Heath Ledger, Greatest Genius Actor of His Generation, is Dead...

its quite a stretch to call a unknown actor who is only 28 yrs old.. the greatest actor of our time.. just because he killed himself.,,, i think someone forgot to take there meds today.. whewwww

I'll throw in my two cents now.

This really sucks.
For those who say Heath was an unknown actor, you are mistaken, and you much not have been watching movies from my generation.

As I recall, most americans were introduced to the young actor by the very popular teen hit: 10 things I hate about you.

Of course, after that, Hollywood tried making him a poster child as a teen heart throb.

However, Heath stayed strong and only did flicks he was interested in.

Surley everyone will hear his name after Batman 2, where he will be portraying the Joker.

So to all you who say this guy was not a big name actor, youre just plain wrong. That would be like the parents of my grandparents not knowing who James Dean was because they didnt watch movies, not to mention he only made what, about 3-4 flicks?

I really liked him as an actor, and not an american actor, he was an australian actor. SO to those who claimed america like their actors too much, come on, do a speck of research please.

And my last note: Those who are upset by this are simply upset because we liked what we saw on screen. We know he would have made films that move us emotionally. Thats what good actors do, and thats why we get attached. Sure there might be the occasional bomb of a film, but that happens.

I am truly sorry about his death and my feelings go out to his family and friends.

reply to post by philjwolf

Your one of the people I'm talking about above...

and sethdarke.

Excuse me ?? heath ledger ?? a true genius of his generation ?? i mean please, he was an actor, and thats it, what genius ? so genius to die of an overdose ?? only you americans will see your actors for more than what they really are...

they are normal crappy people like the rest of us, they fart and sleep and lie and steal and use drugs...what makes his life worth any more than a 14 year old who died of a drug overdose..

and you amercians wonder why your country is going to crap, it's cause you worship these people....who are nothing but actors - liars same thing, pretenders, whats so great about that ?

I think those were both fairly ignorant remarks


[edit on 23-1-2008 by Odessy]

[edit on 23-1-2008 by Odessy]

Please stay on topic and use the Complaint button for .....ah... complaints.

[edit on 28-1-2008 by Jbird]

reply to post by sethdarke

Well... couldn't have said it much better myself. Although I'd have probably been more diplomatic about it haha.
I always though Ledger was a terrible actor - Wooden and characterless. Though I would say previews of his role as the Joker look surprisingly impressive.

He certainly wasn't up there with the greats. I feel for his family and friends, but I don't see the rationale in mourning for someone you don't personally know. It's a tragedy and in some ways I hope it was suicide - at least then it won't have been such a terrible accident.

So sad. He had finished post production on 'The Dark Knight', so I don't think they'll need to enhance his performance digitally ala Brandon Lee in The Crow...He had also started work on Terry Gilliams new film...nevertheless a tragic waste of a burgeoning talent in the film world.

James Dean scenarios anyone?

Young actor dies just before possibly one of his greatest roles comes out making him an untouchable legend?

Hollywood conspiracy?

Originally posted by Cythraul
I don't see the rationale in mourning for someone you don't personally know.

You should take that back right now.
You should mourn the death of any living thing in some way or another. even if it is simply remembering them in some way.

So no one should have mourned the death of Martin Luther King Jr. , Princess Diana, etc?

Hope it was a suicide?

Dude, your saying some pretty harsh things.

You should never hope someone committed suicide, thats even sadder than being killed... Think of the anguish and turmoil someone must be going through who is about to end there life...

reply to post by Odessy

I find it strange that you'd try and insist I take back a statement that was quite reasonable. Besides, I think you misunderstand me. I'm not saying life isn't valuable. Anytime an innocent person dies prematurely, it's a tragedy, but that's the nature of existence. The other 'harsh' poster in this thread put it quite well when he said that Ledger isn't anymore deserving of our mourning than any of the tens of thousands of young people who die every day somewhere in the world. The difference is that because Ledger has made a few popular films, we all show an interest in his life (and subsequent death) where we do not do the same for any of the other misfortunate young people.

There's a difference between recognising tragedy and mourning. I personally don't believe that you can genuinely mourn for someone that you don't personally know. It's insincere, and furthermore, a vaguely perverse result of our celebrity-obsessed culture.

Again, I'm not trying to be the token cold-heart in this obituary thread. I'm just trying to bring a bit of rationality to it.

reply to post by Cythraul


I can see where your coming from but our definition of mourning is simply put, different.

You can mourn for people you don't personally know but have heard of, seen on the screen, read about, because sometimes those people change something inside of you.
People didn't have to know Martin Luther King Jr. personally to become inspired by him.
While the tens of thousands of youngsters that die around the world each day should be respected and "mourned" in a way through remembrance, it is obviously different with someone we have seen on the screen if they emotionally effect you.
Have you not been inspired by someone you didn't know?
How about Che Guevara with the Cuban revolution?
He inspired an entire country to separate themselves from the govt.
He was even helped by Kenedy. Still, people mourned his death when he was captured and killed because he inspired them to do something they would have never done before.
Obviously a cuban revolutionist is different from an actor, though many actors have inspired people to do things they wouldn't usually do (especially the good ones), but my point is, surely you can mourn for someone you never personally knew.
Think of Lincoln. Think of all the families and soldiers killed in our war.

