Author Topic: Heath Ledger - News Accounts  (Read 1144829 times)

Offline opinionista

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #10 on: January 22, 2008, 07:30:59 pm »
They've updated the story at the New York Times:

Actor Heath Ledger Is Found Dead

By Sewell Chan


Updated, 5:28 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan inhabited by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.



A suicide? I don't know the facts or details about his personal life but somehow it seems unlikely, doesn't it? I think it was more an accident. I still can't believe it.
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #11 on: January 22, 2008, 07:36:20 pm »
And the New York Times updated again...

Heath Ledger, Actor, Is Found Dead at 28

By Sewell Chan


Updated, 6:29 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide or an accidental overdose, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., according to the police, a masseuse arrived the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street, between Crosby and Lafayette Streets in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.

The police said they did not suspect foul play. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s deputy commissioner for public information, initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen, but later reversed himself and said that was not the case.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” the representative, Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen, said in a phone interview. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

Heathcliff Andrew Ledger was born April 4, 1979 to Sally Ledger, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, an engineer. Named after the main characters of Emily Brontë’s “Wuthering Heights.” He and his older sister, Katherine, grew up in Perth, Australia; his parents were divorced when he was about 10. As a student, he joined a local theater company and appeared in a production of “Peter Pan,” which led to his being cast in children’s television programs.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

But the role for which Mr. Ledger was probably best known by American audiences was in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006.

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” he said in the interview.

Mr. Ledger had been cast as The Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

The building at 421 Broome Street was sold in 1999 to a company called Red Tulip, L.L.C. Calls to a phone number listed for Junia Hissa Neiva, an official at Red Tulip, went to an answering machine that was full and not receiving new messages.

Thomas J. Lueck and John Sullivan contributed reporting.
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Offline LauraGigs

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #12 on: January 22, 2008, 07:44:02 pm »
This is just awful: first the sad news about PaintedShoes, and now this (!?!?!)

THANK you Phillip and MaineWriter, for your updates -- helping us make what little sense of it that we can . . .


Offline David In Indy

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #13 on: January 22, 2008, 07:53:41 pm »
I'm a bit pissed off at CNN and MSNBC right now. They are talking about politics. The same old political shit over and over and over and over again. I guess Heath doesn't matter much to them.

Believe it or not, Fox News has been reporting more on Heath than CNN and MSNBC put together!

Pitiful.
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Offline Shasta542

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #14 on: January 22, 2008, 07:58:07 pm »
What a terrible shock....a sad, sad day for all of us. So sad for Matilda and Heath's family. I want it to be untrue. Such a beautiful and talented young man. I hope he knew that.
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"

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Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #15 on: January 22, 2008, 08:53:12 pm »
 >:( >:( :( :'( :'(

I was just flipping through all the news channels and all the entertainment shows (for the past hour or so) trying to find any coverage and any new details.

And, so, I landed on Fox for a bit.   >:(  I never watch Fox, but they happened to be doing a rather long story on Heath.  So, I watched.  And, now I regret it.  They showed footage, at least two times, of Heath's body being taken into the medical examiner's van.  I will never be able to get that image out of my head now.  Ever.

I'm totally and completely shocked and appalled that the medical examiner's weren't more discreet.  I mean, he was covered up... but it was still awfully, awfully graphic and way, way too accessible to TV cameras.

Poor, poor Heath.
 :'( :'( :'(


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Offline ednbarby

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #16 on: January 22, 2008, 09:00:23 pm »
I saw that image, too, and deeply, deeply regret it.

Here is something of a balm for now - a surprisingly sensitive piece from AOL, of all people:

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/movies/movie-news-story/ar/_a/heath-ledger-found-dead-at-home/20080122165209990002
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Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #17 on: January 22, 2008, 09:04:01 pm »
I saw that image, too, and deeply, deeply regret it.

Here is something of a balm for now - a surprisingly sensitive piece from AOL, of all people:

http://news.aol.com/entertainment/movies/movie-news-story/ar/_a/heath-ledger-found-dead-at-home/20080122165209990002

Thanks Friend.  Geez. I think I'm going to have nightmares about that image from the news footage for a while.
 :(

the world was asleep to our latent fuss - bowie

Offline David In Indy

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #18 on: January 22, 2008, 09:06:46 pm »
>:( >:( :( :'( :'(

I was just flipping through all the news channels and all the entertainment shows (for the past hour or so) trying to find any coverage and any new details.

And, so, I landed on Fox for a bit.   >:(  I never watch Fox, but they happened to be doing a rather long story on Heath.  So, I watched.  And, now I regret it.  They showed footage, at least two times, of Heath's body being taken into the medical examiner's van.  I will never be able to get that image out of my head now.  Ever.

I'm totally and completely shocked and appalled that the medical examiner's weren't more discreet.  I mean, he was covered up... but it was still awfully, awfully graphic and way, way too accessible to TV cameras.

Poor, poor Heath.
 :'( :'( :'(




I saw it too Amanda, and like you I'll never get that out of my head. It was disgusting, heartless, cruel and awful. I hope somebody edits that out on their future reporting. I've turned it off. I can't watch it anymore.

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Offline Shasta542

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Re: Heath Ledger Dead - News Accounts
« Reply #19 on: January 22, 2008, 09:09:39 pm »
Thank you for the link, Barb. Those were great--heartbreaking--pictures.
"Gettin' tired of your dumbass missin'!"

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