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| Heath Ledger Found DEAD!! People Reports |
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| Heath Ledger was found dead at his New York residence, a police spokesman has confirmed to the Associated Press. He was 28.
Police say the death may be drug-related. The NYPD spokesman tells AP that Ledger had a massage appointment at his Manhattan apartment. When the housekeeper went to alert Ledger the masseuse was there, she found him dead at around 3:26 p.m.
The Perth, Australia, native was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for 2005's Brokeback Mountain, on whose set he met – and began a romantic relationship with – Michelle Williams. 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. |
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| Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at his downtown Manhattan residence, according to the New York City Police Department. He was 28.
NYPD spokeswoman Stephanie Jaramillo told FOXNews.com that Ledger was discovered by his housekeeper at his apartment on Broome Street in the Soho section of New York City and was pronounced dead at 3:35 p.m. EST.
Jaramillo declined to comment on the cause of death, saying only that "the investigation is still ongoing."
But The New York Post reported that Ledger died of a possible drug overdose and his apartment was strewn with pills.
Click here for photos.
Ledger had an appointment for a massage at his Manhattan apartment, NYPD spokesman Paul Browne told The Associated Press. The housekeeper went to let Ledger know the masseuse had arrived and found him dead, according to Browne.
The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," where he met his wife, actress Michelle Williams, in 2005. Ledger and Williams had lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.
RelatedPhoto Essays
Actor Heath Ledger Dead at 28 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."
The Associated Press contributed to this report |
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| All true, Aussie TV is buzzing! Even our Prime Minister issued a statement
Wednesday January 23, 11:36 AM
Heath Ledger found dead in NY apartment
Australian-born actor Heath Ledger has been found dead in a New York apartment in a suspected drug-related death. He was 28.
Police said Ledger was naked in his bed with an unknown number of pills nearby.
A housekeeper and masseuse found the actor, the father of two-year-old Matilda Rose, at 3.30pm on Tuesday (0730 AEDT) in a bedroom in the Soho apartment, police said.
They called paramedics, who pronounced him dead at the scene.
Pills were found near Ledger's body.
"I don't know what types of pill, but yes pills were found around the body," a New York Police Department spokesman told Sky News in Australia.
"Apparently the housekeeper last heard him at noon today. She heard him in (the bedroom) there at noon."
A crowd of paparazzi and onlookers gathered early Tuesday evening outside the building, where several police officers guarded the door.
The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy on Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.
NYPD Detectives and the Medical Examiner would conduct a thorough investigation, but Ledger's death is not believed to be suspicious.
"As of right now there does not appear to be any criminality at all," the spokesman said.
The news has sent shockwaves around the world.
Ledger was taking sleeping pills after completing I'm Not There, in which he played one of the many incarnations of singer Bob Dylan.
He told The New York Times in a November interview that he "stressed out a little too much" during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy".
"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the Times.
"I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He said he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour, the paper said.
Ledger, who was nominated for a best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a gay cowboy in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, had separated from his former fiancee Michelle Williams in September.
The pair, who met on the set of the Ang Lee-directed drama, were the parents of Matilda but split last year.
Before settling down with Williams, Ledger had relationships with actresses Heather Graham and Naomi Watts.
Lee had hailed Ledger's performance as a miracle of acting, reminiscent of a young Marlon Brando.
Ledger lost the Oscar for best actor in 2006 to Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
Ledger was born in Perth on April 4, 1979 to Sally Ledger Bell and her then husband, Kim Ledger.
Ledger's father-in-law, prominent US stock trader Larry Williams, remains in Sydney after being arrested here in March 2006 on tax evasion charges.
A spokeswoman for Williams' lawyer, Christopher Watson said that they had not been in contact since hearing news of Ledger's death.
"He will have to speak with Larry Williams first before he can issue any statement," she said.
The blond heartthrob first came to prominence by acting as a homosexual athlete in little-known Australian television series, Sweat, in 1996.
