January 22, 2008
Heath Ledger Found Dead in NYC Apartment
Actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his downtown Manhattan apartment by the police. Some reports say he died from an overdose.
UPDATE 5:00PM :According to the NYPD spokesman, Ledger, who was living in an apartment at Broome street, "had an appointment for a massage...The housekeeper who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there, and found him dead at 3:26 p.m" with "pills strewn all around him."
The housekeeper and masseuse tried to awake him and called the authorities when he did not respond. When the paramedics responded he was in full cardiac arrest and they attempted to perform CPR. It was unsuccessful, however, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.The police say foul play is not suspected.
Ledger, whose performance in 2005's Brokeback Mountain was nominated for an Oscar, had broken up with actress Michelle Williams last year. The couple have a child, Matilda, and were a familiar sight in Brooklyn until they split. Ledger and Williams reportedly created identical bedrooms for Mathilda in their homes the child, now 2 and a half, wouldn't feel displaced.
A recent trailer for the next Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, features Ledger as the Joker. He had been filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus for director Terry Gilliam in England and Canada.
UPDATE 5:13PM: We went to the apartment building and there's a bunch of media on the scene, the police are in front. TMZ is already there -- all the local news channels. It's a five story building, third lot in from the corner. No one has mentioned if the body has been taken out yet (no ambulance in sight). Police are trying to clear the scene, but the media is canvassing the street. The detective says no one is coming out soon.
UPDATE 5:22PM: The Times is saying the fifth floor apartment is owned by Mary-Kate Olsen. A commenter suggests this Corcoran listing (a rental for $23,000/month) is the apartment. TMZ is saying that while the two were romantically linked over the past few weeks or maybe months, Mary-Kate is at Sundance and Ledger was not in her apartment.
UPDATE 6:00PM: Fox News is showing old interviews with the actor, who in November said, "I feel good about dying now because i'm alive in her [Mathilda], but at the same hand you don't want to die because you want to be around for the rest of her life." Heartbreaking.
TMZ talking heads are also popping up on the news outlets, saying that the body will be removed from the apartment "soon" and the autopsy will be performed tomorrow.
NYPD has now confirmed it was not Mary-Kate's apartment.
Photograph of employees of the city ME's office wheeling Ledger's body on a stretcher by David Karp/AP
UPDATE 7PM: The Post reports that "bottles of Diazepam and Alprazolam, both anti-anxiety drugs prescribed in his name, were found in the house." Additionally, a friend of Ledger's uncle said, "[Uncle Neil Bell] said the father and mother are devastated because they found out of his death through the media."
A friend told US Magazine that Ledger had a "rough" time getting sober but his "one joy" was his daughter: "This is terrible and I'm in shock. But to tell you the truth... we saw it coming." And Warner Bros., which is releasing The Dark Knight, issued a statement: "The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news. 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."
UPDATE 8:45PM: The Mary Kate-Olsen connection explained - by TMZ: "The cleaning lady called police. The masseuse, we're told, called the bodyguard for the Olsens. She called him because they're friends and he's an EMT. The bodyguard was around the block at Ashley's and he immediately went over. By the time he arrived, the cops were already there."
TMZ's Harvey Levin told Keith Olbermann that Ledger was suffering from pneumonia at the time and added that Ledger's family was upset that there were suggestion of suicide. And ex-fiancee Michelle Williams is apparently on her way to NY.
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that's really, really sad.
New Victorian? more like Dead Victorian. I was just at Broome Street earlier and wondering why the fuck there were so many police cars. It smelled like burnt plastic too.
:(
The guy was a great actor and so young.
This is just shocking, and very, very sad.
Holy shit.
This is fucking horrible. Horrible. Horrible sad. Terrible. I am rarely affected by celebrity stuff like this but this is truly heartbreaking. I want to cry.
The split from Michelle Williams probably really took a toll on him.
Now his daughter is without a father.
RIP.
very sad. was looking forward to seeing him in Batman.
Strong winds and calm seas to you, Mr. Ledger...
That is a goddamn shame.
This reminds me of the deaths of Curt Cobain and River Phoenix. Not making a commentary on their artistic talent or cultural relevance but merely in terms of someone dying far too young.
I am reminded of River Pheonix. He was taken way too soon as well.
This is horrible. I can't stop writing that.
So sad. Totally unexpected.
