Heath Ledger Dies
CNN is reporting the following story:
Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said.
“Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed,” police spokesman Paul Browne told CNN. “This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet.” Police later said the pills “appear to be over the counter” sleeping medication.
Ledger was unresponsive when he was found by a housekeeper who had gone to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse in the Soho apartment, Browne said. He was declared dead at about 3:30 p.m., Browne said.
In 2005, the actor played Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, about two cowboys who had a secret relationship. The role earned him the Oscar nomination. Ledger will also appear as the Joker in this summer’s Batman sequal - The Dark Knight.
Ledger was born in Perth, Australia. He has a young daughter with actress Michelle Williams, his co-star in Brokeback Mountain.
“He was just so respected in the industry,” said Kim Serafin, senior editor of In Touch Weekly. “It’s just horribly tragic. He was just a fine actor and a good person, so this is horribly sad and very unexpected.”
UPDATES
–
According to the New York Times, Ledger was found naked and unconscious with pills strewn all around him his 23,000/mo. apartment.
–
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.
An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday.
I will continue update this story as I find out more…
–
An autopsy Wednesday morning on actor Heath Ledger was inconclusive, and a cause-of-death determination will take 10 to 14 days, a medical examiner’s spokeswoman said.
–
A police report released today states that no illegal drugs were found in the apartment of Ledger and that all of the prescription drugs on the premises were “sealed up in their bottles”. However they did state that “rolled up” 20 dollar bill was found near Ledger’s body in a manner associated with some types of drug use. “The bill is being tested, but no obvious drug residue was was found on the bill itself.”