The obligatory “Heath Ledger found dead” post; Update: Accidental? Update: Drug problem? Update: Or pneumonia? Update: “[W]e saw it coming”
posted at 5:01 pm on January 22, 2008 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | printer-friendly
Not our normal beat but I actually gasped when I heard, and it looks like I’m not the only one. Seemed like a clean-cut guy by Hollywood standards: (estranged) wife and young daughter, no legal troubles. But note well:
At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. The police said they did not suspect foul play and said they found pills near body.
Too bad. And a tough call for the “Dark Knight” producers.
Update: “[P]ills strewn all around him.”
Update: A photo caption at Newsday says it was sleeping pills, but who knows.
Update: The Post says they were sleeping pills too, although it’s unclear if the OD was accidental or intentional.
Update: Cops tell TMZ it was an accident.
Update: TMZ says a friend of Ledger’s says he had a drug problem but had been clean for more than a year.
Update: The plot thickens. TMZ says he might have had pneumonia.
Update: Sounds like a troubled guy.
“This is terrible and I’m in shock,” a close friend of Ledger’s tells Usmagazine.com. “But to tell you the truth… we saw it coming.”
“Heath has gone though a rough road of trying to get sober,” the source tells Us.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
Shades of Aaliyah. who died after that vampire movie a few years ago; but before its release in theatres.
lorien1973 on January 22, 2008 at 5:03 PM
Completely out of the blue. RIP.
Spirit of 1776 on January 22, 2008 at 5:03 PM
uh…whoops?
Wind Rider on January 22, 2008 at 5:04 PM
Damn.
Am I a terrible person because I thought this was a hoax at first? Because that was my first thought, I hate to say.
Number 2 on January 22, 2008 at 5:06 PM
They are probably wondering “can we get the movie out earlier?”
lorien1973 on January 22, 2008 at 5:07 PM
No, I thought the same thing.
RIP.
emailnuevo on January 22, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Don’t worry, I had the same though reverse reaction — sadness and then wondering if it was a hoax — simply because this came out of the blue. We were all hoping it was the latter.
Vizzini on January 22, 2008 at 5:08 PM
If you go see it, keep your eye on juror #12 during the Aaron Eckhart/Eric Roberts court room scene.
;)
yo on January 22, 2008 at 5:08 PM
What the hell, man?
He was about to possibly have the first good performance of his life on the big screen, and he dies?
What a shame. RIP, and condolences to his loved ones.
MadisonConservative on January 22, 2008 at 5:09 PM
I thought it was an internet gag. After all, he seemed so clean cut.
Oh well…
Tim Burton on January 22, 2008 at 5:09 PM
Good actor.
It’s a shame. RIP.
StoutRepublican on January 22, 2008 at 5:09 PM
The Dark Knight’s in post production. I guess they’ll go on with showing the movie. Still very sad.
jayj on January 22, 2008 at 5:10 PM
The obligatory, “And he was so young”, comment.
JayHaw Phrenzie on January 22, 2008 at 5:10 PM
Fred can’t even get front page against a dead gay cowboy.
pecan pie on January 22, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Sad.
JoeBrooks on January 22, 2008 at 5:12 PM
He was great in Brokeback Mou…errr nevermind.
CABE on January 22, 2008 at 5:12 PM
Good night, Funnyman.
Vincenzo on January 22, 2008 at 5:13 PM
I had the exact same reaction. It is fairly unbelievable so my mind went striaght to hoax. It is a sad loss. RIP
infidel2 on January 22, 2008 at 5:13 PM
RIP. Watching the Dark Knight will be very weird now, like watching the Crow.
I feel bad for his daughter.
World B. Free on January 22, 2008 at 5:14 PM
And the obligatory, “but for the grace of God go I.”
It reminds you that things may look great on the surface…but underneath, maybe not.
R.I.P.
asc85 on January 22, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Unfunny.
RIP Heath Ledger. God Bless your family.
The Race Card on January 22, 2008 at 5:16 PM
Real nice…you should be proud.
JetBoy on January 22, 2008 at 5:16 PM
And now everyone knows you’re a loser. Fantastic.
emailnuevo on January 22, 2008 at 5:17 PM
I too thought it was a hoax, or a publicity stunt of some sort. Bottle of pills found, estranged wife, he never struck me as the suicide (or the drug using for that matter) type.
