Heath Leder Found Dead

[Jaimoe]

York City police said. (AP Photo)



BY ROCCO PARASCANDOLA | rocco.parascandola@newsday.com
4:51 PM EST, January 22, 2008
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Actor Heath Ledger, one of the stars of "Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in his bed in his Manhattan apartment, at 3:35 p.m., New York City police said Tuesday. He was 28.

Sleeping pills were found in the bed around him, police said.

Until recently, Ledger lived in Brooklyn. Police said Ledger's body was found after a masseuse arrived at the apartment in lower Manhattan. A housekeeper, who let the masseuse in, believed him to be asleep, police said. The two went into the bedroom and found him nonresponsive, then called 911, police said.

A big crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering outside the building, where several police officers guarded the door. The building is located on an upscale block in SoHo.

The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," where he met actress Michelle Williams in 2005. Ledger and Williams had lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.

Ledger's roles include 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 Night," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins" that recently finished filming.

Ledger was born in 1979, grew up in Perth and began doing amateur theater at age 10. At 16, he moved to Sydney to pursue an acting career, quickly landing TV movie roles and guest spots on Australian television.

After several independent films, Ledger moved to Los Angeles and co-starred 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."

[red]

Damn, that's unexpected.  I wonder how this is going to affect The Dark Knight?

R.I.P.

[Jaimoe]

Damn, that's unexpected.  I wonder how this is going to affect The Dark Knight?

R.I.P.

It'll be an even bigger box-office hit. The film has been in "the can" for a little while now. It's in post-production.

[primushead]

Wow.  That is very surprising.

[Jaimoe]

Heath had just started work on a new film with Terry Gilliam. Fucking bad news all-round and sad also that his young child that will grow-up without her real father.

[dragonboy]

I just saw this on Yahoo. What a huge, horrible shock.

[dragonboy]

I shouldn't imagine it's related but I remember reading somewhere (Empire magazine?) that he struggled to nail the role of the Joker & it caused him a lot of personal stress.

[TheBigChicken]

TOTAL SHOCKER :-[

[IHL]

Sad news, he'll be missed. Good actor.

Last saw him in 'Candy' which was good.

I read too what DB mentioned, apparently he struggled with the Joker role and it left him emotionally dained.

Reminds me of when I heard that River Phoenix had died back in 93 I think....

[dragonboy]

"Heath Ledger autopsy inconclusive"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7205591.stm

[dragonboy]

http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2008-01-24/

Jack Nicholson has hinted he warned tragic Heath Ledger against taking on the role of The Joker in the new Batman film. Ledger, 28 - who was declared dead at 3:30pm at his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday - publicly declared himself exhausted and sleep deprived in November following the grueling shoot for The Dark Knight. He also revealed in an interview with the New York Times he'd resorted to taking sleeping pills - an overdose of which is believed to be the cause of his death - in a desperate bid to catch up on rest. And Nicholson, who famously portrayed the menacing Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 movie Batman, implied to the waiting crowd outside plush London restaurant The Wolesley on Tuesday night he spoke to Ledger about his role in The Dark Knight - and warned him about the pitfalls of taking on such a demanding challenge. When asked by the London crowds for his reaction to Ledger's untimely demise, a defeated Nicholson simply replied, "I told him so." Batman Begins prequel The Dark Knight is due to be released in July.

[TheBigChicken]

http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2008-01-24/

Jack Nicholson has hinted he warned tragic Heath Ledger against taking on the role of The Joker in the new Batman film. Ledger, 28 - who was declared dead at 3:30pm at his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday - publicly declared himself exhausted and sleep deprived in November following the grueling shoot for The Dark Knight. He also revealed in an interview with the New York Times he'd resorted to taking sleeping pills - an overdose of which is believed to be the cause of his death - in a desperate bid to catch up on rest. And Nicholson, who famously portrayed the menacing Joker in Tim Burton's 1989 movie Batman, implied to the waiting crowd outside plush London restaurant The Wolesley on Tuesday night he spoke to Ledger about his role in The Dark Knight - and warned him about the pitfalls of taking on such a demanding challenge. When asked by the London crowds for his reaction to Ledger's untimely demise, a defeated Nicholson simply replied, "I told him so." Batman Begins prequel The Dark Knight is due to be released in July.

I didn't hear about the " I told him so". I did hear Jack say he about ran off the side of a mountain on Ambien. :-/

[ManNamedTruth]

http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2008-01-24/

Batman Begins prequel The Dark Knight is due to be released in July.

that can't be right. how can it be the prequel to the beginning, batman begins. BEGINS being the key word there. plus, i remember a joker card at the end of batman begins.

[dragonboy]

http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2008-01-24/

Batman Begins prequel The Dark Knight is due to be released in July.

that can't be right. how can it be the prequel to the beginning, batman begins. BEGINS being the key word there. plus, i remember a joker card at the end of batman begins.

I didn't think it was a prequel... I guess that's a mistake? You're right about the Jokers card & like you said, Batman Begins was about his origins.