Heath Ledger Died

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Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead in his New York apartment from a possible drugs overdose, according to police.

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Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, a New York Police Department spokesman has said.
"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," a police spokeswoman said.

It is not yet clear how the 28-year-old Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination as a gay cowboy in 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, died.

He was found dead in the SoHo apartment at around 1530 (2030 GMT).

Police said he had been due to have a massage at the flat.

The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon, police spokesman Paul Browne told Associated Press news agency.

Police said they did not suspect foul play in the death of the Perth-born actor.

In September he split from his girlfriend Michelle Williams, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

He plays the Joker in the soon-to-be-released Batman film, The Dark Knight.

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Australian-born actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence in what authorities said was a possible drug-related death, the New York Police Department said. He was 28.

A police spokesman said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the apartment that is believed to be his home. The housekeeper went to tell Ledger the masseuse had arrived and found him dead Tuesday afternoon, Paul Browne said.

Ledger was an Oscar nominee for his role in "Brokeback Mountain," where he met his wife, actress Michelle Williams, in 2005. Ledger and Williams lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, but split up last year.

Ledger played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball" and had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot." He was to appear as the Joker this year in "The Dark Knight," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins."

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Heath Ledger was found dead at his Manhattan residence Tuesday, a police spokesman confirms. He was 28.

Ledger was found in the bedroom of his Soho apartment around 3:30 p.m. by his housekeeper and a masseuse who had arrived for an appointment with the actor, according to the Associated Press and New York Times.

Ledger, who was in bed, did not respond when they shook him, and the housekeeper called 911. He was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m. ET.

Authorities said they did not suspect foul play but that pills were found near the body.

"There were some drugs found around the body – prescription-type drugs," a police spokesman tells PEOPLE.

It's still unclear whether the death was accidental. A medical examiner removed Ledger's body from the apartment just before 6:30 p.m. ET, and New York City Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove says the autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Despite initial reports that Ledger was subletting the apartment from Mary-Kate Olsen, reps for the actress denied that Olsen ever owned or lived in the apartment.

Ledger was last spotted publicly in London on Saturday on the set of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. Photos showed Ledger wearing a clown costume. Other pictures of Ledger out of costume show him with long brown hair and a dark goatee.

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Theirs was described by others on the film as love at first sight.


Their daughter, Matilda Rose, was born in New York on Oct. 28, 2005. Ledger and Williams, who shared a brownstone together in Brooklyn, split in September 2007.

Ledger began his acting career in 1996, when he was 17, in an Australian TV series called Sweat.

In August 2006, Warner Bros. announced that Ledger would play the Joker in The Dark Knight, a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins.

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جسد هیت لجر هنرپیشه هالیوود در منزلش پیدا شد


هیت لجر چند ماه قبل از دوست دخترش که با او یک دختر دو ساله دارد جدا شده بود
اداره پلیس نیویورک می گوید پیکر بی جان هیت لجر هنرپیشه 28 ساله استرالیایی در خانه اش در ناحیه منهتن نیویورک پیدا شده است.
یک سخنگوی پلیس گفت: "وی درحال بیهوشی در آپارتمانش پیدا شد و مرگ او همانجا تایید شد."

این هنرپیشه فیلم های هالیوود از جمله در فیلم های "وطن پرست" (Patriot) و "ضیافت هیولاها" (Monster's Ball) بازی کرده بود و به خاطر فیلم "کوه بروکبک" در سال 2005 نامزد دریافت جایزه اسکار بهترین هنرپیشه مرد شده بود.

پلیس گفت که در کنار جسد وی قرص های خواب پیدا شده است و افزود درباره احتمال مرگ وی در اثر زیاده روی در مصرف مواد مخدر تحقیق می کند.

پل براون سخنگوی پلیس به خبرگزاری آسوشیتدپرس گفت مستخدم هیت لجر سه شنبه بعد از ظهر پس از ورود به خانه با جسد او روبرو شد.

پلیس گفت تصور نمی کند صحنه مرگ این هنرپیشه متولد شهر "پرت" ساختگی بوده باشد.