As for Dark Knight being his first good role, he was good in the Patriot.
srhoades on January 22, 2008 at 5:18 PM
Nothing about the Hollywood set surprises me. I am surprised so many of you are surprised.
FATE. R.I.P.
redrock on January 22, 2008 at 5:20 PM
It bothers me greatly when when a young life is gone. Hollywood actor or not.. it’s sad.
GoodBoy on January 22, 2008 at 5:21 PM
It’s a shame when a person dies young, but this doesn’t affect my life at all.
RWLA on January 22, 2008 at 5:21 PM
It’s quite the surprise, but immediately upon hearing it on the news, I told my wife that they’d find drugs or drug paraphernalia nearby. Tragic, how our minds automatically jump there, when it comes to Hollywood deaths. And of course, in situations like this, your heart always goes out not only to the family, but to the kid in particular.
Pope Linus on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
Damn! I almost picked him as one of my three in the KFI John and Ken Dead Pool contest!!!! That would’ve been worth a lot of points…oh well, at least I had Allan Melvin.
Andy in Agoura Hills on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
Totally shocking and very sad, especially cause he has a little girl. RIP Heath.
mattyj86 on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
Wow! You know, it is always more shocking when it is a star who, for the most part, stays out of the lime light.
Weight of Glory on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
I met him at a party here in LA. He was stoned out of his mind at the time. Don’t know where you got the clean cut image from…every single actor in hollywood is a coke head and liberal.
HaraldHardrada on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
Fred can’t even get front page against a dead gay cowboy.
Lame.
mattyj86 on January 22, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Live by the sword, die by the sword. This Hollywierd set is flirting with very deadly lifestyles.
Charles Martel on January 22, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Prayers for his daughter…
I can’t believe it. Brad Renfro, I can understand, but this is just sad.
rosewaning on January 22, 2008 at 5:24 PM
He was very good in the Patriot. Lest we forget, many of these actors begin pretty fragile in the head anyway. The shallow and back-stabbing industry they work in only increases the insanity. More actors are a more miserable lot than many would expect.
Very sad. RIP.
Sugar Land on January 22, 2008 at 5:24 PM
It seems they say that about anyone near whom a pill container is found. The police generally jump to the overdose conclusion, but it can be wrong. I guess it’s just a judgment based on Occam’s Razor meeting with a system and public hungry for information, but it’s kind of presumptuous at this point.
calbear on January 22, 2008 at 5:24 PM
If I was somehow convinced/bribed/threatened to star in Brokeback – I would have been found dead soon after too……
KMC1 on January 22, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Sad. He had a little kid. Was a talented actor with everything to live for. This makes the dark Knight that much darker.
Vote Sauron 08 on January 22, 2008 at 5:25 PM
Not sure I see this. The film’s almost certainly in the can by now, and Ledger’s work is long-finished. It will add a certain eerie resonance to it, the way that Brandon Lee’s death did to The Crow, but I don’t expect Ledger’s death to impact the film substantively.
Kensington on January 22, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Very sad, God bless his daughter.
Heath, you were great in “The Patriot”, but you were more than the sum of your acting work.
Tony737 on January 22, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Too bad his last role is doing a bad impression of Christian Slater doing a bad impression of Jack Nicholson.
Kasper Hauser on January 22, 2008 at 5:28 PM
I feel really sorry for his ex, Michelle Williams, who will one day have to explain this to their daughter.
MayBee on January 22, 2008 at 5:28 PM
How long until we see Fred Phelps or Pat Robertson preaching that this is due to God’s wrath against gays? Which one of the two will be first?
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 5:28 PM
That goes to show you wow absurd your priorities become on dope.
The guy had everything Christopher Reeve did not.
All things, even your life is cheap when you’re on drugs.
TheSitRep on January 22, 2008 at 5:29 PM
He looked really good as the Joker, too. From some of the photos that were released, it seemed he would be absolutely magnificent.
I’m kinda shocked myself. Will say a prayer for him and his family. RIP.
robblefarian on January 22, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Maybe he couldn’t take the news of Fred dropping out.
TheSitRep on January 22, 2008 at 5:29 PM
My wife will be upset.. she’s always had a crush on him. Can’t say it’s like losing Mel Gibson or Tom Hanks, but a pretty surprising loss all the same. RIP
Luckedout on January 22, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Wow. Our culture is jaded.
RIP Heath Ledger. You were a fine actor.
