Author Topic: Heath Ledger - News Accounts  (Read 1144832 times)

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #160 on: January 26, 2008, 11:49:19 am »
I was able to save them as pictures:

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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #161 on: January 26, 2008, 11:49:39 am »
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #162 on: January 26, 2008, 11:49:59 am »
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Offline belbbmfan

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #163 on: January 26, 2008, 11:52:31 am »
That is just heartbreaking.  :'(
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #164 on: January 26, 2008, 11:54:54 am »
That is just heartbreaking.  :'(

I know. I am sitting here sobbing (again). Sigh...
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #165 on: January 26, 2008, 11:59:48 am »
You know, it occurred to me last night: just about everything I know about Heath's death I know from the internet. (I was going to say just about everything I know about Heath, which is almost true, too, for that matter, if you don't count his movies.)

I don't watch TV news. My newspaper reading is spotty these days. So actually the only tiny exception to the above is a conversation I caught on The View. My other main TV sources of news, The Daily Show and Colbert Report, haven't covered it, as far as I've seen, for understandable reasons. (Though I've missed the past couple of episodes, and it seems like there might be humor to be mined from the press' behavior or that John Gibson thing, so maybe they have.)

Anyway, I wanted to add that my main source of information about my main source of information, the internet, is Leslie, plus a few others here who've been posting! So thanks, Leslie and everybody!




Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #166 on: January 26, 2008, 12:07:45 pm »
Thanks, Katherine.

It is a little bit of a compulsion, I have to say--this need to search out news articles. I like to try to find things that are a little bit obscure, have a different tidbit of information, or put a different spin on the story. I actually read many more than I post--call me your personal vetting service.

It started with Brokeback Mountain and it was a lot happier then (of course) but finding these stories is really helping me to grieve--and cope.

I am glad folks appreciate them.

Leslie
"News Sleuth"
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Offline Kd5000

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #167 on: January 26, 2008, 12:09:24 pm »
I've been watching Entertainment Tonight, a show I watch with great infrequency.  But I have watched them everynight since the passing of Heath. So that show and the internet have been my two main sources of information about developing events involving Heath Ledger. 

One more thing.  Mel Gibson expressed his sorrow over the death of Heath Ledger, but it seems he distanced himself from the actor when he decided to play the role in  BBM. Of course, Gibson believes Vatican II is a mistake as it went too far, so he's a very reactionary Catholic.   I originally saw this on IMDB.com.  I usually don't have any regards for FOX, but they picked it up from The New York Daily News. I'm sure Heath had many better friends then Gibson, he certainly seemed popular with the ladies.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,325567,00.html

Though Mel Gibson expressed his sorrow this week over the death of Heath Ledger, he had actually distanced himself from the younger Australian actor in the years since Ledger played a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," according to the New York Daily News.

Ledger chose not to follow Gibson's advice against taking the "Brokeback" leading role of Ennis Del Mar, a ranch hand who falls in love with another male cowboy and all the while struggles with his homosexuality, private investigator Paul Barresi told the News.

As a result, Gibson pulled back from the friendship with Ledger, whom he'd gotten to know when Ledger played his son in "The Patriot."
Barresi said a "major Hollywood producer" told him that Ledger asked Gibson whether he should play the part of Ennis, and "Gibson strongly counseled against it. The role apparently ran counter to Gibson's morality. And he felt that it would ruin Heath's career," the News reported.

But Ledger ignored the suggestion and signed on to do the film anyway, leading to a rift with Gibson, according to the News.

"When Gibson parted ways with Heath, it broke his heart," Barresi told the paper.

In the end, Ledger's performance in "Brokeback" won him critical accolades, an Oscar nomination and newfound respect as a serious, talented and complex actor, allowing him to shed his image as just another Hollywood heartthrob.

In 2006, Ledger told London's Evening Standard that his decision to play Ennis "was kind of a reaction against the comparison that I'm the new Mel Gibson."

On Tuesday, Gibson issued a statement calling Ledger's death "a tragic loss."

“I had such great hope for him. He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss," he said. "My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”

Click here to read more on this story from the New York Daily News.


Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #168 on: January 26, 2008, 12:16:22 pm »
Who You Gonna Call?