در ماه سپتامبر وی از دوست دخترش میشل ویلیامز که با او یک دختر دو ساله دارد جدا شده بود.

هیت لجر در فیلم جدید "بتمن، شوالیه تیره" که به زودی اکران خواهد شد نقش بازی کرده است.

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At ten minutes to 5pm here in New York, only a few news crews had reached the scene of Mary Kate Olsen's loft building at 421 Broome Street, where Heath Ledger was just found dead. Just a handful of passersby were gawking at the small police presence guarding his door. But by 5, a pack of 15 paparazzi had arrived, acting far calmer than the usual frenzied pap scene, respectfully obeying the NYPD's orders to stay back. Almost everyone there, reporters both on-air and from various print outlets, collectively believed that the actor committed suicide using sleeping pills; a bottle of prescribed sedatives were allegedly found next to his bed.

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Autopsy planned as actor Heath Ledger is mourned

An autopsy was scheduled for Wednesday as family and colleagues mourned the death of Academy Award-nominated actor Heath Ledger.

Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said. Ledger was 28.

Ledger was found naked and unresponsive, facedown on the floor at the foot of his bed by a housekeeper trying to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse, said police spokesman Paul Browne.

"Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed," he told CNN.

"This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet."

Browne later told reporters some prescription medications were found in the room, including sleeping pills.
But he stressed police have made no determination of the cause of Ledger's death -- that would be done by the medical examiner.

He said the pills were not "scattered about."

No note was found and there was no indication of foul play, Browne said. Ledger was found at about 3 p.m., and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel about 3:30 p.m.

A crowd of onlookers, photographers and reporters gathered outside the apartment building after news of Ledger's death was reported. Police officers were guarding the doors.

Browne said he did not know how long Ledger had been renting the apartment, which he said took up the entire fourth floor.

An autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office.

Ledger's family on Wednesday called his death "very tragic, untimely and accidental."
"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him," Ledger's father, Kim Ledger, told reporters while standing with the actor's mother and sister in Perth, Australia.

"He was a down-to-earth, generous, kindhearted, life-loving, unselfish individual extremely inspirational to many."

Hollywood reacts

Condolences began pouring in from Ledger's friends and co-stars.

"I had such great hope for him," said Mel Gibson, who played Ledger's father in "The Patriot," in a statement.

"He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family."

Actress Nicole Kidman, a fellow Australian and close friend of Ledger's, said in a statement, "What a tragedy. My heart goes out to his family."
At the time of his death, Ledger had just finished playing the villain The Joker in "The Dark Knight," the latest installment in the Batman series. The film is to open in July.

Ledger was born in Perth and named Heathcliff Andrew after the main characters of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." He began acting at a local theater as a child.
Ledger's first American film was the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999, and he immediately attracted attention from Hollywood. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" in 2000 and "A Knight's Tale" in 2001. He also played a supporting role in "Monster's Ball," among other films.
"In a way I was spoon-fed a career," he told the Glasgow Herald in 2005. "It was fully manufactured by a studio that believed it could put me on their posters and turn me into a product. ... I hadn't figured out properly how to act, and all of a sudden I was being thrown into these lead roles."

Controversial role

But Ledger was perhaps best known for his 2005 portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain," about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.

"I felt that choices were being made for me, so I feel this has been my time now to find the good stories and test myself," Ledger told the Glasgow Herald in the 2005 interview. "It has been an interesting year, where I finally have a sense of accomplishment."

Asked how he felt about filming love scenes with another man, Ledger said he and his co-star Jake Gyllenhaal simply focused on their roles.

"We can't say that we weren't nervous about it," Ledger told Oprah Winfrey in 2006. "But once the first take was over, it's like, 'OK. So what? It's kissing another human being. How are we going to finish this scene? Let's get on with it and let's get out of here.' "

In a written statement, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said it mourns Ledger's death, adding that his portrayal of Del Mar "changed hearts and minds in immeasurable ways."

