I know we've talked about this before, but

[Mandy21]

I'm not sure he "aged" so much, per se, as he seemed to have lost a lot of weight, and as such, his cheeks became kind of sunken.  Plus I think he was just very, very tired, and overworked, and sad about losing time with his daughter while he had to be on location, and I do believe that playing the role of the sinister, dark Joker *did* take some toll on him as well.  I can't imagine how it wouldn't.  In some of the last photos taken of him, he certainly did not appear to be a 28-year-young man, that's for sure.  I agree with you in that his appearance had definitely gone downhill since last autumn.  He was no longer the lanky, but solid, strong man we remember from the BBM days.  I had just presumed he'd be around forever, and we'd have to get used to watching these physical transformations throughout his long life and career.

I presumed wrong...

[serious crayons]

What I find most striking is the change in his demeanor. Photos from his younger days show a smiling, bouyant, carefree man. In more recent photos, he looks haggard, weary, grim. I won't bother posting the images because I know we're all familiar with them. It's possible that he was posing a bit in the younger ones, but he looks very genuine, even in ... (what's that word? I'm blanking out on the word for "unposed" photographs) ... paparazzi shots. And the difference in later pictures -- even ones taken before he and Michelle broke up, actually -- is so stark. He goes from looking like he's on top of the world to looking like he's carrying the world on his shoulders.

[Mandy21]

Hey Katherine, think you're looking for the word "candid".  I agree with all you said.  Perhaps it should be obvious to all of us that he felt like he "had the world on his shoulders" at that point in his life.  Just makes me sad to think of him that way.  Do you think, had he lived, he would have recovered and gone back to being the carefree, young, strong Heath we first fell in love with?  I like to think that he and Michelle would have gotten back together, and they'd have married and raised Matilda and had (oh, this gives me goosebumps to say out loud) a son someday that looked just like our darling Heath.  That's what I like to think would have happened, had he lived all the years he deserved to.

[Brown Eyes]

What I find most striking is the change in his demeanor. Photos from his younger days show a smiling, bouyant, carefree man. In more recent photos, he looks haggard, weary, grim. I won't bother posting the images because I know we're all familiar with them. It's possible that he was posing a bit in the younger ones, but he looks very genuine, even in ... (what's that word? I'm blanking out on the word for "unposed" photographs) ... paparazzi shots. And the difference in later pictures -- even ones taken before he and Michelle broke up, actually -- is so stark. He goes from looking like he's on top of the world to looking like he's carrying the world on his shoulders.

Well, I think it's hard to deny that something was seriously wrong or amiss during his last weeks or months.  Something unpleasant (and we'll probably never know what) was causing him to buy and stock up on a large number of powerful prescription drugs.  To even be in possession of so many at once (let alone take them at once) seems to indicate that he was possibly pretty desparately searching for something to help him with something.  There are lots of blanks here because there's so much we don't know.  But, we do know the cause of his death, which is unusual and hard for many folks to fathom.  It's also possible that some of the answers to the open questions and blanks are things we really don't want to know or think about.

This is where our "space between what we know and what we try to believe" comes in to this situation.  

Hey Katherine, think you're looking for the word "candid".  I agree with all you said.  Perhaps it should be obvious to all of us that he felt like he "had the world on his shoulders" at that point in his life.  Just makes me sad to think of him that way.  Do you think, had he lived, he would have recovered and gone back to being the carefree, young, strong Heath we first fell in love with?  I like to think that he and Michelle would have gotten back together, and they'd have married and raised Matilda and had (oh, this gives me goosebumps to say out loud) a son someday that looked just like our darling Heath.  That's what I like to think would have happened, had he lived all the years he deserved to.

I think we also don't know enough about the relationship between Michelle and Heath to speculate whether or not the idea of them getting back together would even be a good idea.  I've always found is sort of odd that Michelle has been treated almost like the "widow" following Heath's death.  But, they weren't even together.  I have no idea if they were a good match for one another or not.  Heath had lots of ex-girlfriends.  And, just because he had a child with Michelle doesn't mean that the specific relationship with Michelle was the right relationship for him or for her.

[optom3]

Re reading and listening to some of the things other actors have said about him at that time,it seems he really was completely besotted with Matilda.
It would appear he never lost an opportunity to either talk about her or pass photos around.
I can only guess how incredibly hard it must have been for him to be parted from her, particularly at Xmas. I can think of no parent who does not want their child around on Xmas day.

Leading up to the holiday season, he certainly was looking more haggard,but then I suspect he was tired and depressed.Fame never seemed to rest easy on his shoulders.He was also incredibly analytical about his performances.Always feeling he could have done better. Had he been around longer,he may well have ended up more behind the camera than in front of it.

