Actor Heath Ledger, 28, Found Dead in Soho Apartment
The cause of death remains unknown as police open an investigation
Editors' Note: This article has been corrected from an earlier version which misidentified the Brooklyn neighborhood where Ledger lived with Michelle Williams. We regret the error.
The actor Heath Ledger was found dead on the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 22, in a bed in a fourth-floor apartment at 421 Broome Street.
Months before, Ledger had broken up with his fiancee, Michelle Williams, with whom he had had a two-year-old daughter and a townhouse in the Boerum Hill section of Brooklyn.
Little was known about the actor's movements in the hours before he was found, at 3:36 p.m., in the bedroom of the loft apartment in Soho. The housekeeper in the apartment had assumed he was sleeping, and when a masseuse arrived for an appointment, the two sought him out, and the housekeeper found him dead, and called police immediately.
A police spokesperson has since confirmed that sleeping pills, prescribed to the actor, were found in the vicinty, along with other pills the nature of which had not yet been determined.
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Three hours later, as a little fewer than 200 people stood outside police barricades on the street below, the actor's body was removed to a van headed to the medical examiner's office.
Tuesday evening, police spokespersons said that neither the cause nor the time of death had been determined, and that foul play was not suspected but that an ongoing investigation had not yet ruled it out.
Ledger's social life had become a matter of public interest rather recently when the police had come to 421 Broome Street, the actor having settled into a rather quiet, if not anonymous life in brownstone Brooklyn.
There, he and his fiancee, whom he had met as a costar in 2005's Brokeback Mountain, had joined in neighborhood protests against the planned development of a large swath of real estate known as the Atlantic Yards.
"My husband Heath and I moved to Brooklyn for light and space and air," she said in a statement supporting opponents of the Atlantic Yards project in May of 2006.
But by the end of 2007, Ledger was being connected publicly in the gossip columns with many of New York's most ambitiously social set.
Early reporting on the New York Times blog, City Room, characterized the apartment on the fourth floor of 421 Broome Street as the home of actress Mary Kate Olsen; the references were later removed without explanation, and preliminary investigations by The Observer shed doubt on the prospect that Ledger had died in the young actress' apartment.
Gustavo Medeiros, who lives in a loft on the fifth floor which he said he occasionally rents out as a party venue, said he had seen the actor around the building a few times but not in the past month, and never in the company of Ms. Olsen.
On Tuesday night, police said that an autopsy was scheduled for Jan. 23, which would lead to a determination of the time and cause of death of Heath Ledger.
Mr. Ledger, an actor from a young age, got his American break in the teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You, but became labeled a serious actor after his appearance in the fillm Brokeback Mountain, hailed by The Observer's Rex Reed as an American masterpiece.
He made himself a New Yorker, settling in with Ms. Williams in a brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood and becoming an obsession with the locals, who were in turn flummoxed by the presence of a celebrity in the midst of an upper-middle-class neighborhood in Brooklyn for its distance from the glitter and glamour of lower Manhattan.
He also became known throughout the international media for his unusual charm, which owed sometimes to his self-effacing, sometimes even dour outlook.
Of his role in the quirky Todd Haynes biopic of Bob Dylan, I'm Not There, he told a New York Times reporter late last year: "I can't say I was proud of my work ... I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, 'It's good' is the day I should start doing something else.''
And later, of his role in the upcoming Batman movie, he told the reporter: "Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night ... I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." "One night he took an Ambien," the reporter continued, "which failed to work. He took a second one and fell into a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing."
so sad...
This is really sad...
It made me really sad today. He is a great actor and I was so looking forward to his role as the Joker.
Some great clips and memories to him can be found here http://www.respectance.com/heathledger
HEATH LEDGER WAS A GREAT ACTOR. I LOVED WATCHING HIS MOVIES AND WAS EXCITED TO SEE HIM AS THE JOKER. I AM SORRY FOR HIS LITTLE GIRL AND FOR MS WILLIAMS. MANY PRAYERS GO OUT.
I have a question: Is it ever appropriate to tell the truth about people who have just died, or must we all skirt the truth en route to spouting some hagiographic twaddle about them?
Wherever I look, I see people talking about how "sad" this situation is. Sad, my ass. This group of Hollywood clowns has been handed life on a silver platter. They work 3-4 months a year for more money than 99 percent of people will make in a lifetime, but instead of appreciating the gift horse that they've been given, they take affirmative measures to fuck it up with drugs, booze, etc.
