Just heard from a co-worker that Heath Ledger was found dead today. No details as of yet, We’ll keep you posted. This may put a damper on The Dark Knight though.
UPDATE:
The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment building at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, according to the New York City police. Mr. Ledger was 28.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.
This is truly sad news. The more I think about this, the more disheartening it is. A shock to the industry, not to mention family and friends to say the least. I’m sorry to see him go.
Movie laboratories are one of my favorite things ever. Metropolis,...
Brad Renfro (Ghostworld, Apt Pupil) died the other day too.
These things come in threes. Let’s hope Gordon-Levitt isn’t next.
Oh man. I just saw this too. WOW.
This is so damned sad. I’ve really liked Ledgers work to date and I was looking forward to seeing the sort of actor he would grow into because over the years, he’s really managed to surprise me.
wow, This is a bit of a shock. Ledger is a dude I would never think of putting on my deadpool. Too bad.
Andrew, Gordon-Levitt was never a teen idol. I think if it comes in threes, the logical next late 90s teen idol on the chopping block is Devon Sawa.
Was Heath Ledger really a teen idol though? I definitely think he was above Devon Sawa and Brad Renfro. He did act in the movies he was in.
Henrik, he grew out of it eventually, but before A Knights Tale, he was in teenybopper fare like 10 Things I Hate About You
anyways, this is EERIE:
Hollywood Chigago
you know how cursed Terry Gilliam is? these are photos from the set of Heath’s next movie with Gilliam, with Heath hung by a noose.
^ (page has been taken down)
This is so sad, I thought it was a hoax at first. I adore Ledger’s work and his shy, gentle demeanour in interviews. Such a loss for his family, friends and art.
GOON – That’s why we have google cache-ing. This is kinda sick now, but hey, I’m a sick guy…
“In this scene, Heath [Ledger] was seen hanging from London’s Lambeth Bridge and was rescued by co-star Andrew Garfield.
According to film ick, an early version of the script reveals several characters: a dwarf named Percy, a … sleight-of-hand expert named Anton, a beautiful young woman named Valentina and her father Dr. Parnassus.”
Picture 1
Picture 2
that site seems to be back up now :/
What a shame.
Very sad. In the right role, he was very talented. He was good in Monster’s Ball, great in Brokeback Mountain, and I might be in the minority on this one, but I was a fan of his performance in LORDS OF DOGTOWN as well.
Dave – I liked him in “Lords of Dogtown” and even in “Candy” which I really enjoyed (and which folks vehemently disagreed with me on). Heck I even went to see “Cassanova”. Yeah, I really liked the guy.
Nothing like coming home from a hard day’s work to learn one of your favourite actors is dead. And he was so young. He starred in three of my favourite guilty pleasures–A Knight’s Tale, Casanova, and The Brothers Grimm (I know, I receive a lot of flack for that one).
I do have to wonder about young actors today. First Brad Renfro, now Heath Ledger…
talk now that his death is related to him having pneumonia and OD’ing on medication/combination thereof
we’ll see.
This is very sad news, I’m still in a bit of shock over it to be honest.
“This may put a damper on The Dark Knight though.”
“These things come in threes. Let’s hope Gordon-Levitt isn’t next.”
Congratulations. You managed to be both crass and glib in the same post. Could you be a little less insensitive?
umm… Casanova was shit?
Ledger was really coming into his own as an actor. My ex thought he was great, especially after seeing Brokeback, but I couldn’t get A Knight’s Tale or 10 Things I Hate About You out of my mind and always made a joke out of it when she said that. Over the past year though, I was really starting to see him maturing as an actor, and was especially impressed by the Joker footage I’ve seen. A quote of his I like from a 2005 interview:
“In a way I was spoon-fed a career. It was fully manufactured by a studio that believed it could put me on their posters and turn me into a product. … I hadn’t figured out properly how to act, and all of a sudden I was being thrown into these lead roles.”
It’s mostly a shame though because he was young, he was at the peak of his life, and he has a child and a family. Tragic.
SnowLeapord, save your outrage for people who are making stuff like this:
http://yupanotherheathledgerisdeadsite.ytmnd.com/
Andrews gallows humor is about a 2/10 compared to some of the stuff coming out of the woodwork right now.
On a serious note:
A) This really does suck. I think he was a truly talented actor and the fact that he leves behind a family is totally tragic and horrible.
B) Seriously, The Dark Knight is going to be weird now right? The marketing will be weird. Sitting in the theater will be weird.
C) The gallows thing was not intended to be humorous. It was just weird that he was on another project and the only images from it are him committing suicide (presumably).
D) Jonathan, call me crazy but I remember kind of liking 10 Things I hate About You. Granted I’m a Julia Stiles fan, but still. Also, isn’t Gordon-Levitt in that? Hell yeah. I’m gonna have to check that out again one day. I remember Ledger was sort of a teen bad-ass in that movie. A James Dean type.
E) That’s all.
Well, It’s quite difficult to express one’s feelings when someone dies. Some people do it through anger, some with humor. No matter how insensitive you think Andrew is being, just take in jest man.