Ledger has a daughter, Matilda Rose, born in 2005 to his then-girlfriend, Michelle Williams, who played his on-screen wife, Alma, in "Brokeback Mountain." The couple have since separated.

"He was just so respected in the industry," said Kim Serafin, senior editor of In Touch Weekly.

"It's just horribly tragic. He was just a fine actor and a good person, so this is horribly sad and very unexpected."

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A crowd gathers in front of the New York building where Heath Ledger died Tuesday.

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[Rasputin]

Following his untimely death yesterday at age 28, Heath Ledger is likely to be best remembered for his role as a taciturn gay cowboy in 2005's Brokeback Mountain. It was a performance so spare that when Ledger did allow his repressed character to express emotion, it reverberated like a seismic wave.

The role earned the Australian-born Ledger his first, and only, Oscar nomination for Best Actor. But he gave plenty of other memorable performances over the course of his short-lived career.

Though Ledger could have easily coasted on his good looks and strapping physique, it was clear early on that he had no intention of being typecast. After setting the hearts of teen girls aflutter in his first Hollywood film, 1999's 10 Things I Hate About You – a clever adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew – he assiduously alternated between playing conventional romantic heroes in big studio films (including 2000's The Patriot, 2001's A Knight's Tale and 2002's The Four Feathers) and taking on grittier supporting roles in smaller pictures (2001's Monster's Ball and 2005's The Lords of Dogtown).

In addition to Brokeback (costarring Jake Gyllenhaal), Ledger's reputation is likely to rest on his accomplished turns in 2005's Casanova and 2006's Candy. Playing the legendary Italian lover in the enjoyable Casanova, he made like Errol Flynn, all dashing physicality and sexy charm. In Candy, a dark Australian drama, there was a burning intensity to his harrowing turn as a fledgling poet-turned-heroin addict. In retrospect, you have to wonder how close the role came to capturing Ledger's own personal struggles with his demons.

But it is the actor's haunting performance in Brokeback that takes on the greatest added poignancy following his death. For it was in the final scenes of that movie that Ledger portrayed someone he now will never get a chance to become in real life: A middle-aged man with a grown daughter.

Rest in peace.

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Omid Djalili’s Tribute to friend and colleague Heath Ledger after the Star’s reported accidental death (*)

“And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!

He was becoming a household name to many movie buffs worldwide particularly for anyone interested in swashbuckling and adventure films in the lines of legendary Hollywood Stars like Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks. He was also a gifted talent whose filmography was shaped by an eclectic choice for bold and difficult roles one of which he will certainly be remembered best was that of the gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar opposite co-star Jake Gyllenhaal in the role of Jack Twist in Ang Lee’s Oscar Nominated Broke Back Mountain. I personally noticed Australian actor Heath Ledger for the first time in a wonderful medieval movie A Knight’s Tale that reinvented the classic Technicolor film genre that was so popular up to the 1950’s by adding a modern twist in the musical score. I had followed his work with some delight over the years seeing him play the lead in Romantic Adventure films like the remake of a Hollywood Classic The Four Feathers the script of which was written by an British Iranian Oscar® nominee screenwriter Hossein Amini who has since been very successful in Hollywood. But like many other Iranians of the Diaspora I will most probably associate Heath Ledger to his last romantic lead role in his short but brilliant career, that of Venetian Lover Casanova opposite another British Iranian Omid Djalili who played Casanova’s sidekick Lupo ( a role for which Djalili was awarded the Persian Golden Lioness Award® in Budapest in 2006 for Best Actor). It was therefore with some surprise and sadness that I learned upon turning on the Radio this morning of Heath Ledger’s sudden death. The cause of death is still not clear but reportedly due to an accidental drug overdose ( prescribed or addictive ?) reminds me of that of another promising star River Phoenix also found dead in similar circumstances when everything seemed to shine for him professionally as in the case of Heather. The movie industry and history is alas filled with similar stories in a profession where personal psychological insecurities seem to haunt many artists talented or not. Is the industry to be blamed for the pressure they put on particularly young actors ? The answer is probably yes as much as the audience itself be it the fans and movie buffs that exist in nearly all of us who love this medium and dream industry that Hollywood represents at large. If the exact cause of death will probably be found sooner or later and the private life of Mr. Ledger will be scrutinized through all angels by friends, family and certainly journalists the best way of honoring Heath Ledger’s memory for those who admired him as an actor or fellow colleague is to simply watch his films and onscreen dashing chivalry immortalized thanks to his gifted talent.