And really, what substance do these people have? Despite what we've been led to believe, the vast majority of them have no discernible talent. In truth, the talent MYTH is a self-serving sham created by Hollywood to rationalize the absurd salaries in the movie industry. After all, if they ever admitted that 2/3 of the American population could do the same thing these people are doing, why the hell would anyone pony up $50 to take a family to see the tripe they turn out?
Look at the people who win Oscars. Robin Williams? Whoopi Goldberg? For Christ's sake, they're fucking comedians, and they have more Oscars than Peter O'Toole and Cary Grant. Cher has an Oscar. Cher!!! Oprah Winfrey, a talk show host, was nominated for an Oscar. Last year, they gave an Oscar to Jennifer Hudson, whom they plucked off American Idol. Can it get any more embarrassing? Exactly how many of the Hollywood stars have spent time STUDYING acting? Imagine having your bypass surgery performed by someone who never studied medicine or having your lawsuit handled by someone who never studied law. It's absurd. Even geniuses like Aristotle and Einstein spent years studying their craft before they were qualified to do anything. The truth is that success in Hollywood is 30 percent what you look like; 30 percent whom you know; 30 percent dumb luck; and 10 percent talent.
I don't feel the least bit sorry for people like Heath Ledger or Owen Wilson. I feel sorry for people working 60 hours a week at Burger King and Wal-Mart, cleaning vomit and excrement just so their kids can have breakfast next week. I feel sorry for the poor bastards in Iraq, taking bullets so that Exxon can report a good fiscal quarter. Those people have NOTHING but still manage to find a reason to live. And then you have losers like Ledger who get it all handed to them but still aren’t happy.
RonX,
Wow. Who are you to judge another human being? There are doctors and teachers and janitors who are perfectly content individuals. And there are doctors and teachers and janitors who are depressed and miserable. A person's career choice or income level is not the only factor in determining their level of happiness. Obviously Mr. Ledger faced severe anxiety and personal demons...suicide or not...that did not allow him to relax or be at peace with himself. Pray that you never find yourself in a similar situation where the world turns its back on you or mocks your suffering. You come across as a cold, cruel, bitter person who is still holding a grudge because you never landed a part in the school play. To say that you don't feel sadness at the death of a promising young man is just sick.
Regarding Heath Ledger's death and past posts. When all is said and done we are all just human beings. Heath's death is tragic and one should have some respect for the dead and for those left behind.
"Mr. Ledger, an actor from a young age, got his American break in the teen flick 10 Things I Hate About You, but became labeled a serious actor after his appearance in the film Brokeback Mountain, hailed by The Observer's Rex Reed as an American masterpiece.
He made himself a New Yorker,..."
YOU ARE FORGETTING TO MENTION HE WAS **AUSTRALIAN**. PLEASE TRY HARDER NOT TO OFFEND WITH POOR-QUALITY JOURNALISM.
Regardless, it is devastating news and his is much missed by the Australian acting community.
Anonymous said: Wow. Who are you to judge another human being?
Me: This is a free society, and I have every right to judge whomever I please.
Anonymous said: A person's career choice or income level is not the only factor in determining their level of happiness.
Me: It may not be the ONLY factor, but it's enormously important. Go take a walk around Brownsville or Newark and tell me that it's not.
Anonymous said: Obviously Mr. Ledger faced severe anxiety and personal demons...suicide or not...that did not allow him to relax or be at peace with himself.
Me: Awwwww. He faced anxiety pwobwems. "Wah! Wah! Wah! I dropped out of high school at 16, have no apparent talent, became an unmarried "baby daddy" by age 26, and like to spend my days taking pills inside my $23,000-per-month apartment. Life is so hard. Waaaahhh!"
Anonymous said: Pray that you never find yourself in a similar situation where the world turns its back on you or mocks your suffering.
Me: Question. Do you actually read what you're writing, or are you stricken with some form of verbal dysentery? Are you implying that the world "turned its back" on Heath Ledger? That the world turned its back on a dropout whom it made a MULTI-MILLIONAIRE by age 25? Go take a walk around Camden and see people whom the world REALLY turned its back on.
Anonymous said: You come across as a cold, cruel, bitter person who is still holding a grudge because you never landed a part in the school play.
