from the Sydney Morning Herald:
Heath's goodbye is a celebration of lifeMelissa Kent in Perth
February 10, 2008
IT WAS the day Hollywood came to suburban Perth on a mournful mission to farewell one of their own.
The late actor's former fiancee Michelle Williams and sister Kate Ledger - their arms entwined - were among 600 invitation-only guests who filed into Penrhos College in Como to say goodbye to the brooding actor.
The A-list mourners included Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett, model Gemma Ward, Candy director Neil Armfield, director Philip Noyce, actors Rose Byrne, Bryan Brown and Shane Jacobson (aka "Kenny"), actor brothers Joel and Nash Edgerton, Perth rock band Eskimo Joe, West Coast Eagle David Wirrpanda and disgraced former Eagle Ben Cousins.
Williams - the mother of Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda, who did not attend - stayed close to his sister.
Ledger's father Kim and his wife, Emma Brown, arrived in one of four police-escorted black BMWs, sharing the sad ride with Ledger's mother, Sally Ledger Bell, and her husband, Roger Bell.
The ceremony was held in the theatre of the private girls' college where, as a child, Ledger often sat in the front row watching his sister perform in school plays.
Ms Ledger spoke of her love for her brother, who, after death, will be seen as The Joker in the latest Batman film The Dark Knight.
WA Opposition Minister for Arts Barbara Scott said: "Kate spoke of the unique bond [they] shared . . . how he would ring her three or four times a day and how he never forgot his friends, even at the height of his fame."
Blanchett, pregnant with her third child, delivered a tribute that one mourner said was "a funny and moving eulogy about their times spent together".
The order of service read: "This room is filled with the love we all felt for a great friend ... We want to thank those of you who took care of him and participated in his beautiful life."
Mourners were reduced to tears by Happy Ever After, a song written for Matilda by musician Ben Harper.
Perth-born Ward, who dated Ledger during his last Christmas holiday in Perth, left the service distressed.
Ledger, an Oscar nominee for his role in Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on January 22 of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/heath-ledger/heaths-goodbye-is-a-celebration-of-life/2008/02/09/1202234225490.html