So, so sad. He was only 28. I wonder if this is why he and Michelle split.

It's a shame. What the fuck is going on with these young actors? We should be seeing obituaries for old people like Willard Scott, not for people that haven't even hit thirty. I feel bad for his daughter.

a poor little girl doesn't have her father anymore because he couldn't stay off the pills. that's fucking great. i need a drink.

very sad and shocking.
god bless him

RIP

It makes me feel bad that things like "Death Watch 2008" were 'funny' a few weeks ago.

And somehow Amy Winehouse is alive.
WTF.

i sort of agree, deimos, but perhaps we should cut him a little slack, i mean, he is dead. he obviously tried (unsuccessfully) to battle his demons.

This is just sad and surprising. I'm really starting to think that there's something terribly wrong with celebrity.

What depresses me is that we didn't see a downward spiral, besides what is expected after a divorce, I suppose, compared to others, he wasn't blatantly trying to die. Such a promising actor too. This is a complete surprise. Also, NYPD are saying there is something "suspect" surrounding the circumstances, so who knows…I guess he had scheduled a massage just a few hours before he was found dead. I don't think he attempted suicide, personally. *sigh*

good lord. what is going on these days? how sad.

he should have found a different way, he has the money to buy the best help in the world. i'm sorry but i don't like people who take the easy way out without thinking of their loved ones first. i have a family member that chose to do that and it's a terrible, selfish thing to do. now that little girl is going to have to grow up hearing about how her father over-dosed…it makes me sick.

Deimos - don't you think you're jumping to conclusions? I mean, it's been 2 hours since he died. Why don't we let the police do their job and see what happened. The fact that sleeping pills were found near his bed does not mean he overdosed.

Something about this - actually a lot about this - indicates suicide, in my opinion. No rumors of drug use, no visible downhill spiral. The pills found scattered around his body, etc.

I feel terrible for his poor little girl.

well, i truly hope nothing bad ever happens to you that makes you feel hopeless. yes, it WOULD have been best to "have found a different way", but the fact is he didn't or couldn't. i just think "now that little girl is going to have to grow up hearing about how her father over-dosed…" because of people like us. maybe we shouldn't add to talking badly about her DEAD father?

"Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed," police spokesman Paul Browne told CNN.

"This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet."

The pills appeared to be over-the-counter sleeping medication, said police spokeswoman Barbara Chen.

I'd hardly say that's "scattered around the body."

i'll give you that blue canary but usually when people that young die and they find pills, the cause of death is over-dose. i guess i am being a bit harsh but like i said i just went through this crap with a family member so this isn't hitting a good cord with me. i just feel really badly for his daughter and it makes me angry. sorry.

"Rumor has it the Brokeback Mountain star has been a slave to heroin for a few years. He played a very convincing heroin abuser in the movie Candy and was linked with his beautiful costar Abbie Cornish - that's what supposedly broke up his relationship with the mother of his child Michelle Williams. But we heard that Michelle pulled the plug on their romance, more than anything, because of his drug use."

What was the Mary Kate connection?

I feel you, Dei. I feel bad for his daughter no matter how he died. I'm sure we all do.

I feel you, Deimos. I feel bad for his daughter no matter how he died - I think most of us probably do.

Also, no rumors of a drug problem? Really? I thought that was why he and Michelle Williams split. I had heard quite a bit about him and drugs.

rip–
never saw this one coming.
and what was he doing at one of the trollsen's anyway?
very sketchy~

Oops, sorry for the double post but damn the connection is having trouble keeping up.

I think accidental over-dose and suicide are two different beasts, but now all this about where he was in SOHO (olsen's apartment), circumstances are still all over the place, too early to speculate. He did have a substance abuse problem, but was clean for a year (maybe). Tragic. Especially since Michelle found out about this on the news.

Sounds like drugs to me. I'm guessing Olsen's staying skinny secret is outta the bag. Either way, it doesn't matter, I feel badly for his kiddo. That totally sucks

I say let's not bash TMZ one day for their deplorable "news reporting" and then rely on them as a reputable source another day.

thanks blue canary. at least his daughter is young enough not to remember this, she'll know about it but she won't remember.

It wasn't Olsen's apartment. The Times & TMZ are incorrect. They just corrected it on TV.

I think that she just owned the apartment but he had been living there.

Fox online says that his housekeeper let in a masseuse that he was expecting and found him dead or dying.

WTF? Just WTF? This really is shocking to me. He was soooo talented and handsome. R.I.P.

No she did not own the apartment.

I just watched that movie-Candy. He was very good. He made you just want to take him home and take care of him. Sad.