Me: You come across as a brainwashed shill who's been conditioned to venerate the Hollywood machine.
Anonymous said: To say that you don't feel sadness at the death of a promising young man is just sick.
Me: I don't feel sad at all. I feel sad for people with REAL problems. I feel sad for 45 million people without health insurance in this country. I feel sad for the guys in Iraq. I feel sad for people who hear gunshots while lying in bed at night. I DON'T feel sorry for losers like Heath Ledger.
Ron X,
You sound like a miserable individual. Also, you have way too much free time on your hands if you can write a long comment like that. Find something to do with yourself!
sad news, yes. but it's painful to see the Observer get the Brooklyn neighborhood wrong in the report. Boerum Hill, *not* Park Slope, was where the couple lived. they're not far from each other, but pretty distinctly different. Just a thimble's worth of fact checking would've corrected that error and spared us the "Park Shlep" reference.
Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger were both active in the fight against the Atlantic Yards development, but they lived together in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, not Park Slope.
I can't believe he's dead it's so so sad :( ... :(
In ragards to earlier posts, i find it really upsetting to see that only days after Heath Ledgers death people are already trying to start arguements on a site where the comments left are supposed to be from fans and others showing sympathy. Ron X it seems like you don't like your life very much, and it has therefore made you extremely bitter. I believe Heath had raw talent and A Knights Tale is one of my all time favourites ( try watching it Ron X). I was extremely saddened by his death, and we have lost a star way too early in his life.
This is soooo sad.
I was shocked to see this online yesterday. My head shook in disbelief. Heath Ledger had become such a talented, valued and respected artist. It is a tragedy that he had to pass away so young. All we can do is wish the best for his friends and family.
i'm not devestated over the loss of Heath or anything because you're right. we don't know him. and that's exactly my point. you don't know him either so you really can't judge his character, nor anyone elses that you've never had any contact with can you? stick that in your pipe and smoke it you jerk. (oh... and the guys who go to Iraq choose to be there, think before speaking young man think before speaking.)
RonX,
You are a git. An undeserving, despicable, disgusting git.
How in the name of Merlin's pants could you bring yourself to say such things? Do you have a fucked up home life? Are you stuck working in McDonald's and envy those who have a promising future? What possessed you to send such things to a commiseration page to a young man? We are not sad because he was a famous actor. We are sad because a 28 year old man died a premature death. When Madelin Mccann went missing were we all sympathetic because she was a celebrity? No.
So you may be so far up your own arse that you are practically in your mouth again, but I suggest that you grow up, get yourself a psychiatrist and fuck off. And I don't care what you say to try and justify youself. Nothing will change the fact that you are nothing more than a pretentious twat.
P.S. Are you 'Ron' as in Weasley? Because if so, you do NOT deserve that name. Harry Potter fans would be disgusted at your behaviour.
RonX,
You are a git. An undeserving, despicable, disgusting git.
How in the name of Merlin's pants could you bring yourself to say such things? Do you have a fucked up home life? Are you stuck working in McDonald's and envy those who have a promising future? What possessed you to send such things to a commiseration page to a young man? We are not sad because he was a famous actor. We are sad because a 28 year old man died a premature death. When Madelin Mccann went missing were we all sympathetic because she was a celebrity? No.
So you may be so far up your own arse that you are practically in your mouth again, but I suggest that you grow up, get yourself a psychiatrist and fuck off. And I don't care what you say to try and justify youself. Nothing will change the fact that you are nothing more than a pretentious twat.
P.S. Are you 'Ron' as in Weasley? Because if so, you do NOT deserve that name. Harry Potter fans would be disgusted at your behaviour.
I was completely shocked and taken aback at the terribly sad news that such a bright light could be taken so early in his life. A seemingly warm and charismatic person whenever you'd see something of him in the public eye. A force to be reckoned with on the screen...he was coming of age. A great actor just beginning to make his quantum leap...a career that was going to soar. I was saddened to hear that he was gone, so much so that it brought me to tears when I first caught glimpse of it in the news.
I now find I am upset that the news just can't leave his memory and his family and friends be - and let them have a little room and air grieve and bury their lost son, love, father, friend. For shame. For shame that you will pick apart every aspect of that young mans life for the heck of it - for the story.