Omid Djalili was one of those fellow colleagues of his who got to know the man on a professional and personal level while shooting Lasse Hallström film Casanova in 2005. He has shared his reaction and sorrow upon learning the sad news of Ledger’s demise:

Sad, sad, tragic news of the accidental death. Heath Ledger was a great friend and it was with shock and utter disbelief I heard the news on my mobile phone at The Ginglik Comedy Club last night after I had done a warm up spot. I shared the news with Jim Jeffries as he is an Aussie comic and was at University with him and more importantly as he had just come off stage (didn’t tell you Reg as you were about to go on). I don’t believe for a second it was intentional, Heath was a sportsman before he was an actor and to my knowledge not into hard drugs. He was however a consummate professional when it came to acting and I understand he was having trouble sleeping after he immersed himself in the role of the Joker in the latest Batman movie which he only just finished, and was taking sleeping pills to help him take his mind off the role. We spent four months together in Venice shooting “Casanova” where I played his sidekick “Lupo” and found him to be warm, sensitive, vibrant with a brilliant sense of humour. We had a truly wonderful time together, especially playing Perudo with a core group that included Sienna Miller, Oliver Platt, Nat Dormer, Charlie Cox, Ben Moore, Adelmo Togliani and my trainer Martin Turk. After “Brokeback Mountain” and an Oscar Nomination there is no doubt in my mind that we have lost someone who at 28 and with his whole life ahead of him, and having the respect of his fellow pros and the whole industry, was sure to be one of the great actors. Michael Caine, having seen a rough cut, has already described his turn as The Joker in the upcoming Batman movie as one of the great screen performances of our time. This is a tragic and major loss. (From Omid Djalili’s Blog)

Ironically Heath Ledger’s very last role was that of a Villian: The Joker reprising that of Jack Nicholson in the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight. A tragic Finale for an actor whose onscreen persona will be recorded as the Romantic Lead in the never ending visual chapters of Cinema …

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Wednesday's autopsy was unable to determine how Heath Ledger died, say officials. Additional tests and more time are required.

"The autopsy was inconclusive," New York City Medical Examiner spokeswoman Ellen Borakove tells PEOPLE. "We have to do further testing including toxicology and tissue testing. Neither cause of death or manner of death has been concluded. We expect additional results in 10 days to two weeks."

The 28-year-old star's body was found in the bedroom of his downtown New York City apartment, with prescription sleeping medication nearby.

Another medical-examiner's office spokeswoman, Grace Brugess, also told PEOPLE on Wednesday that Ledger's body is ready to be claimed by the family, which, she said, is still working on funeral arrangements.

Ledger had pneumonia at the time of his death, PEOPLE has confirmed.


Pneumonia Ruled Out
Yet Michael Baden, a prominent forensic pathologist not involved with the investigation, tells PEOPLE that if the pneumonia had been the cause of the actor's death, that would have been evident in Wednesday's initial results, given that it is "readily identifiable at the time of autopsy, because the lungs, instead of being filled with air, are filled with fluid, and we die from pneumonia because we can't breathe."

He notes: "I would assume under the circumstances that if he'd die of pneumonia that would be clearly stated, because of concerns from the family."

As for the meaning of "inconclusive," Baden said, "My interpretation means they didn't find a proper cause of death. That kind of rules out the natural causes, such as a brain hemorrhage, pneumonia or a cardiac abnormality that is common in that age group. That leaves drug overdose as the most likely cause of death."

He adds, "That still needs an interpretation as to intentional or unintentional, but that's done by gathering information about his mental health and his recreational activities by interviewing physicians, neighbors, friends and family."