Randa,
All of the news stations in NYC are saying Mary-Kate DID own the apartment.

Blue Canary, I was going off another story that flat-out used the word "scattered around the body."

I'm terribly sorry that our gossiping doesn't suit your delicate sensibilities. How dare we do so on a gossip site of all places.

I'm just going to bow out rather than fight over this. It's a death. People were throwing out ideas and thoughts and random musings. It's sad for his family, especially his daughter. And that's that.

Man…it sounds like he definitely had a drug problem. Really makes you (at least me) think about certain habits you have, doesn't it?

http://www.usmagazine.com/excl....._it_coming
"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."

Ledger, 28, was found dead, reportedly at Mary-Kate Olsen's apartment.
Next Story Heath Ledger Had a Massage Scheduled at Time He Was Found Dead"

I agree, what a shock. He seemed so much more normal and grounded than the train wrecks we see all over the place which we expect to read about dying (Britney, Winehouse,fucking Kenicke from Grease, Jeff Conway - you guys seen that celebrity rehab show? The dude can't walk or talk he is so fucked up, how is he still alive?)

Anyway so sad, so tragic. But maybe this will ring a bell for some of the other living breathing disasters out there in hollywoodland/nyc.

The got the info from TMZ (at least all the places I saw/heard that said they did) which has now retracted that statement. Maybe she did, maybe she didn't. Why does it matter who owned it?

It doesn't matter Randa, it's just pertinent news, another tidbit of information.

sadness!

DO WE KNOW THAT IT WAS A SUICIDE?

WE DON'T SEEM TO KNOW THAT, SO WHY IS EVERYBODY FUCKEN ASSUMING THIS SHIT?

They are ALL wackjobs. And in part due to the obsession people have with their lives.

hint hint

Yes, eeks, because celebrities are reading this very site, *right now*.

If it doesn't matter, it's not pertinent. Just sayin…

Please don't hit me. :)

I think the main consensus is that it's an accidental overdose, which is a bit different, but still stupid.

not sure about celebrities "reading this site right now". It's more that people put such pressure on them…. people who are far from perfect themselves. ;-)

WTF? This is a shock. I mean, there are some people out there who act out but he seemed pretty quiet. Except for the random sightings of him looking disheveled. I don't even think I can stand to go to TMZ and see how they are handling it. I hope they will at least use half their brain and not go with their new, man on the street, questions. So sad for his daughter. In the coming days I'm sure the police will have a better idea about what happened. What is going on???????

Thanks eeks, you being one of us. They put the pressure on themselves by going out and looking for the attention. Not saying Heath since he was pretty quiet. But many of them do it to themselves calling papparazzi before leaving the house. I don't think even one person here is even claiming to be perfect. Sorry but you really stuck a nerve there.

Oh, I smell what you're stepping in, eeks. The hint, hint part threw me off. Probably true. He never really registereed on my radar too much, other than the debate over whether he and Michelle were driving housing prices up in Park Slope (because of their presence, not, like, nefariously or something). Was he really that obsessed over, like say Lohan? I really am asking - am I that out of it?

Anyways, I would guess accidental or cry for help- seeing as he hired a masseuse a few hours before.

Firstly, suicide is not "selfish." You cannot blame someone who is that depressed (often due to a chemical unbalance) for "not considering their loved ones." His life was likely envoloped in pain. It's incosiderate of happy people to say that.

Shit. Not I'm going to cry even more when I watch Brokeback Mountain.

Ok, Lisa (off topic) you have to tell me "I smell what you're steppin in" I always say that…..Top model?

Oh and Ilnazhad-totally agree with you.

And its a sin.

What's a sin? Killing oneself because one can't see any other way? Seriously depressed people aren't thinking like that- they aren't being selfish, they are simply so full of hopelessness that they don't know what else to do. IF this was a suicide, I'm not going to judge him.

R.I.P, Heath. I loved you in 10 Things I Hate About You, and you died too young.

Cooter: I know it was on ANTM, Caridee I think. I had heard it before when I was younger. So maybe it is a southern-y type phrase?

No, I love it. I'm in the South but I'd never heard it here. I heard it top model. IIIs jus curius. (I still havent got the talk down)

For some reason it reminds me of "Do you smell what the Rock is cooking?" Maybe it's just the smell reference. Now I'm annoyed I have even heard of the Rock catch phrase.

A suicidal person may not be selfish, but the act of suicide is selfish. The person who commits that act is free from their problems, leaving those problems - and a whole new batch of problems - for their loved ones who are still in this world. It's selfish.

What rock? "the rock" that big hunk of man?