He leaves behind a sweet apartment:
http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&listingid=1100251
I guess this post is more apropos for Curbed
And yes, he was a great actor and will be missed. The new Batman movie will be even more hyped.
thats Mary-Kate's apartment (as in one of the twins).
That's sad to hear, His career was taking off!
WTF! so young. the poor guy must not have been able to deal with losing his wife & family. so sad.
that sucks. he was a young great actor...
10 Things I Hate About Living
It's Mary Kate Olsen's apt. they had allegedly been seeing each other. There have no reports that have definitively said that it was an overdose, Jen. There has just been mention of pills. Of course, this is e veryone's suspicion, but let's not jump the gun with speculation.
What a dumbass. Sorry, he killed himself. There isn't such a thing as an "accidental overdose". When you play with drugs, shit happens. He was a good actor but obviously he had problems. He should have stuck with booze and weed.
The only thing worse that Heath being dead is the dumb multiple posters on this site.
he was an awful actor. He didn't play gay that well in brokeback mountain. He needed to be more sassy and flamboyant and shake his hips and arch his back. He played a gay guy as a straight guy. Just Awful. He should have got a pink bandanna and wear jean shorts and then he would have won an oscar for sure.
Wow sometimes the lack of sympathy on this site really amazes me. Ok yes I can take a joke, but come on- this guy leaves behind a 2 year old. It should be less about whether he was a good actor or not and more about the fact that another young life ended too early.
Just... Wow.
I just went walking by there at around 1pm...
oh, well, at least he wasn't a jumper. He could have hit me...
RIP.
What's with all the ghouls camping outside the apartment? Besides, the pictures aren't going to be worth much is 100 people take them.
I didn't care for him in Brokeback Mountain-I hated that "I'm a rough n' tough cowboy" gruff voice. Sounded as if he was trying way too hard to make the character stick in our minds. Still, I liked him in other things.
If it was "recreational" drug use gone overboard, what a bloody stupid idiot, what a dumb way to waste your talent and life.
If it was qa suicide, what a shame he couldn't have gotten help and gotten a way to deal with whatever was getting him down.
If it was a physical health problem, again, too bad whatever it was wasn't diagnosed and treated.
What a shame, when a child looses a loved one too early. In a perfect world, we'd all be at in our 70's when our parents die.
People die every day and people could care less. An actor dies and everyones all caring... We as a society have the dumbest priorities.
so this guy kills himself, which ensures that his daughter will never know her biological father, and we're supposed to feel sorry for him because he was good in Brokeback Mountain? please.
It is odd how so many people express such a personal sense of loss when a celebrity with the world at his feet dies. It's a shame, yes, but hardly a tragedy.
These actors always seem to die from overdosing. Can't they get someone to help them take their illegal drugs? It kinda makes me mad this heath ledger guy is dead.. he had some promise, he was a decent actor. Why can't these actors stick to marijuana and alcohol like normal people. I mean just cuz u have the money for cocaine doesn't mean u have to buy it.
this story bumped the stock market off the front burner.
I don't know much about mr. ledger and it sounds like he's a neighborly type of guy who didn't espouse that MTV cribs/punk'd/paris demeanor so I'll just say my thoughts are with his family and little girl.
I don't think it's because he's a celebrity that people care. I think it's the sudden event of death. He was only 28 and working on a couple of movies. Then all of a sudden he dies. It makes people think I guess.
According to Us magazine:
News of Heath Ledger's death has shaken friends of the actor. "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. "Things were very dark," the source says. "His one joy was Matilda." Matilda is his 2-year-old daughter with ex-wife Michelle Williams. They split in September. "Everything else was misery for him," adds the source. "Unfortunately he was too late in getting help."
For the love of crap, stop with the high and mighty bullshit. If people feel a sense of loss, let them! Compassion is hardly something to become cynical over. A little girl won't know her father. That sucks. A guy is dead before his time. That sucks. We won't get to see countless movies that he would have been in. That sucks.
Let it go. Let the cynical bullshit go. If people want to care about the death of someone they don't know - famous or not - let them do so. I fail to see how this is a bad thing. No one is saying they don't care about the guy down the street.