It was I think his personality type to have bouts of endless energy, but also times of depression.He certainly always seemed happier and more at ease when he was with "real" friends or a girlfriend.They seemed to give him the support neatwork he needed to cope with the paparazzi and endless rounds of promotional interviews. I do not think Heath was very good at being on his own.

He may well have dabbled in some recreational drug use, but then that seems to be pretty standard, for the world he moved in, particularly after he became single again.When he was with Michelle and Matilda I suspect he managed for the most part to remain more grounded. His attire may have been not to everyones taste, but he still looked well and happy.

I truly believe he was a genius and not many who have that word applied to them, are happy within their own skin.The pursuit of excellence can involve plunging down to the depths of your soul, and finding some very dark places.Surely that is why he tried to alternate lighter movies, with more challenging ones.The phrase tortured genius, is very much grounded in fact.

The other inescapable fact, is that when you are famous, there are always going to be "friends"/hangers on, who will proffer all sorts of recreational substances, in an attempt to curry favour.Heath needed real friends, not false air kissing ones.

Whatever the truth of the matter is,the inescapable and desperately, gut wrenching fact,is we were deprived of him, far too soon.

What gave him too us ,may have ultimately destroyed him.

[serious crayons]

I think we also don't know enough about the relationship between Michelle and Heath to speculate whether or not the idea of them getting back together would even be a good idea.  I've always found is sort of odd that Michelle has been treated almost like the "widow" following Heath's death.  But, they weren't even together.

True, who knows what their relationship was at that point. But Michelle did act widowlike, so she may have felt like one. If nothing else, it would be devastating to lose your child's other parent.

[LauraGigs]

I think you guys both have great points, Amanda and Fiona.

It was I think his personality type to have bouts of endless energy . . .

The flip side being that they find it so hard to relax and sleep. Sometimes it takes a competent, caring dr. or psy. to find a proper exercise and/or drug regimen. If that person is left to experiment the results can be disastrous, as we know. I also read that Heath was having a lot of back/joint pain (from cumulative falls and stunts many actors do). This will age you all by itself, and meds for this must also be managed well.

Do you think, had he lived, he would have recovered and gone back to being the carefree, young, strong Heath we first fell in love with?  I like to think that he and Michelle would have gotten back together . . .

Hmm, I kind of have problems with that scenario too.  I think Heath (to put it very simplistically) was entering into a more middle-aged phase: taking on more responsibility (directorial work, investments in restaurants & art colonies, etc.), parenting, and simply maturing — with all the emotional upheavals that can entail. 
If he had survived the winter and pulled through emotionally, the "carefree, young, strong Heath" probably never would truly have returned.  And I think we all need to remember that it was (at least in part) a manufactured image to make the real, cerebral Heath more marketable.  (And by all accounts, he and Michelle were having problems for a while before Matilda was born, and stuck together for her sake. It basically may have been an on-set romance that was prolonged by parenthood, however committed each of them was to Matilda.)

It's also possible that some of the answers to the open questions and blanks are things we really don't want to know or think about.
This is where our "space between what we know and what we try to believe" comes in to this situation. 

Absolutely.

[Penthesilea]

Well, I think it's hard to deny that something was seriously wrong or amiss during his last weeks or months.  Something unpleasant (and we'll probably never know what) was causing him to buy and stock up on a large number of powerful prescription drugs.  To even be in possession of so many at once (let alone take them at once) seems to indicate that he was possibly pretty desparately searching for something to help him with something.  There are lots of blanks here because there's so much we don't know.  But, we do know the cause of his death, which is unusual and hard for many folks to fathom.  It's also possible that some of the answers to the open questions and blanks are things we really don't want to know or think about.

For me, you said it best because you phrased it the most cautious, almost vague. Something went terribly wrong and not only on Jan 22, but a while before that date. That's all we know, the rest is only blanks.

This is where our "space between what we know and what we try to believe" comes in to this situation.  

Coincidentally, we had exactly this sentence as TOTW that week in January.

[Brown Eyes]

True, who knows what their relationship was at that point. But Michelle did act widowlike, so she may have felt like one. If nothing else, it would be devastating to lose your child's other parent.

Yes, I certainly understand that Michelle must continue to mourn Heath very profoundly.  And, I'm sure that him being the father of her daughter is one of the major factors in that.

But, they were never even engaged.  And, they had broken up a fair amount of time prior to Heath's death.  In terms of the way the media played it, it still seemed/ seems odd to put her in the role of grieving widow.

[Artiste]

Atz, are you sure that as you say:
          they were never even engaged                        ?

May I ask ?

Au revoir,
hugs!