It is such a shame really if his whole career/legacy comes down to his role in Broke Back Mountain.
It is a shame that ppl cannot focus on the real person and not the actor even when they pass away.
He was a good actor and played many different roles, not just a gay bloke.

I remember lusting after him back when "10 Things I Hate About U" came out. ( hey he was cute and had a great accent.)

What a shame. I hope they find out what happened and I hope ppl can let him rest in peace and remember him for his great acting and the person he was when he was not acting. A son, brother, father, friend.....

didn't Gerald Levert die because he took to many prescription meds or mixed them with over the counter meds?

Be careful what you take people, don't mix medications, do research about interactions and please don't drink and take meds.


This is just a tragedy. I am so sad about this, my youngest daughter cried last night and couldn't understand why she felt so bad and I told her what stymie had posted, that it was ok to be sad when someone who's work you loved died.


thanks stymie for the words that comforted my kid

What???! This is really very shocking. So young.

this is really sad. ive been so stoked for the new batman. heath just looks so fucking amazing as the joker, and i cannot believe he wont be around to see the audience reaction to it.

These news stories are like the "telephone game". One news report says...


(MSNBC News Services) NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment in a possible drug-related death, police said. He was 28.

According to the New York Times, Ledger was found naked and unconscious with pills strewn all around him in an apartment owned by actress Mary-Kate Olsen.


and another that just came out on CNN says...


"...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."

for all you mainstream Heath fans do yourself a favour and watch some of his Aussie movies, his Hollywood movies are crap in comparison....except for Batman which will be awesome no matter what!...and perhaps Brokeback Mountain

kcwm said:

Ahem...I am an Aussie...and I have seen them

It's a dayum shame.....

shanti0608 said:

Most of our lives will be reduced to a sound bite once we're gone (if we are remembered at all!). In the grand scheme of things, being remembered for his role in "Brokeback Mountain", a major motion picture, won't be such a bad thing. He touched a lot of peoples' hearts playing the character of Ennis Del Mar. His role also gave the world a lot to think about in regards to how sexuality is considered in our culture today. Ennis Del Mar was so much more than just a "Gay Bloke". In fact, I hate it when the media speaks of his role in that movie as being that of a "Gay Cowboy". I saw him more as just "A Cowboy". Albeit a very complex character, a very deep and introspective man.

I also look forward to catching up with the other roles he played mentioned in this thread, he seemed to me to be an excellent actor. May Heath be resting peacefully.

PDogz said:

I was talking more about how ppl get fixated on one character. I think he did a great job in Broke Back Mountain as well as Patriot. I just think it is a shame that his real character as a human being will be over shadowed by one role.
That's all.

I guess that is what happens when you are an actor/actress.

shanti0608 said:

I don't understand these comments. It's as if your thoughts about this man are shaped by the media. I hope that is NOT the case.

Graycap23 said:

No it is NOT the case..that is why I said what I put in bold.
I am speaking more about how religious groups are uptight because he played a gay character in a movie. He was a human being not that one character.

shanti0608 said:

These groups have NOTHING 2 hang their hats on. They should be ignored.

This may have already been mentioned, but I heard on Larry King that Heath had pneumonia? So maybe his death was caused by a number of contributing factors. He might have had an underlying undiagnosed condition, too?

I had pneumonia once, and I didn't realize how very sick I was. I just thought had a bad, lingering cold. I had to go to the emergency room and was lucky I wasn't admitted to the hospital. They just gave me some antibiotics, and I improved even by the next day. The thing is I was very, very tired for a month after. It really took a lot out of me.

I thought Heath was amazing in Brokeback Mountain. The fact he was playing a gay man really didn't have a lot to do with anything for me. His performance was just incredible, I think. So I think he would be proud to be remembered for such an incredible performance. I hear his work as The Joker is pretty damn good, too.

My husband told me that Heath was initially considered for Josh Brolin's role in No Country for Old Men? I would imagine that it was too close to what he already played in Brokeback, so he passed, or maybe there were scheduling conflicts or something like that? Anyway, I could really see him playing Josh Brolin's part. That's not to say Brolin wasn't excellent because he was. I didn't even recognize him at first. But I'm just saying, I thought Heath was really wonderful in Brokeback. Sure.. it was so ironic that his character was gay, but then again the role was more than about the character being gay, if that makes any sense...

Well.. whatever happened, may Heath Ledger rest in peace. He will be missed by a lot of people, obviously.
[Edited 1/23/08 6:59am]

This all very sad and sudden. Heath was (is) an excellent actor. His "greatness" in film was only beginning to rise.

Rest In Peace Heath and Many blessings and strength to his family and daughter.


