JAN 24th: HEATH LEDGER

Gemma G here;

What a sad time, here we are again mourning the loss of yet another great talent and possibly to the ravages of drugs and drink.

Heath Ledger had the world at his feet, young, handsome and successful in his chosen field, he had recently received critical acclaim for his latest acting roles in films including “Brokeback Mountain”, “I’m Not There” and the forthcoming Batman movie “The Dark Knight”.

Understandably his family and friends are devastated and fellow actors have spoken publicly of their shock and heartbreak at the news of his death. All those that had worked with him have spoken of his talent, his generosity of spirit and how he was a “down to earth sort of guy”, they have spoken how he doted on his young daughter, how he guarded his privacy fiercely and how he was a “genuinely nice guy”.      

The latest news is that the autopsy has come back as “inconclusive” so where does that leave us. Reports are saying that pills were found strewn around his apartment, his friends have said that he was trying to “get sober” and that they could see this coming, these are comments that are normally reserved for someone that has died through a drink or drug problem. So are we going to jump to the conclusion that seems so obvious in light of the evidence, that this happy go lucky, down to earth doting dad was hiding the dark secret of a drink and drugs problem.

It seems unlikely that he was either firstly there doesn’t appear to be any evidence to the contrary, unlike Amy Winehouse or Pete Doherty who are only too pleased to be photographed off their respective trollies with clumps of white powder up their noses, also I can’t remember seeing pictures or reading reports of him in any kind of drug induced or drunken state. We do know that his last role as the Joker in the latest Batman movie The Dark Knight had left him both physically and emotionally drained and he had admitted to taking sleeping tablets for chronic insomnia, on top of all this he was reportedly battling a bout of pneumonia. It seems to me that this was possibly nothing more than a very tragic accident.

However, I do have to say that it would have been extremely easy for us to think of him as a drunken junkie, another statistic in a long line of young talented people that have gone down the wrong path and I have to ask myself why.

Why? because this seems to be such a huge and common problem within the entertainment industry, why do these talented successful people feel the need to do it, is it a personality trait of the type of person that wants or needs to be famous that draws them in to it, is it the pressure of being in the public eye or is it that they feel it is expected of them to live this “rock n roll” lifestyle, the one thing I do know is that all those that dabble seem to think they are invincible and yet it is proven time and again that drug abuse and alcoholism do not recognise fame or wealth when they come to claim their victims.

I personally am a fan of Heath Ledger and his work and am genuinely upset at the loss of this great talent, a young man with his whole life ahead of him, a young man whose parents now face the agony of burying their child, a young man with a daughter who will never really know her father. I hope that this was just a tragic accident, that the mixture of physical and emotional fatigue along with illness and the wrong dosage of medicine has caused his untimely death because if not then he will join a sad list of talented people such as Marilyn Monroe, Jimmi Hendrix, River Phoenix and Michael Hutchence, a list of wasted lives and wasted talent which goes on and on.

Britney, Robbie, Amy and Pete I suggest you take heed, grow up and clean up.

G.

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