I don’t know why his death makes me so sad.
28 years old and gone.
Heath Ledger, the Australian-born actor whose breakthrough role as a gay cowboy in the 2005 movie “Brokeback Mountain” earned him a nomination for an Academy Award and comparisons to the likes of Marlon Brando, was found dead Tuesday in an apartment in Manhattan with sleeping pills near his body, the police said.
Already there were suggestions on ABC news that this was a suicide or drug related. They found sleeping pills.
At least the NYTimes showed some restraint, and did not draw these conclusions:
“There was no indication of a disturbance,” he said, adding that there were no signs that Mr. Ledger had been drinking. Nor were any illegal drugs found in the loft, which takes up the entire fourth floor. Neighbors said Mr. Ledger had occupied it for several months.
Police officials said that a bottle of prescription sleeping pills was found on a nearby night table, but that they did not know whether the pills had anything to do with Mr. Ledger’s death. Officers who checked the apartment found other prescription medications in the bathroom. A spokeswoman for the medical examiner’s office said an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.
And then this:
Mr. Browne said no obvious indication of suicide, like a note, was found in the bedroom.
I’m just very, very sad to hear this news. I don’t know what happened to him. No speculation at all. I’m just missing Heath right now.