~J

lazycrockett said:

The Batman movie is in the can,,, he was working on another film

Initial Ledger Autopsy Proves Inconclusive

People.om
1/23/08

Wednesday's autopsy to determine how Heath Ledger died has been called inconclusive. 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.

Michael Baden, a prominent forensic pathologist not involved with the investigation, said before the initial autopsy that the tests Wednesday would determine whether the death was from natural causes.

"It's important to determine if this is a natural death or if it was a drug overdose," said Baden, suggesting that there are "natural things that cause death in young people in their 20s, like the rupture of an aneurysm around the brain or heart disease or pneumonia."

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

Adds Baden: "If there's no natural cause of death ... then it becomes more likely that it's a drug overdose. That will depend on toxicology and that may take a few days to a few weeks."
[Edited 1/23/08 8:00am]

This is so sad. Heath was a very good actor and would've only gotten better with maturity. His performance in Broke Back Mountain was so touching and real. He had so much potential. Very sad indeed.

No matter what anyone says I would NEVER believe for a second that he took his own life purposefully.

lovemachine said:

Do you think anybody here is unaware that people die every day? It is what it is and I don't think people should have to apologise or feel guilty for how they feel over this. If they feel sad over Heath Ledger's death owing to feeling they 'know' him or his 'ability to act' or otherwise it's still valid. Maybe this is just the way we are, and I don't see anything wrong in this. This just strikes a chord. It's highlighted as he's a known celebrity but it's just a microcosm of how people feel about the loss of life of a young person with so much to offer. It's frankly ridiculous to attempt to make people feel guilty about not mourning the deaths of all the many people that die every day that they never have the opportunity to know in any way whatsoever. It's just not based in any kind of reality. This is how we are. We've seen Heath Ledger in movies. He's a young man who died way too young. As I said, maybe it just strikes a chord, and it's a reminder. Mourn the death of somebody you don't know, whose name you don't know, who lives in a country you've never visited, just like you would mourn the loss of someone in your family before you come and post this. We may be flawed but we are in general compassionate and genuine. This is a microcosm of general regret, sadness, mortality and fear when it comes to the nature of human life.

Am I the only one who enjoyed watching him in "The Patriot?"

PaisleyPark5083 said:

I enjoyed watching him in all his films - even the shitty ones.

JustErin said:

I never thought of The Patriot as a shitty one, nevertheless...he will be missed

Fauxie said:

Exactly! People do die everyday, but i think often it takes something like this to make everyone focus on a greater issue. If this turns out, to be a death that resulted because doctors prescribed him something that maybe he shouldnt have been taking because he had a lingering health issue i think it will bring ALOT of light on how distrustful we really should be of doctors and this "legal" durg industry that kills more people than anything else. Now its possible it could have been a straight suicide, or maybe not, maybe it was a death caused by one of these "side effects". It really doesnt take much to kill a person and alot of times there are silent killers inside of us that are never detected. About 20 years i had a really bad ear infection and fever and HAD to go to a doctor and when he checked me he found that i had a slight heart "murmur", well it was no big deal but i later found out that certain pain killers if taken by someone that has any form of heart murmur could die from it, just the combo. And of course i will always recall the death of actor JOHN RITTER which was the saddest thing and really showed how doctors know less than nothing. They thought he was coming down with the flu, because he was pale, chills, vomiting, but as we later found out something around his heart had burst and it could have helped but no one checked it till too late and he died in surgery when they released what it really was. So maybe from this, if it does turn out to be a accidental death brought on by prescribed "legal" drugs, than maybe more light will be brought on that subject.

JustErin said:

"It was hard stamina wise because a High level of energy were needed and required everyday"

He could have been relying on stimulants to give him that high energy.

The arm thing is very very tweakish.

From James Dean to River Phoenix to Heath Ledger, great actors dying young is not a new concept. But it hits you hard each time.

Ledger's Brokeback Mountain performance was among the best I've seen in at least 10 years. I knew he had skills when I saw Monster's Ball, but he really set himself apart in BM. His performance as the Joker was probably the one role I was waiting to see this year more than any other.

It really doesn't matter how he went out. I personally think his reported pneumonia played a critical role in his death. But either way, it's a doggone shame. Rest in peace.

shanti0608 said:

I actually think that's quite an amazing legacy to leave. He could have shied away from the role because of internal issues or pressure from family, friends and society. Yet he took the role and he made it his own. I think it was very brave and bold of him to take on such a role so young in his life.

Who knows what happened?

We've all see these commercials and dropping dead from a couple pills is one of the side effects of most of these medicines.

NDRU said:

yes

PaisleyPark5083 said:

I did!!! and he died in it

such a shame this whole thing