I text messeged my friends “The Joker is dead” when I heard the news. But don’t let that remark fool you, I’m as shocked and saddened as everyone else on here.
True, but when your writing is there for the public to see, at least consider how others may react. Black humor is best kept to those who know your sense of humor well.
Let’s keep it respectful and sincere.
Actually the “This may put a damper on The Dark Knight” is actually a strange and valid question. Probably one worth actual conversation, instead of the non-information beyond Ledger’s actual death.
With the strange viral marketing strategies out there…Well I’m just saying that at some point someone is going to do a hoax death as advertising. I’m certainly not suggesting in this case. Just the strangeness of this whole thing makes me think that way.
Am I insensitive? I hope this kind of speculation/query/thinking is not construed that way, because it is certainly not the intent.
Humor has always been a useful tool in dealing with tragedies. It’s ok to be sad and upset, but it’s not like Andrew lost a brother here. Let’s not be overly sensitive either. Andrew is not responsible for others feelings. Write what you want brother.
None of us have anything to apologize for concerning our personal reactions to this unfortunate event.
I admit my first reaction was concern over Dark Knight (well, my first reaction was that I thought someone was putting me on, that doesn’t count though). I had the same reaction when Stanley Kubrick died.
How else could I have reacted? This wasn’t a guy I knew personally, he was someone I knew and appreciated through his work. I appreciated his life through his films and I’ll pay my respects the same way.
I wasn’t concerned about his daughter because I didn’t know he had a daughter until I read it in the news. I didn’t know he was married to the Dawson’s Creek girl either. Pretty much everything I know about the guys personal life I learned today.
So I’m very glad the ADR work for Dark Knight was complete. I doubt he would’ve wanted his death to be memorialized with an incomplete film. And now we have one last and complete performance from him to look forward too.
Some total douche in the TMB thread left a comment saying the master print of Dark Knight should now be burned. Now there’s a classless remark if I ever heard one. I was so angry I couldn’t bring myself to leave a comment as I didn’t want to be uncivil.
Well put, Rusty.
When dealing with the death of a celebrity, the first reaction from fans is in reference to their work. Of course there is sadness over such a tragic loss, but it’s much different than the sadness and loss felt by those who knew the man personally. Be honest: when you heard the news, was not the first image of Ledger that came to your mind lifted from one of his movies, or perhaps his stroll across a red carpet at an event? It couldn’t have been him sitting around a table laughing, or telling a funny story while out one night with friends. because we know nothing of that side of his life. As fans, our only avenue to both honor and mourn his passing is through the work he left behind.
It’s not callous…it’s just all we have.
Also, with regards to celebrity deaths happening in three’s:
On Thursday of last week, there was an actor who passed away with little media coverage given at all to his death: Allan Melvin, better known as Sam the Butcher from The Brady Bunch or Barney Hefner from All in the Family, died at the age of 85. Of course, he wasn’t a mega-star, but he did work in television for decades, all the way back to the The Phil Silvers Show in 1959, so his passing should have received more attention.
its sad but like Rusty said I am not going to behave as if I knew him personally, and the only relation I have to him is through his work.
that said can I just reiterate: Terry Gilliam is cursed.
Rot nailed my only initial strong feelings about this. Yet another Gilliam project possibly down the drain, though I guess this might mean that he’ll start pushing for Good Omens again.
No insensitivities intended. My first thought was how this would affect the Batman sequel. It just came to me that way. Sorry if I offended anyone.
@Andrew
I thought I was sticking up for you.
And you were. I appreciate it.
The funny thing is, a couple of people have told me already today that now they’re interested in The Dark Knight when they weren’t before. So funny, this might actually HELP the box office of Dark Knight. How twisted is that? I can’t really see it hurting the movie at this point.
For anyone interested in his earlier work, Jaman is streaming “Two Hands” to US residents. If you sign up for Jaman you get 3 free rentals so there you go, you can see it for free.
http://www.jaman.com/a/video/0YT2Bd3FWsmQ/#
And yes…that’s a young Rose Byrne too.
Its always sad when someone known or beloved dies. I cried when I found a byline on the death of Bernie Mac because I watch him all the time with my kids. When Heath Ledger died I chalked it off to another actor self destructing like say John Belushi or the more pathetic demise of say Chris Farley who imitated Belushi in life and in death. Ledger, like Belushi and many others, died at the top of his game. An Oscar nomination for playing a mature gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain followed by his brilliant Joker performance in the record-breaking blockbuster The Dark Knight. The sad thing is that Ledger touched greatness and then he died. The internet is flooded with praise for his take on the iconic role of The Joker. His final act. There is much talk that Ledger will win a posthumous Oscar for his stunning work in Dark Knight. This hasn’t been done since Peter Finch won a posthumous Oscar for playing a crazed newsman in NETWORK. But I hope Ledger makes history again at The Academy Awards come March because he stole that whole effing movie from the cast and the crew! And what a tragedy it is to not be alive to relish in that…