To those with negative things to say about him, shame is yours as well...you lost a brother yesterday...and know him well or not...if you had even a small iota of a heart or soul, you'd feel for him, his family, his friends.
Each persons journey in this life is different from the next persons, but it doesn't make any persons life, any less significant or important - or any less devastating when they pass. We are all brothers and sisters under the same sun, and it is sad that so many people caught up in themselves forget that.
Shame for those of you that cannot see to let others grieve...that you would have to bring yourself to light and make a personal point to inject your negativity into a forum where people have come to express their grief and condolences.
Freedom of speech. Wonderful for all of us. Still shame for those that would tarnish the memory of that bright light that is Heath Ledger. None of you being there, none of you being him and knowing what happened or how he felt or what was going on, none of you knowing the truth of the circumstances to pass judgment on that man. Let he who casts the first stone.....
I am truly saddened that he is gone. And I hope that his family and friends can find solace and comfort in the happy memories that they made and shared together. To his family and friends, I am so sorry for your loss.
May he rest in peace.My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends. I can't believe that he passed at such a young age. I hope is memory will always be kept alive for his daughter.
Again, Boerum Hill, not Park Slope. For an article that mentions the neighborhood three times and uses the location as a way to assess his character, it's very sloppy reporting.
It's so sorry to hear that. I think he's a nice guy. I've met him and chatted with h im at the celeb club millionairecupid.com before, he's friendly and easy to talk to.
god, people. ron x is a lifeless troll. let's just leave him to his own misanthropic tendencies so he can feel good about his worthless self. he's already underground. no need to kick more dirt on him. ;)
@Anonymous, Anonymous, and BethM: Yes, you're right, and of course we've reported on Ledger and Williams in Brooklyn many times before and should have known this innately. We've corrected the article as you'll see. It's down to reporting the whole thing as breaking news overnight, an editor cobbling together lots of reports, and worrying more about the many conflicting and changing details surrounding the actors' death than the basic facts of his life. Thanks for spotting us.
I feel such sadness over the death of Heath Ledger. I pray that his family and friends find strength and comfort in the days to come.
Ron X,
You sound like an intelligent person. However, I would assume that an intelligent person would realize people feel sadness over Heath Ledgers's death and publically express it because his death is made public and recieves media coverage due to his career as an actor. When Joe Blow dies, there aren't repeated news stories about it so people don't have the opportunity to publically explain their grief. There aren't blog sites where anyone can post their condolensces.
You state that this is a free society and you are free to judge whomever you please. True. However, everyone else in this country has that right, too, and is free to express sadness. You mock but don't want to be mocked in return. You clearly don't like being judged or you wouldn't have responded with attacks on other posters' character in an attempt to cut them down.
The accidental death of any young person is heartbreaking and tragic, despite his/her level of fame or fortune. Death of a celebrity is no different than death of your average citizen - it's still the end of a life.
And by the way, try showing some respect for the soldiers in Iraq instead of refering to them as "bastards."
R.I.P Heath Ledger!!
Heath Ledger was such a beautiful person.
And a terrific actor
What a terrible loss
R.I.P
That Ron X is so ridiculous it is beyond words. To be uncaring about another human's death because of their career choice is very pathetic. So what if he was a celebrity? A human is a human, and death is still devestating, no matter what you do with your life. I know it's mind blowing to you, but some actors actually work to be where they are! Shocking, isn't it....
Ron. Realize that no matter your life choice, no job, not a lot of money/ well off, celebrity, soldier, whatever it is, nobody...and I mean NOBODY deserves to die. Yes it is a free country, people have free will, but there is a fine line from stating your opinion...and being completely heartless.
A little advice. Have a heart.
To me was devestating that heath ledger is now gone. i've lost a boyfriend before i know what michelle is going through right now i'll i can say is michelle be strong for your little girl she does not know what is going on heath is resting in peace now. heath was a great guy from the inside and the outside. he was one of the best actors out there. my respecst and prayers go to the family and especially his little girl.
Im very sorry for your loss.
Jeanette Arredondo
Ron X
I feel sorry for you in a way but there is no reason to be talking so cruedly about a dead person sure life came to him easy but hey its your choice what you make out of your self no known is going to come to you and give you money you got to earn not whine about how other people are getting more money than you thats not the case sure we all do feel sorry for people in need we try to help when we can but not everyone can your life becomes how you want it to be so I suggest you make it worth while.