I’m very sorry to report that Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in a New York apartment.

Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence in what might be a drug-related death, police said.

Ledger was found by his housekeeper, who was trying to let him know that a masseuse had arrived for an appointment, police said. The housekeeper found him dead, face down and naked at 3:26 p.m.

…

Ledger eschewed Hollywood glitz in favor of a bohemian life in Brooklyn, where he was one of the borough’s most famous residents before moving to Manhattan. “Brokeback” would be his breakthrough role, establishing him as one of his generation’s finest talents and an actor willing to take risks.
In the Australian city of Perth, where the actor was born and raised, his father called the actor’s death “tragic, untimely and accidental.”

“He was down to earth, generous, kind hearted, life loving unselfish individual extremely inspirational to many,” Kim Ledger said, reading from a prepared statement. “Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life.”

The actor’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement Tuesday night: “We are asking the media to please respect the family’s privacy and avoid speculation until the facts are known.”

Heath Ledger was a phenomenal actor, best known to a lot of people for his Academy Award nominated role in Brokeback Mountain, but he was known better to the women in my life as the thoughtful lead in 10 Things I Hate About You. In a genre more appealing to those action junkies among us, he also gave a great performance in Mel Gibson’s The Patriot.

I don’t think that I’ve seen such an outpouring of general sadness at someone’s death in a long time. Heath seemed to be just getting on his feet, gearing up for the release of The Dark Knight this summer, where he plays the Joker- which is no small task. Every comic geek I know was thrilled with Ledger’s take on the classic comic villain, and by the first trailer alone he’d outdone Jack Nicholson’s performance in the first Batman film.

Truth be told, I don’t know much about him, but he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy and a gifted actor. It’s a shame to see anyone go, but it’s doubly tragic when they are so young. He is survived by his two year old daughter. Please keep her and the Ledger family in your prayers.

I leave you with The Dark Knight trailer, so you can get a taste of the acting talent that has been lost.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008 at 2:23 AM and is filed under Death. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.