Wed 23 Jan 2008
Heath Ledger Found Dead
Posted by joanne under Celebrities , News Today , Theatre And The ArtsNo Comments
Heath Ledger Found Dead
The Brokeback Mountain star Heath Ledger aged 28, was found dead in his Soho New York apartment, with sleeping pills close to his naked body.
The Australian was found around 3.30pm by his housekeeper.
The star had been known to suffer from insomnia as a result from the stress of his work, Ledger had just finished filming on Warner Brothers up and coming summer blockbuster Batman The Dark Knight as Batman’s arch enemy The Joker. This role would have launched his career to super stardom.
Ledgers death has stunned family, friends, fans and actors in the community that were closest to him, his father Kim says it was an accidentally death, his ex partner and mother to his child Matilda aged 2 years is absolutely devastated.
John Travolta said he was his favourite actor and do not know who to compare his talent to others, it is a great loss.
“The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent. Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends,” they said in a statement.
Police sources told US media prescription pills were found in the apartment and said signs pointed to either an accidental overdose or suicide.
In Australia, Ledger’s parents and younger sister described his death as an “accidental passing,” and asked to be left to grieve in private.
“We, Heath’s family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda,” said Ledger’s father Kim as he stood outside the family home in Perth.
He described his son as a “down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual who was extremely inspirational to many.”
Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was “tragic that we have lost one of our nation’s finest actors in the prime of his life.”
“Heath Ledger’s diverse and challenging roles will be remembered as some of the great performances by an Australian actor,” he said in a statement.
Members of the Australian film industry, which nurtured Ledger from his early days in television soaps until his recent performances in gritty dramas, were coming to terms with the news that the talented actor had been found dead.
Neil Armfield, who directed Ledger in the 2006 Australian film “Candy” about a romance between two drug addicts, described Ledger as a powerful actor.
“He was always a complex and complicated man to work with but… just a master… just so passionately concerned to get it right,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
Film critic Margaret Pomeranz said the death of the actor, who previously dated Hollywood stars Heather Graham and fellow Australian Naomi Watts but had recently separated from actor partner Michelle Williams, was shocking.
“I am so upset, I just can’t tell you,” she told ABC radio.
“I mean he is such a talented boy and really, I think a beautiful soul.
“I think to choose the roles he’s chosen showed just such intelligence.”
Producer Emile Sherman, who got to know Ledger during the filming of “Candy”, said the young man’s death was a “huge loss on a personal level for someone of his age to die — for his family and his daughter Matilda.”
But it was also a sad day for the film industry here and overseas.
“We are missing out on the rest of his career which no doubt would have been magnificent,” he told AFP.
Chairman of the Australian Film Critics’ Association Peter Krausz described Ledger as a self-effacing actor who was “never there to talk about winning awards or being a major actor, or look at me I’m famous.”
“He never played the Hollywood game,” he said.
His words were echoed by Australian film critic David Stratton.
“The great thing about Heath Ledger was that he was his own man,” he told Sky News. “He was Heath Ledger and he was very
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