NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan apartment, and police said drugs may have been a factor. The Australian-born actor was 28. Police said Ledger was naked in his bed with an unknown number of sleeping pills near the body.

Ledger had an appointment for a massage at a residence in the tony SoHo neighborhood, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said. A housekeeper who went to let him know the massage therapist had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m.

A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building on an upscale block, where several police officers guarded the door. The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy on Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

While not a marquee movie star, Ledger was a respected, award-winning actor who took his craft seriously rather than cashing in on his heartthrob looks. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," where he met Michelle Williams, who played his wife in the film. The two had a daughter, Matilda, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year.

Ledger most recently appeared in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan -- as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.

Ledger had finished filming his role as the Joker this year in "The Dark Knight," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins."

He's had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot," and played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball." He also played a heroin addict in the 2006 Australian film "Candy."

Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts. He met Watts while working on "The Lords of Dogtown," a fictionalized version of a cult classic skateboarding documentary, in 2004.

Ledger was born in 1979 in Perth, in western Australia, to a mining engineer and a French teacher, and got his first acting role playing Peter Pan at age 10 at a local theater company. He began acting in independent films as a 16-year-old in Sydney and played a cyclist hoping to land a spot on an Olympic team in a 1996 television show, "Seat."

After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles at age 19 and co-starred opposite Julia Stiles in "10 Things I Hate About You," a teen comedy reworking of "The Taming of the Shrew." His movie career caught on soon after that, culminating with his Academy Award nomination for "Brokeback Mountain."

"Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan said earlier this month that Ledger's performance as the Joker would be wildly different than Jack Nicholson's memorable turn in 1989's "Batman."

"It was a very great challenge for Heath," Nolan had said. "He's extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic."

___

oh my god, i just heard


WHY HEATH LEDGER, WHY?

i just heard about this. how tragic.

One of my kids where doing some channel flicking when i seen the announcement on some morning show.Fuck it's a real shame, not only for the fans but his family,friends ect.I'm pretty gobsmacked because i have always had a soft spot for his work and he was one of my favorite actors.Yet another great talent gone to waste@ only 28.
RIP HEATH He will be missed

^ Agreed
its such a shame

wow... I posted that 3 hours after he was found... the media is INSANE

Awww

I cant believe it! Its so...weird....hes not someone i would have ever thought to end up this way!

Awww

I cant believe it! Its so...weird....hes not someone i would have ever thought to end up this way!

My true reaction will come after seeing THE DARK KNIGHT

Yeah it will be weird seeing that now

The media dont miss a thing, I first heard and it was said to be only an hour after

*sobs*
He was so great. I can't believe it

WHYYYYYYYYYYY!

it seems impossible, but I guess it is he is human

but why take himmmmmm I mean take Paris Hilton for gods sake.

I herd about it at 9am this morning. One and a half hours after he was found.

It so tragic, I loved him. He was so fantastic and talented.

I just found out about it here
It's such a shame and it's hard to believe.
Man, he was only 28!

I heard about it yesterday evening on CNN


+1




He was great in Brokeback Mountain... ()

RIP...

...WHAT?!?!? Delayed until 2009?!?!?!?

This is just tragic. Another great talent lost.

why would they delay it??? The sooner to his death that it comes out the more public interest it would have... not to sound like an apathetic industry asshole or anything

It makes sense for it to be released sooner rather than later.Maybe it's been pushed back due to respect for his family.He had just started working on another movie and rather than find another actor to play the part that have scrapped the movie altogether or so we have been told which i think is a good idea.

do you think it was a suicide?

No all the new reports I've come across are leaning more towards accidental. I havn't even sought out the news.... it just pops up at me everytime I check my email.

I still ... refuse to believe it. I mean, it just seems so wrong in every way. I never even cared about him that much, until now. But now that he gone ... it just made me cry a whole lot.
I hate how every other piece of news I came across labels him as a 'gay cowboy'. He wasn't a stupid adult cartoon character of some sort, he was a talented actor with a much broader spectrum of work. And he shouldn't've died, damnit.

And thos pro-Christian/anit-gay/I'm right, everyone else is worng activists are happy that he died because they believe that his role in Brokeback Mountain made him gay or made him a fag enabler!
I'm sorry-but THAT'S JUST FUCKING BULLSHIT! Heath Ledger was a talenet and respected actor with a lot going for him and a lot to live for.
It's just sad that he died in a very Marilyn Monroe-esque way, but he was in no way gay or a drug addict! You don't become gay after you've done a role!

Even if he were gay, what would it change? Why would it matter? I'm shocked that those people wouldn't let him rest in peace, instead they go around passing judgements on him while he hasn't even been dead for more than a couple of days. It's disrespectful and it's a disgrace. His death is a tragedy and yet all some people think it's right to use it as a mean to fulfil their agenda and voice their prehistoric little minds.

Exactly!

He did have some problems earlier on with drugs, but I'm not saying he died because of an addiction. I keep seeing it on the news and it doesn't make sense that he died, it's just.. I can't believe it.

Amen

That's stupid too, though.

They didn't push The Crow back because of Brandon Lee's death.

If I were the ghost of Heath Ledger I wouldn't want it pushed back.

yeah, apparently they're planning to protest at his funeral.
so much for being devout christians, i mean they dont even have any fucking respect for the dead.

^ And he's not here to defend himself. I read that they said his death was the best thing that could have happened to his family They make me fucking sick

Thats the Westboro Baptist nuts... I havn't heard of any others being happy about it. They're KNOWN for not having respect for the dead... they picket at soldiers funerals all the time. Its a really small church mostly consisting of family members.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_baptist

THe studio has that date set. They set that date a food three to four years before the movie comes out.

Nevermind, it's just a rumor.

The original date still stands

I couldn't even find the rumor anywhere...

I was like... does Mo have some insider information here?

Now Heath Ledger's death has been linked to The Vines, thanks to Alex Turner, apparently.

ITV.com reports:
Alex Turner's Ledger tribute
Published: Friday, 25 January 2008, 1:57PM

Arctic Monkeys star Alex Turner performed a mock tribute to the late Heath Ledger on Tuesday night (22.01.08).

The 22-year-old musician's covers group The Pun Lovin' Criminals dedicated The Vines' 'Get Free' to Ledger during a concert at London's Madame JoJo's, just hours after his death has been confirmed.

The band's frontman Fred Les told the crowd: "The Vines are Australian so this one's for Heath Ledger."

He then bizarrely added: "Apparently Heath's last words were 'Remember The Vines'."

The Pun Lovin' Criminals - whose name is a play on that of US band The Fun Lovin' Criminals - was formed by Dev Hynes, from the band Lightspeed Champion.

Other band members include The Rascals' bassist Joe Edwards and Ferry Gouw, singer and guitarist for the Semifinalists.

'Brokeback Mountain' star Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment on Tuesday (22.01.08).


source: http://www.itv.com/Entertainment/celebrity...er-tribute.html
Well. All I can say is: UH?

I know it's the wrong thing to laugh at.

good god....

what. the.

What a nut

I'm very excited to see the new Batman movie I already know Heath was excellent in it.

He sure is

poor old heath ledger...one of the best australian actors of our time...

If you really mean that, then that's not really saying much...

il garbage

no it's from this movie called Silent Night Deadly Night 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7gIpuIVE3k

na they had to get someone else to play a few scenes. I cant remember who.

they talked about it a shit load on tv when it happened so Im wondering what rock you were under when it happened?

Dude, it's a spammer because it's been nearly two years since he died.