A 19-year-old Ledger left Sydney for Hollywood, where his standout talent was spotted by Mel Gibson when auditioning 500 actors for the role of his son in The Patriot. The casting was Ledger's first big-time break and led to his leading role in A Knight's Tale.
This month, Ledger had been working on his latest movie, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed by Terry Gilliam, which was due to be released next year.
He also portrayed The Joker in a Batman movie called Dark Knight to be released later this year.
One of Ledger's most critically-acclaimed roles was as a heroin addict in the 2006 Australian movie Candy, in which he starred with Australian Abbie Cornish.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has described as a tragedy the loss of the 28-year-old actor.
"It was with great sadness that I have learned of the passing of Heath Ledger," he said.
"It is tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life.
"Heath Ledger's diverse and challenging roles will be remembered as some of the great performances by an Australian actor."
Mr Rudd said the nation's thoughts were with Ledger's family and close friends, especially his two-year-old daughter Matilda
Fellow Australian Nicole Kidman says her heart goes out to Heath Ledger's family.
"What a terrible tragedy," Kidman said through her publicist Wendy Day.
"My heart goes out to Heath's family.
Mel Gibson has also told of his grief at learning of fellow Australian actor Heath Ledger's death in New York.
"I had such great hope for him," Gibson told the Entertainment Tonight website.
"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."
Gibson has described Ledger as possessing "the unknown factor" that "sort of lights up the screen".
The president of Warner Brothers says the film studio is devastated by the death of Australian actor Heath Ledger.
"The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news," President Alan Horn said in a statement carried on the tmz.com website.
The studio is producing the next Batman film, The Dark Knight, in which Ledger was starring as The Joker.
"The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent.
"Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."
Australian film critic Margaret Pomeranz has described the death as devastating.
Pomeranz said she was shocked by the news of the 28-year-old actor's death.
"I am so upset, I just can't tell you," Pomeranz told ABC radio.
"I mean he is such a talented boy and really, I think a beautiful soul.
"And I think to choose the roles he chose shows such intelligence."
At 10.35am (AEDT), Ledger's body was removed from his New York apartment and wheeled into the back of a medical examiner's van.
A huge crowd of news photographers gathered outside the apartment in the Soho building lit up the scene with flashes as authorities wheeled his body on a trolley from the complex into the van. |
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| Williams 'devastated' by Ledger's death
Heath Ledger's former partner, American actor Michelle Williams, with whom Ledger had a daughter, Matilda, was "devastated" by his death, TMZ reported.
The site said she had boarded a plane to New York.
The 28-year-old Australian actor has been found dead in his New York apartment. Police suspect the death was drugs-related.
But Heath Ledger's family has denied he killed himself, a report said.
Representatives of the family said police had advised them his death was entirely accidental, the TMZ.com website reported.
The site said representatives had made contact to say the Australian actor's family was particularly distraught over media speculation that he may have taken his own life.
He was not that kind of person, the family said.
TMZ also reported that Ledger was sick with pneumonia when he died in New York on Tuesday.
Ledger was found naked in his bed with an unknown number of pills nearby.
A housekeeper and masseuse found the actor, the father of two-year-old Matilda Rose, at 3.30pm on Tuesday (0730 AEDT) in a bedroom in the Soho apartment, police said.
They called paramedics, who pronounced him dead at the scene.
Pills were found near Ledger's body.
"I don't know what types of pill, but yes pills were found around the body," a New York Police Department spokesman told Sky News in Australia.
"Apparently the housekeeper last heard him at noon today. She heard him in (the bedroom) there at noon."
A crowd of paparazzi and onlookers gathered early Tuesday evening outside the building, where several police officers guarded the door.
The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy on Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.
NYPD Detectives and the Medical Examiner would conduct a thorough investigation, but Ledger's death is not believed to be suspicious.
"As of right now there does not appear to be any criminality at all," the spokesman said.
The news has sent shockwaves around the world. |
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| This is very shocking and sad....... |
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