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What Happened to Heath Ledger? Here's How The Joker Actor Lost His Life
In one of the most shocking celebrity deaths in Hollywood, Heath Ledger tragically passed away on January 22, 2008. He was only 28 years old at the time.
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to death, alcohol and drug addiction
In one of the most shocking celebrity deaths in Hollywood, Heath Ledger tragically passed away on January 22, 2008. He was only 28 years old at the time. Hailed for his terrific performance as Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, whose infamy has transcended generations of fans, the Australian star etched his name in the annals of film history.
Unfortunately, the beloved actor’s blooming career was cut short by his untimely death which unleashed a sense of immense grief all over the world.
What happened to Heath Ledger?
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Heath Ledger was found unresponsive inside his Manhattan apartment on the said date. He was reportedly discovered by his masseuse Diana Wolozin who immediately called for help by dialing up the actor’s friend, Mary-Kate Olsen, 38, best known for her works in fashion, acting, and also as a former equestrian, whose security guard rushed to Wolozin's assistance. Ledger was pronounced dead by the police and authorities.
The report adds that the Brokeback Mountain star’s death was ruled as an accident, caused due to an overdose of prescription drugs, most of which were sleeping pills, namely, Vicodin, OxyContin, Valium, Xanax, Unisom, and Restoril. New York City chief medical examiner confirmed the “acute intoxication” of the drugs using their chemical names to the New York Times in an official statement in 2008.
While the world remembers him for his talents and holds the late star to high standards, Ledger’s personal life was plagued with mental health issues and acute insomnia. There have been reports about the actor’s grapple with sleep for which he even took medication, leading up to his demise.
Ledger, who played Gabriel Martin in the 2000s historical drama The Patriot opposite Mel Gibson, went far and beyond to nail the part of the psychopath clown by reportedly keeping a diary worth of all his thoughts about Joker and self-isolation, per Looper.
Therefore, Heath Ledger’s sudden death stirred up an unspoken agitation and qualms over the idea of method acting often employed by actors and professionals in Hollywood.
Throughout his career, Ledger, who hailed from Perth, Australia, picked roles from an array of genres to save himself from being typecast as a romantic heartthrob. He started with minor roles in Australian TV and with milestone projects, 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You and 2005’s Brokeback Mountain before he fell into British filmmaker Nolan’s radar.
Joker would start something new, and become the one, and unfortunately, final opportunity to push his boundaries as an artist. Ledger’s iconic portrayal of the supervillain comic book character earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, accepted by his family in the same year of his passing.
Filmmaker reveals new information on Heath Ledger’s death
Recently, the conversation around the tragedy resurfaced with Oscar-winning filmmaker Stephen Gaghan revealing unheard details about Ledger’s death. In a recent episode of Revisionist History podcast’s Development Hell segment, hosted by author Malcolm Gladwell, the director opened up about the project he was set to film with Ledger at the time.
Gaghan, 59, was working on a potential film adaptation of Malcolm Gladwell’s NY Times best-selling book, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Leonardo DiCaprio was said to be attached to the film adaptation initially before Gaghan set his mind on Ledger.
When the Australian actor was discovered in his SoHo apartment, the script for Blink lay beside him on his bed while Gladwell’s book rested on the bedside table. Simultaneously, Gaghan received a call from Ledger’s father, as revealed in the podcast, sharing the news of the actor’s death.
“They were there with the body and our script was in bed with him, and your book was on the bedside table. I think my number was on the script, like written. These guys, as you can imagine, they are in shock and they dialed that number and I don’t know why,” Gaghan recalled in the latest episode of the podcast, per THR.
Shocked by the distressing incident, Gaghan could not bear losing the talented star and permanently scrapped the film adaptation. The director, who won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for Traffic, was at the airport with his wife when he got the call from Kim Ledger and collapsed upon hearing the news.
Disclaimer: If you know someone who is struggling with alcohol or substance abuse, please reach out to the authorities and report it. There are several helplines available for the same.
ALSO READ: Joker 2 Director Todd Phillips Comments On Why Movies Are Being Turned Into Franchises
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