By the way, that's totally my opinion, and I'm sure there are other viewpoints out there. I can't speak to whether it's a sin.

Is there a synonym for selfish? Because it sounds like shellfish and I am hungry.

I love shrimps.

What did the teacher say to the lobster when he wouldn't share his toys?

Stop being shellfish!

What a sad thing. I really enjoyed him as an actor and am totally shocked by this. Sad. =(

As someone who has dealt with depression for a long time and pondered suicide on a minor basis. I knew and still know that I would never do it, no matter what my inner pain was like because I had people who loved me and it would be a truly selfish act.

Of course there are people who can't see that and there are those who are alone. I think it can absolutely be selfish and often times is.

This doesn't appear to be a suicide related incident but even his refusal to get sober was selfish in a way considering his young daughter.

Who knows what really happened though?

And Caridee totally said "I smell what your steppin' in" and I use it on an often basis now =)

Kitchy - I just saw your post. I have no problem with gossiping at gossip sites; my point was that let's not use TMZ as our "news source" when everyone was ripping them up the other day.

It's sad all around.

Excuse me, IN MY RELIGION its a sin. I was serious I do agree with Il. I tried to kill myself when I was 16. Looking back now, I wasnt thinking about anyone else which could be considered by some as selfish but at the time of being totally lost it was the only option.

Once as a small child I stepped in some cow mess.
My mother said, I smell what you stepped in. And everyone laughed so hard.

I think she actually started that. Or maybe dairy owners. They could have started that.
It's been around a long time. Maybe Caridee revived it.

Your mom is cool qc.

How can you think of others when you are so consumed with the pain that is? People say in their grief, why didn't they thing of the other family that would be hurt? They just have nothing left. Their heart is that much in pain.

So are you cooter and I truly mean that.

Aw, dont make me cry qc. This Heath L thing has me all out of sorts.

On another note, CORD- WHERE THE HELL ARE THE RECENT COMMENTS? WE ARE TIRED OF THIS SHIT. YOU OBVIOUSLY DONT HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT MEANS TO US. GET THEM BACK…DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO!!!!

Sorry, didnt want to use my Chelsea voice but you pushed me to it.

I would be willing to send a donation to get the recent comments back up.

After subtly hint, after you nag, and after you whine, I find it is effective to throw some money on the problem.

I only can contribute $10, Friday is payday. Dont push us Cord, I'll ho myself out but ONLY if I have to.

Seriously, I may just boycott. If I don't see Recent Comments, YOU don't see recent comments. Attica, attica!

Spread the word, or the legs if you have to……Come next Monday we're outta here babe. Where would Cord be without us?????HMM??? Tell me that!

Oh thank goodness I found you guys. I thought you ditched me.

Not that I would blame you.

Here we are! Dont drink and blog! I'm evrywhere, I decided to leave that like I would probably say it right now. I've had 1 or 4.

I have got to not skip around to all the threads tonight. For some reason, tonight I am feeling my age.

Where should we go?

How terribly sad, my heart aches for that poor daughter - she'll never get to know/remember her dad.

My father committed suicide when I was 20. As a child I remember him saying to me when one of my girlfriends killed herself how selfish of an act it was. Looking at his life now, and the choice that he made, I now know that he was in so much pain, and so ashamed of telling us he needed help or what was wrong, he really thought that there weren't other options. I don't hold it against him, I just miss him terribly; that's all you can do - forgive and love.

I have no idea what everyone else wrote on this post, so forgive me if I repeat what has already been said.

This news has brought me great sadness. I am shocked and left without adequate words. Heath Ledger was a wonderful actor and never was caught up in the world of Britney, LiLo and Paris and the such. It breaks my heart to hear of this great loss. I will truly miss his talent and cinematic contributions. I am just so floored right now, all I can muster is to express my most sincere condolences to his friends, family and loved ones, what a terrible, terrible tragedy. God Bless.

Il s’agit de suicide? d’une surdose? En tout cas c’est une grande perte pour le monde du cinéma. Sa mort me rappelle celle de la grande chanteuse DALIDA. Une mort en pleine solitude.
Une pensée affectueuse à Heath et à DALIDA

I'll translate for Patrick:
It is suicide? Of an overdose? In any case it is a great loss to the world of cinema. His death reminds me that the great singer DALIDA. A death in the midst of solitude.
An affectionate thought to Heath and DALIDA.

thanks for the translation, maria :)

Merci beaucoup Maria pour ta traduction. Mon anglais n'est pas très bon. Je ne parle que le français (ma langue, je suis professeur de français à l'Alliance française de GENES en Italie) et l'italien (un peu d'espagnol aussi).
Thanks