My favorite role of his is still 10 Things I Hate About You. Teen flick done perfectly.
spmat on January 22, 2008 at 5:31 PM
That was just wrong.
OK, it was funny- but still wrong.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Nah, they were just keeping it brutally honest…
Tim Burton on January 22, 2008 at 5:33 PM
Phelps will, Robertson won’t if he has a brain.
Vizzini on January 22, 2008 at 5:33 PM
“Gasp” is right.
tree hugging sister on January 22, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Apparently he was found in Mary Kate Olsen’s apartment
RoPa4life on January 22, 2008 at 5:34 PM
It gets stranger…I’m hearing it was possibly Mary-Kate Olsen’s apartment…
JetBoy on January 22, 2008 at 5:36 PM
“Heath-alanche©” ?
CABE on January 22, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Fuck you. Asshole.
Baphomet on January 22, 2008 at 5:37 PM
Apparently, he
quit you.
Fox reporting that the apartment he died in is Mary Kate Olsen’s. Prepare for 30 days of Heath Ledger reportage.
RIP, dude. We’ll be a freakshow down here.
Pablo on January 22, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Weird. Were they dating? Foul play? The plot thickens.
Vizzini on January 22, 2008 at 5:38 PM
Sad :-(
For the record, when I die, I hope that no one posts about my death out of a feeling of obligation. That would be the worst.
tikvah on January 22, 2008 at 5:39 PM
I’ll pray for families of these fine men.
lowandslow on January 22, 2008 at 5:39 PM
How did this get past the censor software???? Hmmmm??? Did AP turn it off for this thread??? I thought the f-word is verboten.
Andy in Agoura Hills on January 22, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Finally, an intelligent post.
Andy in Agoura Hills on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
WHY IS ALLAH TRYING TO HIDE MARY-KATE OLSEN’S ROLE IN THIS?
Kasper Hauser on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
We’re adults here, I think everybody can take it. Plus, it was deserved, since making fun of the dead is low. Very low.
Baphomet on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
One of the finest up-and-coming actors in Hollywood. He may have chosen some poor films in his career, but he was consistently engaging to watch. His performance as The Joker in the upcoming ‘The Dark Knight’ looks incredible. I’m still very much looking forward to seeing that, no question about it… but this does put a bit of a damper on it for the time being.
Jockolantern on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
Twenty-eight years old.
Damn.
uncivilized on January 22, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Too bad, the kid was a good actor too.
What a waste.
conservnut on January 22, 2008 at 5:43 PM
Of that I have no doubt. I meant to say that whenever I try to post the f-word, its up for review or some such billsh!t.
Hey AP, consistency in censorship would go a long way in improving your image with me. ;-)
Andy in Agoura Hills on January 22, 2008 at 5:45 PM
Much more honored men than Heath. May they be welcomed into eternity with pride.
Tim Burton on January 22, 2008 at 5:45 PM
i dunno. I’m sorry he died and feel badly for his family. I also have two very close friends who have lost sons about the same age in Iraq, one from shrapnel and the other burned to death in a IED trap. I feel much worse about them.
a capella on January 22, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Perhaps, but in “pecan pie”’s case, it’s a well deserved epithet.
JetBoy on January 22, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Bush lied. Ledger died.
This is obviously some sort of cover-up. WHERE’S RON PAUL?!!
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 5:48 PM
How many times do we make fun of Hitler? He is dead too. So don’t go around spouting that crap. The guy wasted his life, we should talk crap. We have soldiers who sacrificed their life, it is them who we should revere.
Tim Burton on January 22, 2008 at 5:48 PM
Wow… its a shame to see such a talented actor go so young. RIP
AbaddonsReign on January 22, 2008 at 5:50 PM
I have absolutely zero pity for anyone who voluntarily fills their body with chemicals for pleasure.
SHOCKING SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY!
Drugs kill!
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 5:51 PM
RIP
I must ask these cops how you accidentally fail to read the instructions on the bottle, or were there other drugs involved?
Canadian Imperialist Running Dog on January 22, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Don’t do drugs, kids.
mattshu on January 22, 2008 at 5:57 PM
About accidental: the list of people who’ve forgotten that sleeping pills and any other depressant–such as alcohol–don’t mix is a long one.
baldilocks on January 22, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Dark Knight doesn’t release until July so the execs should have the time they need to decide if its more respectful to close it down or release it at the scheduled time as an homage to ledgers legacy.
