# Heath Ledger is dead! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575 "2008-01-22T21:49:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/61 "2008-01-22T22:22:17Z")
Damn. This decade’s River Phoenix. So much talent. _Wasted._ ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/62 "2008-01-22T22:22:54Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] FTR When I first posted it was Ivylass’ thread and she had not edited to say ‘no link yet’ and my google turned up nothing. Now with the merged thread I look even more jerkish. [/QUOTE] Don’t worry, no one will notice thanks to **Walloon.** ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/63 "2008-01-22T22:23:13Z")
So sad. so sad to die so young. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/64 "2008-01-22T22:24:44Z")
[QUOTE=ArchiveGuy] \Truly a gifted actor with _Brokeback Mountain_ suggesting he might’ve had a phenomenal career ahead of him. [/QUOTE] Exactly - a gifted actor who wasn’t afraid to play an unconventional character. We needed more of him, not fewer. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/65 "2008-01-22T22:26:56Z")
That’s so awful ☹ I can’t believe how sad I am by this. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/66 "2008-01-22T22:27:23Z")
Sad. I really enjoyed his performance in _Brokeback Mountain_ and am looking forward to seeing him portray the Joker in _The Dark Knight_. I wonder if that will be his final complete performance? ---
**Author:** ![CaerieD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/67 "2008-01-22T22:27:53Z")
Geez, this really shocked me. I got out of the shower and had an IM waiting for me from a friend, linking me to the NY Times article. I’d really liked his work and hoped his career would take off to new heights after _The Dark Knight_. I can’t believe how young he was, ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/68 "2008-01-22T22:27:59Z")
[QUOTE=Morbo] I see. So you scored a cheap point at the expense of what you perceive to be an exaggerated outpouring of emotion on his part. [/QUOTE] No, incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/69 "2008-01-22T22:28:00Z")
I’m intrigued to see if the apartment he died it does, in fact, belong to Mary-Kate Olsen. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/70 "2008-01-22T22:30:31Z")
IMDB says he was still filming “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” for 2009 release. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/71 "2008-01-22T22:31:39Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] FTR When I first posted it was Ivylass’ thread and she had not edited to say ‘no link yet’ and my google turned up nothing. Now with the merged thread I look even more jerkish. [/QUOTE] FWIW, it didn’t read as jerkish (well not to me, anyway). The thread was started moments after the story broke and there was nothing to link to, yet. And, you wouldn’t be a proper Doper if you didn’t want proof. 🙂 This is a real shame. He was so young and talented. I enjoyed him in everything I saw him in. He seemed to have a long, promising career ahead of him. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/72 "2008-01-22T22:32:17Z")
[QUOTE=Beadalin] I’m intrigued to see if the apartment he died it does, in fact, belong to Mary-Kate Olsen. [/QUOTE] That’s what Channel 7 Eyewitness News just reported. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/73 "2008-01-22T22:34:26Z")
I always thought him a pleasant enough young actor. One of the few pretty young men I could distinguish. My 16 year old daughter is going to be quite distraught. Over the weekend she was telling me how much she was looking forward to Batman, and observing how _HOT_ HL is (was). Always sad to see someone so young and with (apparently) so much to live for die. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/74 "2008-01-22T22:35:18Z")
I’ve been reading threads in several different places so my shock is pretty well gone, and now I’m just sad, especially for his little girl. I’m not going to jump on the suicide/heroin/drug overdose bandwagon. I’ll wait for the toxocology reports and more information. He’s never seemed the type, plus he was in the middle of shooting Terry Gilliam’s [The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1054606/) and he’s always been a complete professional with regards to partying and drinking/drugging while filming (and even while not filming, when have you heard of him doing that stuff in the gossip rags?) It could have been an accidental perscription overdose, or maybe he just had a heart attack, like Sergei Grinkov, who died at 28 in the prime of health from a heart malfunction. Damn, just…damn. Ennis, gone? Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/75 "2008-01-22T22:36:10Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] No, incorrect. [/QUOTE] So you really thought Heath Ledger was a friend of **ivylass**? Or some other reason why you would choose to take **ivylass** to task, and no one else who posted in a similar fashion, roughly one minute after receiving news of this actor’s death? Or (more likely) are you doing your usual tsk tsk bullshit like you do when you scold us for our “language” b/c you somehow disapprove of this sort of reaction when someone famous dies and are teaching us a valuable lesson? IOW, threadshitting? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/76 "2008-01-22T22:36:56Z")
Who takes sleeping pills when they are expecting a massage? Very strange, and a tremendous loss of a young talent. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/77 "2008-01-22T22:39:54Z")
What a shame. I didn’t believe it when my wife just told me the news. He was great in _A Knight’s Tale_ and _The Patriot_. He would’ve made a lot of good movies in the decades to come, I think. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/78 "2008-01-22T22:40:44Z")
Didn’t see that coming. What a shame. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/79 "2008-01-22T22:41:03Z")
Seeing as it’s one of my wife’s favorites, _10 Things I Hate About You_ has been shown enough times in our house for me to come to really enjoy it. Guess I know what we’ll be watching tonight. Very sad news indeed… ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575/80 "2008-01-22T22:41:32Z")
[QUOTE=Dinsdale] Always sad to see someone so young and with (apparently) so much to live for die. [/QUOTE] This to me is the crux of it…He was young, successful and had a whole life ahead of him, and always portrayed himself in a reasonable manner…Anyone who can star in a movie like Broke Back Mountain has some inner gusto. Poor guy, I hope it was accidental if anything at all…Then substance abuse kills so many each year, it’s bound to hit celebrities once in a while. I hate to say it but I’m amazed some of the current batch of young, famous re-re-re-rehabers haven’t had an “accident” yet. [Brittany] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/heath-ledger-is-dead/434575.md?page=5)