Heath Ledger Found Dead in New York City

[jackjack]

people really need to get over the whole "brokeback" thing. i mean seriously, its a MOVIE. thats it. i went to have dinner at a restaurant (followed by a meeting), and everyone throughout the place kept saying.... "hey... did you hear the brokeback guy died? "the gay guy?".

after seeing the 6 minute clip at imax, and the full dark knight trailer, i have to agree and say this would have been the role to put him on the map. he's already getting praised by critics, and the movie isnt even out yet. much better than jack nicholson.

[DRavenS13]

http://movies.msn.com/movies/article...94557&gt1=7701

NEW YORK -- The woman who discovered a lifeless Heath Ledger spent nine minutes making three calls to Mary-Kate Olsen before she dialed 911 for help, police said Thursday. She called "Full House" actress a fourth time after paramedics arrived.

The calls do not have any significant bearing on the investigation because authorities believe Ledger was dead when she arrived and have ruled out foul play. But they paint a more precise picture of the bizarre series of events surrounding the Australian-born actor's final moments.

The woman, Diana Wolozin, had an appointment to give Ledger a massage Tuesday afternoon. Police originally said she made two calls to Olsen in seeking her help about what to do, but revised it to four after taking a closer look at Ledger's phone records.

Wolozin apparently knew both Ledger and Olsen and that they were friends; all the calls were made from Ledger's cell phone. Olsen's representative did not return telephone calls or emails Thursday.

Messages left at telephone numbers listed for Wolozin were not returned. Her name is not listed on the New York State Education Department's Web site, which tracks licensed health care professionals.

Among the qualifications for a massage therapy license in New York is CPR certification; police had said an emergency operator provided Wolozin directions on how to perform CPR on Ledger, but it was too late. Practicing massage in New York without a license is a class E felony that can result in fines or jail time.

The details emerged as Ledger's family made plans to bury the 28-year-old "Brokeback Mountain" actor. Ledger's body was taken to the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, where a private viewing was scheduled for Friday. Ledger's family was flying to the U.S. from Australia.

The cause of Ledger's death not be known for at least a week, after the coroner completes toxicology reports. Authorities suspect a possible accidental overdose, but nothing conclusive has been determined. Six types of prescription medication were found in the apartment, but no illegal drugs, police said.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ledger's housekeeper said she saw him sleeping and heard what she thought was snoring. Wolozin showed up for Ledger's massage appointment at about 2:45 p.m. and knocked on his door, then called his cell phone at 3 p.m. to wake him up.

After setting up her massage table, she tried to wake Ledger and realized something was wrong.

At 3:17 p.m., she made a call to the Olsen twin that lasted 49 seconds. At 3:20 p.m., she made another call — this one lasting one minute and 39 seconds. At 3:24 p.m., she made another call to Olsen. That one lasted 21 seconds.

Wolozin called 911 at 3:26 p.m.

At some point during the flurry of calls, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help with the situation, the NYPD said.

Paramedics arrived at 3:33 p.m., and actually went up in the elevator to the apartment with Olsen's security guards. Paramedics did not allow the security guards into the bedroom where Ledger died, and they declared him dead at 3:36 p.m. — 19 minutes after the first call to Olsen.

Wolozin called Olsen a final time at 3:34 p.m. The duration of that call was unknown.

Ledger told The New York Times in November that playing the Joker in the upcoming Batman film "The Dark Knight" and an incarnation of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There" had been stressful, and that he had been using the sleeping pill Ambien to deal with insomnia.

Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived with then-girlfriend Michelle Williams — who played his wife in "Brokeback" — in Brooklyn, and the couple had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda. The couple split last year.

Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been there shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.

A gaggle of reporters gathered outside the funeral home in search for news about Ledger's funeral. A long line of celebrity deaths have been handled by the Frank E. Campbell funeral over the last century, from Judy Garland, John Lennon and Notorious B.I.G. to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Leona Helmsley.

General manager George Amado refused to disclose details about Ledger's funeral arrangements, saying that any additional information would have to come from Ledger's manager.

Ledger's publicist did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment Thursday.

Anti-anxiety and sleeping meds are a bitch in the sense that sometimes they really do only work for an hour or two, and then you end up feeling the same. He probably took a lot of them, and his heart stopped sometime after he fell asleep. That's why the maid said when she went in and heard him snoring, she didn't think anything of it.

I refuse to let this thread die until after his funeral.