When things go wrong, stars rely on private security services for help

By Matthew Philips

Newsweek Web Exclusive
Updated: 8:46 PM ET Jan 25, 2008

In all the chaos surrounding the death of Heath Ledger last week in his lower Manhattan apartment, one reported detail stood out: that when his masseuse found him face down and unconscious on his bed, and then frantically called Ledger's fellow actor Mary-Kate Olsen, the 21-year-old star's immediate response was, "I'm sending my private security." Most people, upon hearing that a friend was unresponsive, with pill bottles nearby, would rush to dial 911. But the masseuse called Olsen two more times before finally calling 911 about 20 minutes later, the second time to tell Olsen that Ledger was cold to the touch and that she feared he was dead. Olsen's response? "I already have people coming over."

Her "people" arrived at the same time as the paramedics, nearly a half hour after Ledger's body was first discovered. So who are these "private security" providers? And why are they--and not public emergency services--the first call a celebrity would make?

To get a peek behind the curtain of celebrity security services, NEWSWEEK's Matthew Philips spoke with Joe Lasorsa, who spent 20 years as a special agent in the U.S. Secret Service. His company, J.A. Lasorsa and Associates, has been in business since 1998 and provides a range of high-end security and protection services to the rich and sometimes famous. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: What kind of protection do your personal-security agents provide?

Joe Lasorsa: Personal security can range from estate or residential security to travel security. We'll stand guard at a residence or travel with clients aboard boats, wherever.

What sorts of people do you have as clients?

My clients tend mostly to be high-end athletes, VIPS and corporate executives and CEOs. I don't take on a lot of celebrities for the simple reason that they tend to be more problematic. They expect to be pampered and can usually create more problems with themselves than anyone else.

Where do you draw the line between protecting a client from others and protecting them from their own behavior?

I make the point with my staff that when problems start to arise to diplomatically persuade the client to cease and desist from an activity. Part of our job is to pick up on signs that indicate a bad situation. So usually if we're out at a club and we feel a disruption is about to occur, we'll quietly whisper to them that we should leave. We're there not to deal with problems but to avoid them.

Do you typically sign nondisclosure agreements?
Yes, we require it. Part of the contract is to do everything we can to maintain the client's confidentiality.

What's the background of the agents who work for you?
Mostly former federal agents and Secret Service agents, whom I consider to be the best long-term private-sector agents because they understand the mentality of the job.

In what way?

In their trained ability to spot situations before they become problems, and to use discretion and diplomacy rather than force to diffuse a situation. If you ask me, too many Special Forces guys are getting involved in the industry, people who aren't trained in de-escalation but only in escalation. And the problem with celebrities is they're drawn to these types. Celebrities typically hire people who are big in stature because they think they'll prevent a problem through intimidation, when in fact those people are more prone to use their size and often end up accentuating problems.

How personal do the relationships get between agents and clients?

We expressly avoid any personal relationship. We assign them in 8- or 10- or 12-hour shifts. There's no sleeping over at a client's home. It creates too much of a familiarity, and, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.

But it happens?

Of course it happens, clients will develop relationships with protective agencts, especially when it's a male and female, that leads to sexual relationships.

I guess you're not a fan of the movie "The Bodyguard"?

No, I actually like it because it's a realistic depiction of how easily that can happen.

What about being bystanders to illegal activity, like drug use?

We don't tolerate illegal drug use. We will walk away and terminate the contract. Remember, the majority of our staff are former Secret Service. We'll turn our heads to most issues, but not when it crosses the line of legality. Of course, again, it happens, I guarantee, and the majority of security agents out there wouldn't feel the way I feel.

How do you handle behavoir that's not neccesarily illegal but isn't something a client would want publicized?

Do we take care of a client if they've had too much fun? Sure. We try not to associate with clients where that happens all the time but of course it's going to happen every so often. People are human, and when it does, that's part of the protection that's offered.

What about if you found a client unconsious or with drug paraphernalia around? Would you call the police?

Again, if they cross the line into illegal activcity, we're going to call the police. I can't speak for other agencies, but I know that pretty much most security agents are former law enforcement, and most of them won't cross that line. Now, if they're just passed out, then we'll see if we can't revive them--but if not then yeah, we'd get medical attention.

