OMEN
01-27-2008, 05:20 PM
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PUBLIC MOURNING: A photo of Heath Ledger at a makeshift public memorial. There are plans for an official public memorial for the actor, who died last week, in Los Angeles.
A public remembrance for actor Heath Ledger has been proposed for Los Angeles, after a private memorial for family in New York last week.
"Certainly in Australia, in my own home town of Perth (where Ledger was from), there's been public expressions of grief and sadness at the passing of Heath," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.
Ledger's father Kim was expected to claim the body on Friday, the New York Daily News said, citing a funeral director.
"He wants to be with his son," Dominic Carella, director of New York City's Frank E. Campbell funeral home where Ledger's body was taken, told the Daily News.
'OLD SOUL'
Kim Ledger and actress Michelle Williams, the mother of Ledger's 2-year-old daughter Matilda, were among those expected at a private viewing on Friday, the paper said.
Williams starred with Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain," the 2005 film for which the actor received an Oscar nomination for his powerful portrayal of a gay cowboy.
The couple split up last September and Ledger moved to an apartment in the SoHo area of Manhattan where his naked body was found on Tuesday, face down under the covers of his bed with sleeping pills and other prescription medication nearby.
Police said there was no suicide note, no illegal drugs and no evidence of foul play. An autopsy conducted on Wednesday proved inconclusive and further test results were expected within two weeks.
In a newspaper death notice published in Australia, Ledger's family called him an "old soul in a young man's body." Kim Ledger said "We were one, in soul and commitment, just ... father and son," and sister Kate said: "We were the ultimate soul mates."
Ledger's body was discovered by a masseuse who went to his apartment for an appointment. The masseuse called Hollywood actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's. She summoned private security guards, who arrived at the same time as emergency services.
"Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time," Olsen said in a statement released to People magazine.
Ledger told The New York Times in November he had trouble sleeping due to the stress of his work on two recent films and was taking sleeping pills.
Close friend and model Sophie Ward, whose supermodel sister Gemma Ward was romantically linked by the media to Ledger, told Australian media that Ledger was edgy and anxious during his Christmas holidays in Perth about not seeing his daughter.
"He was clean and wasn't drinking any alcohol or taking drugs," Ward told The West Australian newspaper on Thursday.
Reuters
PUBLIC MOURNING: A photo of Heath Ledger at a makeshift public memorial. There are plans for an official public memorial for the actor, who died last week, in Los Angeles.
A public remembrance for actor Heath Ledger has been proposed for Los Angeles, after a private memorial for family in New York last week.
"Certainly in Australia, in my own home town of Perth (where Ledger was from), there's been public expressions of grief and sadness at the passing of Heath," Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said.
Ledger's father Kim was expected to claim the body on Friday, the New York Daily News said, citing a funeral director.
"He wants to be with his son," Dominic Carella, director of New York City's Frank E. Campbell funeral home where Ledger's body was taken, told the Daily News.
'OLD SOUL'
Kim Ledger and actress Michelle Williams, the mother of Ledger's 2-year-old daughter Matilda, were among those expected at a private viewing on Friday, the paper said.
Williams starred with Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain," the 2005 film for which the actor received an Oscar nomination for his powerful portrayal of a gay cowboy.
The couple split up last September and Ledger moved to an apartment in the SoHo area of Manhattan where his naked body was found on Tuesday, face down under the covers of his bed with sleeping pills and other prescription medication nearby.
Police said there was no suicide note, no illegal drugs and no evidence of foul play. An autopsy conducted on Wednesday proved inconclusive and further test results were expected within two weeks.
In a newspaper death notice published in Australia, Ledger's family called him an "old soul in a young man's body." Kim Ledger said "We were one, in soul and commitment, just ... father and son," and sister Kate said: "We were the ultimate soul mates."
Ledger's body was discovered by a masseuse who went to his apartment for an appointment. The masseuse called Hollywood actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's. She summoned private security guards, who arrived at the same time as emergency services.
"Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time," Olsen said in a statement released to People magazine.
Ledger told The New York Times in November he had trouble sleeping due to the stress of his work on two recent films and was taking sleeping pills.
Close friend and model Sophie Ward, whose supermodel sister Gemma Ward was romantically linked by the media to Ledger, told Australian media that Ledger was edgy and anxious during his Christmas holidays in Perth about not seeing his daughter.
"He was clean and wasn't drinking any alcohol or taking drugs," Ward told The West Australian newspaper on Thursday.
Reuters