Cynicism makes me sad. Not caring for a stranger.
mihow humanity was at its best and worst when people grieved over the victims of 9/11. THAT was tragic. What's tragic is that we're a society of people obsessed with millionaire actors and athletes. We know the name of Heath Ledger but not the names of doctors and scientists. Let Heath Ledger walk in the shoes of someone who is a paycheck away from homelessness or worst homeless or someone dying from an illnessand then he would have had reason to be depressed or in pain. Priorities are what's fucked up not some 28 year old that may have selfishly taken his life. If you can't understand that...
I love "ten things i hate about you" heath live in peace and see you as the joker soon.
Oh, the humanity! Wait. Who is he? And why is he famous?
Well, just look at it this way. They can start showing a Heath Ledger movie marathon and it won't take up a whole day.
Sad?
sad are the rest of the deaths and they dont get 40 comments in 2 hours..
Sad is others who has to work hard to survive and not those who pay a $23K a month.
Every death is sad, but others are more than this.
i cant believe this shit news deserves an hourly update.
If you can't feel sorry for him feel sorry for the two-year old who hasn't done anything wrong and will now grow up without a father.
Yes, there is tragedy all over this city and especially this planet every day, but trying to establish some sort of hierarchy is pointless. It's a personal thing and the people closest to Heath Ledger probably feel as if their world has ended today. They deserve our sympathy just like anyone else who loses a loved one does.
Bah Gawd Almighty, HHH has qualified for the Royal Rumble this sunday.
bornbrednewyorker: I know of several people who found Heath Ledger's acting inspiring, many of them aspiring actors themselves. I know other people who were simply moved by his performances. Of course they're upset over his death. But should they not feel that sense of loss, just because he's not homeless or one paycheck away from homelessness? No one should ever get into games of "my misery/tragedy/situation is worse than yours, therefore my death is sadder." I'm sorry that people who are more well-known have more people to mourn for them, but that's reality. Do I feel pain when I see a homeless person suffering? Or a cancer patient dying? Of course. But I'm not going to file Heath Ledger's death away under "unimportant" just because he didn't meet any of those criteria. Even though it wasn't a major role that he played in the personal lives of my friends, he still had some impact on them nonetheless. Maybe our priorities as a society are screwed up, but when it comes to someone dying before his time and leaving behind a young child and legions of fans, you can't really prioritize your emotions. They don't work like that.
I won't speak ill of the dead but I will speak ill of the living.
reading the comments from both sides has me wishing the end of the World can't come soon enough.
Please GWB do it, you know you want to. (or any of the other crazy countries)
Classy photo gothamist!
Sad new. He's the same age as me and he was fucking Mary Kate Olsen damn..
"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." - A Bronx Tale
I think that's why people feel outsized sadness when something like this happens. It's not that they were robbed of something particularly close or precious, but of something that was potentially larger than life and memorable. I never met Cary Grant or Marlon Brando, but the things they accomplished make me a little sad about the things that James Dean never did. It's a selfish grief, but pretty understandable if you ask me.
I was truly struck back and shocked at this news today and I wasn't even a huge fan of his, I had no opinion of him whatsoever. He seemed like an excited and loving father and tried being a good husband. What is most shocking about his death is that his troubles were not public, he wasn't on anyone's radar as troubled. Neither was Brad Renfro's except that he had a history of problems. They both died with no one paying attention to their daily antics, they weren't seeking tabloid attention. Guess what? Britney will be fine! She's monitored by one form of life or another at all times and her every movement documented, yet we're all waiting for her to die. Someone will get her to the hospital before her heart stops. But these guys? If Heath and Renfro turn out to be suicides/overdoses as it appears, their despair and troubles were quite real and profound. They did not do this in front of cameras or drawn out in the papers, they were at home, secluded and truly hitting rock bottom. It's the ones we're not watching who may be in the most trouble...
Sorry, but the photo of the body bag on the gurney is truly tasteless.
I really couldn't care less. Does that make me a bad person?
I'm telling you, If he wore a pink tutu and black leather pants he would have won the best actor for brokeback mountain for sure. I don't care about unfamous people who die! I only care about celebrities who do.
C'mon - the picture is a new low for you guys.
I work around the corner... what a circus outside the building. Jeez...
A reporter even did her shopping at the store next door... well, I guess... she had a shopping bag next to her while she was talking...
Is a picture of the dude in a body bag really fucking necessary? It doesn't matter who it is, that's just fucking disrespectful.
On that note, people stop fucking caring so much about pop culture, get the fuck on with your lives.