You'd call 911?

If it's serious, yes. We don't pretend to be medical technicians. We're trained in CPR and as EMTs, but if someone needs to be transported in an emergency situation, then definitely that's our obligation in protecting them.

It seems as though sometimes celebrities are looking for their security agents to be a guardian angels of sorts.

I think that's accurate in a lot of cases. It's not something we do, but I'm not going to say that isn't the case with some people and that some firms provide that for them.

URL: http://www.newsweek.com/id/105488
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Offline Meryl

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Re: Heath Ledger - News Accounts
« Reply #169 on: January 26, 2008, 12:17:46 pm »
January 26, 2008

About New York

Only Private Security Will Do, Until It Doesn’t

By JIM DWYER

On a Friday evening exactly 29 years ago, a man in a town house on West 54th Street in Manhattan had a heart attack. His name was Nelson A. Rockefeller; he had built a life of power atop the oil fortune that came down to him from his father, serving as governor of New York and vice president of the United States.

The habits of power — insulation from everyday life, mediators like private security guards and drivers and people who could fix things in discreet phone calls — were not, it turns out, nearly as much use as medical help might have been.

Mr. Rockefeller, 70, was with a 25-year-old woman, Megan Marshack, when he fell ill. Her home was just down the street. She called a friend who lived in her building and asked her to send their doorman to get Mr. Rockefeller’s chauffeur, who was parked around the corner. An hour after Mr. Rockefeller was stricken, the friend — by then in the town house with Ms. Marshack and Mr. Rockefeller — dialed 911. He was dead, or about to be.

This week, when the actor Heath Ledger could not be awakened in his apartment, a masseuse made calls to an actress friend of Mr. Ledger’s in California before calling for emergency help. The actress dispatched several private security guards, who happened to be in the neighborhood. They arrived at the same moment as emergency medical workers. Neither the actress nor the security guards have publicly explained what they were supposed to do about an unresponsive man.

“You have children 6 years old who know to call 911 when someone is sick,” said Lou Palumbo, who owns an agency that provides private security to celebrities and heads of state. “What you find is that people in entertainment, sports, politics, people with a lot of money who might not be famous, they’re operating with their own set of rules. They’re under the impression that concessions are made for them every day. They want us to do damage control.”

What has emerged is a moving gated community, protection hired by the hour or kept on retainer that is supposed to solve petty troubles or the most urgent crisis.

Public life, whatever its benefits, can be unsparing for people who want privacy when they get sick or have a quarrel, or want to die with a shred of dignity. But money also buys breaks from trouble, escape routes or control. Steve Davis, a retired police captain who is now in the security business, says that private guards cannot disturb a crime scene or cover up evidence.

They can, however, perform tasks that keep people out of trouble: A hedge fund director gets drunk and foolish at a party; private security will quietly arrive, usher him out, drive him home. A British royal struck with a panic attack can get medical help without being wheeled in the front door at Bellevue. The possessive husband of a star singer wants her watched; private security moves into her life, to the point that she devises ruses, like going for a walk with the dog, handing the security guard the dog, and then racing off, with him unable to follow.

Alongside the rise of security for celebrities of even the faintest wattage, private security power has expanded in far more serious ways. Blackwater Worldwide, a private military company, has played a major role in the American occupation in Iraq, with few of the limits on the use of force that the United States Army is subject to. Blackwater operatives were also sent by federal officials to New Orleans in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina.

Some days after the floods had receded, a helicopter hovered above a parking garage next to a luxury hotel on Canal Street in New Orleans. A bay in the helicopter opened, and men dressed in black commando outfits were lowered by winch onto the garage roof. They climbed down to the street, and headed into the hotel. What were they doing? “A removal,” one explained. They were private muscle sent to evacuate corporate clients from New York stranded in the hotel.

It was a puzzling moment: the rented commandos, and for that matter, their clients, could just as easily have gotten into cars and driven straight out of town, because the roads were clear and the airport was open. But that would have been quite ordinary. No blades thrumming into the sky, no illusion of a special way out, power without a visible pulse.


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/26/nyregion/26about.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
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