The World of Goo Boards (http://www.musicfanclubs.org/cgi-bin/ggd/YaBB.cgi)
Off Topic Board >> Off Topic Board >> Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
(Message started by: laurengoo on Jan 22nd, 2008, 6:38pm)

Title: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by laurengoo on Jan 22nd, 2008, 6:38pm
Oh noes!  :'(
------------------

(CBS/AP) 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."

Manhattan apartment where Ledger's body was found. (CBS)
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."
Offers for other teen flicks came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like.

"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, `You're crazy,' my parents were like, `Come on, you have to eat."'

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."

Source: http://www.showbuzz.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/22/people_late_great/main3739297.shtml

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by ChickenCookie on Jan 22nd, 2008, 6:45pm
:'( :'( :'(

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by DWG on Jan 22nd, 2008, 7:53pm
It reminds me of when River Phoenix died. Young talents cut short in their prime. Very sad news.

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by rzezniksangel on Jan 22nd, 2008, 8:37pm
I'm still in a total state of shock over this....

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by partygoober on Jan 22nd, 2008, 8:55pm



I'm seriously devastated.

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by CTC on Jan 22nd, 2008, 9:49pm

on 01/22/08 at 20:55:22, partygoober wrote:
I'm seriously devastated.


This news made me think about you.  Very sad...I can't believe how young he was....only 28

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by Shannon on Jan 22nd, 2008, 10:43pm

on 01/22/08 at 20:55:22, partygoober wrote:
I'm seriously devastated.

Me too.  :'( He's been one of my favorites since 10 Things I Hate About You. I just saw Brokeback Mountain a couple weeks ago and was blown away by his performance.  :( :'( :( :'(

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by ChickenCookie on Jan 23rd, 2008, 8:13am
Heath as Ennis del Mar in Brokeback Mountain was as good as it gets.  I can't even think of the last scene of that movie today without bursting into tears.  I am so, so sad.   :'(

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by partygoober on Jan 25th, 2008, 5:48pm
y'know ctc it's funny that you mentioned that you thought of me.....i think i got about 38217592 text messagess from people i went to high school with about my loss....i forgot how much i was obsessed with that man...


i was listening to the radio here the yesterday and a woman from some baptist church was going on how her and memebrs of her church were protesting his memorial service, saying that b/c his movie promoted gays he deserved to die and this is why he died, and that god hates us b/c we allow these kinda things to be promoted...


it was very, unethical........cause i guess when we make movies about murder, god doesn't hate the people in those movies, when a commandment is thall shall not kill

it was just disturbing....the man died, young, and just let it be that....i was just, in shock by this womans harsh words...


Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by Shannon on Jan 25th, 2008, 8:26pm
I heard about that crazy preacher man who was going to protest with his congregation for the same reasons. That kind of judgmental, untolerant CRAP drives me crazy. Those people and the media just need to leave his family alone to grieve.

I can't even imagine trying to grieve and bury a loved one with the media constantly in your face waiting for your every emotion. And, on top of that having the crazies say he "deserved to die". That must be so horrible.

I'm still so incredibly sad about this. :'(

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by laurengoo on Jan 25th, 2008, 11:29pm
I am so saddened by his death. Heath was an amazing actor. Very talented, and a loving father....My sympathies go out for his family and Michelle, she's the one who's going to tell her daughter that she's never going to see her father again. That breaks my heart :(

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by The Cerulean O on Jan 27th, 2008, 3:50am
A small piece of me died when I heard. :(

I've only seen a few of his things, but that was all it took to know he was wonderful actor. A Knight's Tale is one of my very favorite movies. And he was so young...Who knows what he could have done?
I think, when we get settled in AZ, I'll make my mom rent all of his movies. We'll have a little Memorial Marathon.

You know, this is a very strange situation...I keep feeling sort of like he isn't dead....Like he's in a coma or something, and the papers will all say he's okay tomorrow morning....Wishful thinking, I know.
You know what I can't stand, though? Most of the articles I've read have been leaning towards suicide...Am I being naive in thinkig that it could have been an acident? I mean..First of all, the man was 28 years old, he was a brilliant actor, he had a daughter, he seemed happy to me..And he just didn't seem the type. There was no suicide note, and the autopsy was inconclusive. So...Y'know...shut up.

This is a tragic loss.
Here, I made this up the other day...Feel free to use it:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c103/Mavroreen/Random/HeahLedger.jpg

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by lionhill on Jan 27th, 2008, 5:21am
I've never been a huge fan, but I loved A Knight's Tale, and when someone as talented as him goes away..
I was really bummed out the whole day. I still get sad when I think about it.

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by ChickenCookie on Jan 28th, 2008, 4:56am
I, for one, am never going to believe it was suicide.  Everything points to his being a devoted, loving father to Matilda.  I just don't believe he would have chose to end his own life that way.  

But I know what you mean about waiting to hear he's just in a coma.  I still can't wrap my head around the fact he's gone.  Every day for 5 days afterward, I would wake up, hoping to hear news it was all some sick practical joke.  When the sad realization hit that it wasn't, I would mourn his loss all over again.

As for those so-called 'Christians' who are protesting Heath's funeral ... there's got to be a special place in hell for them.  And I hope there is.  >:(

Title: Re: Heath Ledger Found Dead In NYC
Post by The Cerulean O on Feb 27th, 2008, 11:39pm
You know what's horrible? When I heard that it was actually ruled an accidental overdose, I was happy! It wasn't suicide, yaaaay! But then I sort of realized....Oh yeah...Still dead...:(

I rented Casanova from the library last week, and, while I still prefer the David Tennant mini-series (cuz David Tennant is bloody brilliant--Have you SEEN Doctor Who?), it was a lovely film, and I want to buy it.



The World of Goo Boards » Powered by YaBB 1 Gold - SP 1.3.1!
YaBB � 2000-2003. All Rights Reserved.