Zed’s Dead

Actor and Academy Award nominee, Heath Ledger was found dead at his Manhattan home Tuesday morning. Details are sketchy thus far and no cause of death has been announced, but drugs are believed to be a factor.

He was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3:35 PM ET today. Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they believe it was not a crime, adding that prescription pills were found near his body.

According to NYPD a masseuse arrived at Ledger’s apartment and was let in by a housekeeper. When Ledger didn’t answer his bedroom door, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened it and found him unconscious. They attempted to wake him; when they couldn’t, they called 911. (source)

Leger had recently filmed The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, in which he played the Joker. Initially he had trouble with the role and worked with director Christopher Nolan to achieve the psychopathic mentality of the frenetic Joker. (From Wikipedi so take it as you will)

To prepare for the role he lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character’s posture, voice and psychology. While he initially found it difficult, Ledger was eventually able to generate a voice which did not sound like Jack Nicholson’s take on the character in Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film.He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker’s thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Batman: The Killing Joke and Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth to read, which he “really tried to read and put it down”.Ledger also cited inspiration in A Clockwork Orange and Sid Vicious. Ultimately, “there’s nothing that [is] consistent”, as his main objective was to frighten the audience.The challenge of the role put a strain on Ledger’s sleep patterns, finding himself unable to rest for more than a few hours each night.(source)

There is no word yet on how this will effect the release of The Dark Knight. Updates will be posted in this article as they come available. Heath Ledger, RIP.