The other comment you made, however, with the hoping for suicide is just very immature.

Originally posted by Odessy
Have you not been inspired by someone you didn't know?

Yes, I have! And I suppose I can reconsider my point accordingly. For someone genuinely inspired by Heath Ledger, I can understand a small amount of mourning. But for the people who'd only caught a film or 2 of his on TV and had a vague knowledge of him, any mourning is rather false in my opinion.

As for the suicide comment - I stand by it. You're welcome to your opinion on it. I won't ask you to take it back. When someone commits suicide, as tragic as it is, it is the result of a plan going... well... to plan. A fatal accident that wasn't supposed to happen leaves just as many questions and perhaps just as much anger because it is less just. In my opinion, an accident that steals the life and future of an innocent person is sometimes more regrettable than an unhappy person seeking release. You might also like to note that I said "in some ways" I hope it was suicide. I made no absolutes and I think you took what I said rather too literally.

Prescription drugs kill hundreds of thousands of people each year but you don't hear about it because the pharmaceutical companies don't want you to hear about it. The truth occasionally comes out when someone famous becomes a victim. This morning they are saying that the autopsy results are 'inconclusive'. It wouldn't surprise me to find out that the maker of the drug is trying to cover it up. And if that is the case, they probably will. Remember that you cannot believe what you hear in the mainstream media. They are instructed to read the teleprompter.

This thread is a double post:

Heath Ledger Dies

From what I've read so far, he said in one of his more recent interviews that he's recently been going through bouts of severe insomnia where he's up sometimes for 3 nights in a row. He mentioned 'racing thoughts' where he could not shut his brain down to fall asleep when he's like that.

Hmmmm, sounds like bi-polar illness, a manageable form of it but bi-polar nevertheless where he was self-medicating to knock himself out to get a good night's sleep but went overboard with the medication. That he had a respiratory illness at the time when this happened and that he should not have been taking prescription sleeping pills because of that is also a contributing factor that led to his death.

I've never seen any of his movies but for someone to accidentally die like this at only 28 is really sad.


[edit on 23-1-2008 by Palasheea]

What killed him???

The Illuminati? The Greys? Plasma discharge from TU24?

Why is this story on this site? I don't get it.

And on another note noting notable Aussie actors....

Russell Crowe is by far the best (he actually won an Oscar).

[edit on 1/23/2008 by Kaiser Sohse]

People die everyday. Nothing makes him special. Sure it sucks that he died, but it's no different than anyone else dying that I don't know. Why do people get all upset when a celebrity they do not know dies?

If it turns out it was suicide the guy is a loser. It means he selfishly leaves behind a wife and kid because he couldn't hack it.

Have to wait for the autopsy results. There are multiple rumors being thrown around. I am sure most of you have heard them.

Is it just me or does every actor who plays a retard, gay or addict labeled a great actor? Will an actor ever get to portray a retarded, gay addict? He will surely get an Oscar.

reply to post by HighDefinitionFilms




Greatest genius actor of his time ?? based on what ?? I agree he was good but "greatest"?? no.

Please don't go off the deep end like all the Cobain loonies...Heath Ledger was a good actor but not the "greatest"

saying that makes you come off as a love-struck fan.

It is a tragedy though.

I'm finding new information suggesting the pharmaceutical drugs killed him.

The mainstream reporting on this issue is limited to one word: "Overdose." It was an "overdose" that killed Ledger, the media keeps reporting. The drugs didn't kill him, the "overdose" did. An interesting twist of logic, isn't it? The drugs are perfectly safe because they're FDA approved, and it's all Ledger's fault that he's dead.

It's the same old "blame the victim" scam that's been pushed by food and drug companies for generations. It sure is convenient to blame Ledger for his fatality -- that way, nobody has to ask tough questions about the safety of the pharmaceuticals he was taking at the time.

The mainstream media, of course, is financially supported by the very same drug companies who profit from the drugs Ledger was apparently taking when he died. How's that for an Inconvenient Truth that the mainstream media (MSM) won't dare report?

Media Blames Heath Ledger, Refuses to Examine Dangers of the Pharmaceuticals Found Beside His Body

I've been watching the news and it's so interesting how they are posting testimonials from people who talk about his "dark lifestyle" and "recent difficulties". The MSM is making sure the paint the bad picture so the blame is placed on him and not the drug companies.

The masseuse who found Heath Ledger dead in his New York apartment made two calls to an actress friend of his before calling the emergency services. looks like he tried to get help update from my yahoo news page

Heath Ladger