I don’t think I even realized how big time an actor or how much I liked Heath Ledger was until I heard the news he was found dead just a few minutes ago.
According to CNN.com, the 28 year old Ledger was found dead in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the result of an apparent drug overdose. A housekeeper went to wake him up for an appointment, but he wasn’t conscious and was pronounced at 3:30pm EST.
This news is so sad and horrible. It’s rare that such a high profile actor dies that it kind of takes your breath away. Ledger earned an Oscar nomination just a few years ago for Brokeback Mountain, and is set to play The Joker in the upcoming Batman sequel, The Dark Knight.
That film was in post-production, but according to IMDB, he was in the middle of filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Without an idea of what the plot is for that film and the Joker character, it’s pretty awful to think that this will be it for him and there will be no more movies for Ledger.
I first saw him in The Patriot, but really had an enjoyable time in his jousting flick A Knight’s Tale.
Update 6:45pm:
Leave it to me to believe the NY Times, but according to CNN and other reports, it wasn’t Mary-Kate Olsen’s apartment, and the death hasn’t been ruled a suicide, it may very well be an overdose. Police spokesman Paul Browne had this to say:
“This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet.”
Browne later told reporters some prescription medications were found in the room, including sleeping pills.
But he stressed police have made no determination of the cause of Ledger’s death — that would be done by the medical examiner.
He said the pills were not “scattered about.”
I’ll be updating this story as more developments roll in…in the meantime, Ledger is survived by his daughter Matilda, whom he had with his former fiancee Michelle Williams.
Absolutely horrible news. Rest in peace Heath. You will be missed.
Steven’s last blog post..Heath Ledger Passes Away
Mike - nice picture of Heath and his daughter. Although we will miss his acting talent, she will grow up without a father. So sad.
Steven’s last blog post..Heath Ledger Passes Away
The only thing I keep getting from this is that money and fame is not the answer…we all want more money, but even when you have that and are the new Joker in one of the biggest movies of the year, your life is still so bad that you can ponder suicide.
I really hope that wasn’t what happened…
So right Mike. It’s hard to understand how someone who seemingly has it all can just throw it away. A tragedy no matter what the cause.
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Mike, the news now is that it was NOT Mary-Kate Olsen’s apartment. I’m still looking for more sources, but that seems to be correct.
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Thanks Jason for the heads up, I updated my story. That’s what I get for listening to the NY Times…
Very sad…