Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Heath Ledger Remembrance Forum
Major Developments Update: Last updated 2/8/08
BBMGrandma:
Thank you for this Philip...and yes...WHEW is the word.
Meryl:
http://movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=294482>1=7701
Funeral Arrangements for Ledger Complete
Jan. 24, 2008, 4:42 PM EST
NEW YORK (AP) -- Funeral arrangements for Heath Ledger have been completed and his relatives were expected to arrive in New York on Friday, a funeral home spokesman said.
George Amado, the general manager of the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, refused to disclose further details, saying any additional information would have to come from Ledger's manager.
"The family doesn't want us to give out any information," he said Thursday.
The 28-year-old actor's body was taken to the funeral home on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday, a day after he was found dead in his SoHo loft with bottles of prescription drugs nearby.
An autopsy Wednesday was inconclusive and further test results weren't expected for several days, medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said. Police have said the Australian-born actor's death may have been caused by a drug overdose and appeared to be accidental.
News: Investigation continues in determining how actor died
Ledger's housekeeper and a massage therapist found the "Brokeback Mountain" star dead Tuesday, lying naked and face-down on his bed. Police said no illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
There were six different types of prescription drugs in the apartment, including pills to treat insomnia and anxiety, and an antihistamine, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The officials said three of the drugs were prescribed in Europe. Ledger had recently been filming in London.
On Thursday, the makeshift memorial outside Ledger's apartment building had grown to more than 100 bouquets including tulips, daisies, carnations and tropical flowers, along with candles, signs, notes and other memorials. A computer printout of an Australian flag bore the message: "We will always be proud of you, Heath. Rest in peace, mate. You will be missed."
Some of Ledger's friends and relatives said they were baffled by the actor's death because he had appeared to be happy and healthy in the last months of his life.
Haydn Ledger, one of his uncles, said his nephew wouldn't have done anything rash. "It just wouldn't come into the equation at all," he said Thursday in an interview on CBS' "The Early Show."
He and Mike Ledger, another of the actor's uncles, deflected a question about whether their nephew had been depressed, saying that should be left to his parents to address.
Ledger told The New York Times in November that working on the films "The Dark Knight" — his last finished performance — and "I'm Not There" had been stressful, and that he had taken the insomnia medication Ambien to help with sleeplessness.
Police said a housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb Tuesday and saw him sleeping and heard him snoring around 1 p.m.
"I didn't think anything was wrong," the housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, told the New York Post. She said she was "still shaking" and unable to sleep a day after the actor's death.
At 2:45 p.m., the massage therapist showed up for Ledger's appointment, knocked on his door and got no answer. She later noticed Ledger was unconscious and called actress Mary-Kate Olsen, whose number was programmed into Ledger's cell phone, to seek advice, police said.
Olsen said she would send over her private security. In the ensuing moments, the massage therapist realized that Ledger might be dead, called Olsen again, and then called 911. Paramedics — and Olsen's security people — arrived minutes later.
Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived with then-girlfriend Michelle Williams — who played his wife in "Brokeback" — in Brooklyn, and the couple had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda. The couple split last year.
Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Trollhattan, Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been there shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.
Katie77:
I dont know if this has been mentioned on the american media machine but it has been reported here in Australia, that his funeral may take place in the chapel of his old school in Perth.......Guildford Grammar school, an excusive private school where Heath spent all his schooling years.
louisev:
We did get the news that his family had arrived to finalize the arrangements for bringing him back to Perth.
I am very relieved that they are doing this - it is not only fitting, but will deny those protestors a chance to make a travesty of his funeral.
delalluvia:
I'm very glad to read Nicholson clarified his remark about drugs - nka Ambien.
The media is always quick to make someone another victim of the fast living movie industry, living hard, partying hard and dying young. Gah, Heath would have hated all this. I hope he will be put to rest peacefully in Perth.
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