As I'm sure many of you already know, Heath Ledger passed away suddenly and tragically yesterday, Tuesday, January 22, 2008. While it is still unknown as to the exact cause of his death, the mourning has begun. It seems that regardless of the reason of his death, his appearance in many movies including, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Patriot, Brokeback Mountain Casanova, and soon to be released the new Batman Movie in which he plays the new Joker will deeply overshadow what brought his life to an abrupt end.
I think that the reason many people don't understand why the grief is so shocking for our generation is because there aren't many young male actors with the apparent depth he had to play each of his characters. We just don't have many. I think we were looking to him to have a lifetime of breakout performances.
Not only was his acting noteworthy, but so was his lifestyle. He seemed to be living the normal life in Brooklyn, NY. He just got out of a relationship with Michelle Williams, actress from Brokeback Mountain as well, and they have a 2-year old daughter, Matilda, together. He was often pictured with both of them on the streets of New York.
So, I think all of that combined is causing a lot of people, especially our generation, to feel like the wind was knocked out of them. He could have been one of the greats and from the movies he's been doing lately, was already sending his career in that direction. Such a loss to the acting community.
It's my hope that his family and friends are able to use this time to privately come to terms (if that's even possible) with what has happened and realize what an asset his life was to many people. I hope they are given the privacy that they so deserve despite his already very public death. Below are some pictures from his life:
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