PolitiNOOB on January 22, 2008 at 5:58 PM
Important moral lesson: don’t commit suicide even if they didn’t give you an Academy Award nomination.
indythinker on January 22, 2008 at 6:00 PM
the dark knight wrapped up filming awhile ago. however, ledger was in the middle of filming “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.”
locke on January 22, 2008 at 6:02 PM
Cops are saying it’s an accidental death now.
Enoxo on January 22, 2008 at 6:04 PM
I saw it on Drudge. I gasped!
So young.
Heath was a talented actor.
Being successful in Hollywierd seems to make individuals lose all sense of reality.
So they turn to drugs.
So sad!
Conservaboomer on January 22, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Gregor, F U TOO. You can’t know what happened yet.
Who do you think you are? What’s wrong with you?
Is it just today?
Or did you go to ‘holier-than-thou’ arsehole school and you just got back. Either way, go share your crap with someone else, Chaos perhaps..or Huffpo? they’re used to b.s. like that.
shooter on January 22, 2008 at 6:08 PM
There’s a live feed of his apartment on fox news
Guardian on January 22, 2008 at 6:08 PM
Like I said in the news comments, it is such a tragedy to lose someone so young, and with so much promise.
Hawkins1701 on January 22, 2008 at 6:10 PM
3-year-olds have “accidents” with chemicals.
Rich stiff, bored stiff, now, he’s stiff.
I blame bush
franksalterego on January 22, 2008 at 6:15 PM
Sounds like somebody here could use a few pills.
mattshu on January 22, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Well, there is no moral equivalence between Hitler and Ledger. So that comparison is weak. But I will agree that we should be able to talk crap about someone who wasted his own life. Because stupidity should be painful (or even deadly).
Andy in Agoura Hills on January 22, 2008 at 6:18 PM
Does anyone know if he was a practicing Scientologist? Just curious.
c3ichief on January 22, 2008 at 6:27 PM
Why is this guy not banned yet?
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 6:36 PM
I’m a father having to raise three kids in a world where 99% of the people think it’s FUN to inject chemicals into their blood for pleasure. Stories such as this actually make my job much easier, as I will clip it out and have my kids READ it to understand what will happen to them if they are stupid and lack the courage to say the simple word … “no.”
If you’re referring to drug use? Yes.
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 6:41 PM
Quite possibly, Heath mistook his youth for being more bullet proof than he really was, and overdid the sleeping pills to the result we have before us. Since there was no note detailing his suicide, I hesitate to lean that way. But the forgiving possibility that he just didn’t follow the instructions on the scrip supports my original hypothesis. That being that he had a casual approach to his vulnerabilities. Ignorance or stupidity of youth.
Bottom line.. its over for him now. I pray for his family.
44Magnum on January 22, 2008 at 6:41 PM
So it’s okay to make fun of something tragic like this if it’s an actor who portrayed a homosexual? Assholes.
SouthernDem on January 22, 2008 at 6:41 PM
I wonder how long before congress investigates drug use by hollywood stars
Mojack420 on January 22, 2008 at 6:50 PM
IF this turns out to be an “accident” then it’s truly a tragedy, but it’s silly to use the word “tragic” when discussing a death caused by either voluntary suicide, or related to the ingestion of drugs for pleasure. Those who do drugs are fully aware of the risks before doing it, and those who kill themselves, obviously aren’t too interested in staying alive.
The only tragedy involved is for the family members who are left behind to suffer because of the ignorant actions of a stupid human being.
With that said, due to some conflicting stories now being released, I’ll refrain from commenting further about this incident.
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 6:52 PM
Who knows if it was accidental,let the facts come out,
and I’m sure he was a fine actor,he picked a movie role
in a controversial film,so be it.Let him rest now.
canopfor on January 22, 2008 at 6:53 PM
I agree. I reacted to the reports of “pills scattered throughout the room.” Should have known better.
Gregor on January 22, 2008 at 6:57 PM
And here I am with almost nothing to live for, yet I still somehow manage to not accidentally kill myself. Throw in seven or eight figures of bank account and the ability to attract most breeding-age women on the planet, and I expect I’d be even more careful. I guess you need to get dealt a jack-two every once in a while to really appreciate what a pair of aces looks like…
Blacklake on January 22, 2008 at 7:00 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »