly level-headed guy... sad to think that his young daughter will grow up without knowing her father.

[Dominique]

It's very sad, my brother woke me up this morning to tell me he was so shocked. The thing about Mary Kate's apartment has apparently turned out not to be true.

Apparently the overdose involved sleeping pills.

This is from www.smh.com.au

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

He told The New York Times in a November interview that he "stressed out a little too much'' during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the Times.

"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, the paper said.

It's so sad I never would have picked him as the type. I feel sorry for his young child

[bookaddict]

I know it's really sad. He has a little child.

[zeldafitzgerald]

I was completely in shock when I heard. So sad.

He was one of my first celeb crushes. I fell hard for him in 10 Things I Hate About You.

I also thought he and Michelle were such an adorable couple, and was sad when they separated.

[sagedautumn]

That's what I kept thinking about 10 Things I Hate About You... i LOVED him in that film! He was adorable! I can't believe he died! Do you know if it was an accidental overdose? Or suicidal? I would hate to think it was suicidal...he seemed so... normal!

[Michelle]

My brother sent me a text that said "poor heath ledger" but I didn't understand what it meant (I was lost in my bubble that is law school and ballet). And then I kept thinking about all his great roles and thought maybe Matthew was watching a movie of his. And then I saw that he died and I was even more shocked because I had been thinking about him and his movies all evening. So sad. 10 Things T Hate About You and A Knight's Tale are two of my favorite movies. I can't believe it.

[Isa]

I love A Knight's Tale, and I thought he was amazing in Brokeback Mountain, it was such a difficult part to play - there wasn't a whole lot of talking in that movie, so he had to find a way to make the audience feel his emotions just through his expressions and not a lot of actors can pull that off.

On CNN they were saying that it didn't look like a suicide - more like an accident. Some say he had pneumonia and might have mixed medications that shouldn't be mixed? I guess we'll find out in a few days...

[neh]

He was really getting to be known as an accomplished actor, and he was a name and talent we Aussies could boast about - plus, like most people, i had a MAJOR crush on him during his TTIHAY phase, and while he was on the tv series Roar, before that. Dom told this morning and i just though "what?!" A big shock...

[Lu]

I haven't heard of it.
it's so sad.

[Carma]

I heard it on the radio this morning, I sort of jumped out of bed immediately! I couldn't believe it I wasn't a big fan or something, but I really liked him.

I read this somewhere, about those pills (don't remember exactly where..):

Called Ambien in the US, the tablet is marketed as Stilnox Down Under and hit headlines last year when a national drug hotline fielded calls from users reporting strange side-effects.

Some 500 people described odd behaviours from walking, crashing cars, having sex and falling from balconies after popping a pill.

One patient gained 23 kilograms over seven months after unknowingly eating from the refrigerator while asleep. Another patient woke up with a paintbrush in her hand after painting the front door.

In November, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) reduced pack sizes and updated its warnings on the drug to protect people from its "worrying and potentially dangerous adverse effects".

The most serious of the newly-listed side-effects included "rage reactions, worsened insomnia, confusion, agitation, hallucinations and other forms of unwanted behaviour"

[Dominique]

I've taken a couple of prescriptions of Stillnox with no problems, but in that article I copied above where Heath said he had 2 hours of sleep in the past week he also said he took two and conked out and then woke up in about an hour feeling really agitated. The article was using that to infer that he was badly affected by them.

I think an immense lack of sleep could lead to him forgetting how much he'd taken or something and overdosing.

Also an article I read said he had pneumonia and that Stillnox could combine with that to make more respiratory problems, but they were just kind of theorising.

Although he couldn't comment specifically on the case, general practitioner John Gullotta said: "In general, pneumonia can be a fatal condition if it progresses quickly and it hasn't got better with treatment. Sometimes sleeping tablets can add to that and can cause respiratory problems.

"The benzodiazepine class of sleeping tablet can dampen down breathing. It all depends how many [the person] takes and the dosage," Dr Gullotta,

I think it will turn out to be a tragic accident. People deprived of sleep can get pretty erratic and forgetful. I guess we'll find out over the next few days as more information comes out.

[Juliet]

I think it was a tragic accident too..I was quite shocked: he was still so young and had a child...

[Hanna]

I heard it from my best friend this morning. Wow, so incredible sad! I'm with all you guys in that he didn't seem the suicidal type. But then again, if I learned anything from last October it is that suicide is always unexpected. In the Norwegian newspaper it said that they thought it was accedential though. So sad, may he rest in peace

[oureternity]

I didn't know, that is so sad!!