The Loss of Heth Ledger

It was all over the news these past few days, and I am still in a state of shock into why such an unthinkable thing had happened: Heath Ledger is gone. Passing on leaving ex-wife Michelle Williams and their 2-year-old daughter, Heath is one of the most promising actors with highly-notable performances in his Academy Award nominated performance in ‘Brokeback Mountain’, ‘A Knight’s Tale’ that won him rave reviews for his comedic performance and with his highly anticipated take on ‘The Joker’ in the sequel ‘The Dark Knight’, he leaves us at a time when he was just reaching his pinnacle of his talented capabilities.

Only yesterday that an autopsy had been performed on Heath and the results was inconclusive. It will take a few more days before any concrete results will be announced. But it is now more or less confirmed that he was overdosed with sleeping pills and NOT with any heavy drugs like cocaine or heroin as reported earlier, as police reported that only prescriptive medication was found in the room. He was found face-down in a normal sleeping position. Earlier reports that there was a folded 20-dollar bill, suspicious that it could have been used to snort drugs. However, no drug residue was found on the note by the police. There was no indications of suicide either, as there was no note, no pills scattered around the room and no sign of any struggle.

As for his current work, it was reported that all his scenes in ‘The Dark Knight’ had been completed, so there will be no re-shoots with another stand-in actor. The film is now in post-production, so it will go ahead as scheduled without any interruptions. However, the same cannot be said with his work with Terry Gilliam’s ‘The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus’ which is his most recent film attached to star. Although he is not the lead actor in that movie, Heath’s passing will definitely interrupt proceedings with this film.

Heath Ledger was born to the name of Hethcliff Andrew Ledger and resided in Perth during his early days. His first American film was ’10 things I Hate About You’ in 1999 that drew critical attention from the media and young girls’ hearts. He then took up a more serious role in ‘The Patriot’, and then moved on to a lead role with ‘A Knight’s Tale’. He got his first Academy Award nomination with the critically-acclaimed ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and was poised to explode to super-stardom as ‘The Joker’ with ‘The Dark Knight’. But unfortunately, this recent event cut short his road to glory, and he will be missed tremendously, not only for his talents on-screen but also as a person that was noted for his kind, caring and gentle soul. He was 28.

Rest in Peace, Heath Ledger.

Police standing guard by the entrance of Soho, where Heath's body was found