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Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence, and police said drugs may have been a factor. He was 28.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the Manhattan apartment believed to be his home. The housekeeper who went to let him know the masseuse had arrived found him dead at 3:26 p.m.

A large crowd of paparazzi and gawkers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building on an upscale block in SoHo, where several police officers guarded the door.

The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain," where he met Michelle Williams in 2005. The two had lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.

He most recently appeared in "I'm Not There," in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan - as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.

Ledger was to appear as the Joker this year in "The Dark Night," a sequel to 2005's "Batman Begins." He's had starring roles in "A Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot," and played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in "Monster's Ball."

Ledger grew up in Perth, and began doing amateur theater at age 10. At 16, he moved to Sydney to pursue an acting career, quickly landing TV movie roles and guest spots on Australian television.

After several independent films and a starring role in the short-lived Fox TV series "Roar," Ledger moved to Los Angeles and costarred in "10 Things I Hate About You," a teen comedy reworking of "The Taming of the Shrew."

Offers for other teen flicks came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didn't like.

"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told the Associated Press in 2001. "It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, 'You're crazy,' my parents were like, 'Come on, you have to eat.'"

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Originally posted by lwaves:
As a side question will this mean The Dark Knight will be his last film or does anyone know if he finished another after TDK stopped shooting.

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Originally posted by fredgiblet:
Apparently the Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing his funeral.

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Originally posted by ecgordon:
PirateNews, how is it you have not yet been banned from this site? That was disgusting. Are you going to be on the picket line with the other sick Baptists?

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Originally posted by fredgiblet:
Apparently the Westboro Baptist Church will be picketing his funeral.

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In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you I have watched Brokeback Mountain no less than 45 times and I own the Limited Edition DVD, signed by Willie Nelson a short time after he wrote that queer cowboy song as a tribute to the courage of the producers and actors who broke such incredible creative ground when they made their agenda-less movie. Serious. Until I saw Bendover Brokeback, Braveheart was my favorite movie. But the love scenes of Brokeback sucked me right in and I had no choice but to give myself over to the passion of its wide open range, if you get my drift. Such courage this young man and his colleagues have. Reminds me of the courage of classic movie stars, where during the War they enlisted and flew bomber planes and fought on frontlines, then came back and picked up their lives and careers right where they left off, without anti-American sentiment, whining and complaining, or self-destructive self indulgence. I’m equally inspired.

Apparently, Leather Hedger had sleeping troubles and anxiety and dealt with terrible mood swings. So do soldiers but they don’t self-destructively **** up their lives. In fact, they don’t sleep, handle anxiety and mood swings while dealing with whether or not they might at any moment lose their life. And they do this all the while they are dangerously protecting the freedom of others to **** up their own. By the way, how many 28 (or older or younger) year old soldiers met their death yesterday? It’s not easy to find out. None of them made the headlines of any news.

By today’s standard, though, I do have to agree that he was a great father. Perhaps even greater then the father of the year, Hulk Hogan. After all, Leather Hedger did what it took to kill himself. His kid is without a father, yes, but the negative influence is now removed and his own child has the chance for a full recovery. Hogan, on the other hand, won’t go quite that far. He insists on sticking around to keep further ruining, and profiting off of, the parentally mismanaged lives of his own children.

It is sad and tragic….that we don’t demand attention be paid to greater things.

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
"Never does cease to amaze, does it, at just what the moderators of this site will alow AURaptor to get away with. Makes coming to RWED less and less appealing."

Works both ways, guy - some of your conduct here hasn't been exactly humanitarian, nor has mine.

Freedom of Speech starts with the people you most dislike, or there's no point to having it.

As for Mr. Ledger, I've seen him act, and wasn't displeased with it - beyond that his life is utterly none of my business nor do I want it to be, I hope he finds whatever afterlife he hoped for to be all that he wished, though.

-Frem

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Freedom of Speech starts with the people you most dislike, or there's no point to having it.

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