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Heath Ledger
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heath ledger
Potential Lawsuit Claims Alleged Heath Ledger Cocaine Video Was A Set-Up
We weren't the only ones disturbed by that scratchy and highly controversial video showing Heath Ledger at a cocaine-filled party that emerged days after his untimely death. And now, an ex-girlfriend of one of the photographers present at the party is suing her ex's paparazzi agency under the alias "Jane Doe" for setting up the actor in an attempt to secretly tape him using drugs:"The photogs had befriended Heath and invited him up to...party, never disclosing their true intentions. As Heath allegedly did coke, the photogs secretly videotaped the whole thing. When Heath realized what was happening, he went ballistic."More »
health and wellness
Terry Gilliam Curse Tempted Once Again as 'Dehydrated' Verne Troyer Rushed to Hospital
Believe it or not, the last person we'd expect to perpetuate the Terry Gilliam Curse recently landed in the emergency room: Verne Troyer, soon to be seen as Mike Myers' tiny bad-joke magnet in The Love Guru, was reportedly dispatched to a hospital outside Vancouver while shooting Gilliam's near-doomed Heath Ledger project The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus:
A source close to Troyer, 39, says the actor was experiencing "flu-like symptoms."... Adds the source, "He's been working really hard on the film. They just wanted to hydrate him."More »
the darker knight
Ledger Apparently Would Have Wanted It This Way as Posthumous Joker Hype Grows
The AP's Dave Germain has quite the feverish, myth-churning Heath Ledger tribute making the rounds today, positioning the late actor's final film The Dark Knight as "arguably the biggest movie featuring a posthumous role in Hollywood history." But don't get your hopes up! The A-list parade of Ledger devotees that follows keeps his subtlety and charm as the Joker in ever-modest perspective:
"It was punk, it was A Clockwork Orange, it was druggie. It was this kind of fantastic, anarchic look to him. This character who had absolutely no rules whatsoever," said Christian Bale, who returns as rich guy Bruce Wayne and his crime-fighting alter-ego Batman. "That's not like any Joker I've ever seen before, what I saw Heath do." ...More »
post mortem mayhem
Heath Ledger's Will Excludes Michelle And Matilda, Leading To Ledger Family Crisis
Though Heath Ledger was busy racking up film roles in the years leading up to his death that fattened his wallet, there was one practical economic task he overlooked: updating his will. According to the Daily Mail, Ledger hadn't rewritten the document since 2003, one year before he met Michelle Williams on the set of Brokeback Mountain. As a result, the actor's sole beneficiaries will be his parents and now-estranged sisters, which leaves his daughter Matilda and Michelle out of the picture. But a surprising lack of assets in New York begs the question: how much did Ledger have to give, exactly?"A series of documents filed in Manhattan Surrogate's Court revealed that the actor had less than $145,000 in New York assets at the time, including a $25,000 Toyota Prius and $20,000 in furniture and fixtures."More »
sad songs
Heath Ledger's Nick Drake Video Hits The Web (Warning: Depressing)
One of the last things Heath Ledger left us with is a video for Nick Drake's "Black Eyed Dog." An admitted obsession of the actor, Drake was a British folk music prodigy in the '70s who suffered from debilitating depression, eventually O.D.ing on an antidepressant at age 26. Until now, the video managed to avoid getting leaked on the web, and was screened only twice: "Labor Day weekend at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle and a second time in October at 'A Place to Be,' an event honoring Drake held in L.A." Last night, Australian A Current Affair broadcast parts of the video.
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heath ledger
The Dichotomy Of Heath Ledger: Saint, Sinner Or Both?
According to an extensive New York profile out today, Heath Ledger spent his final days deeply engrossed in researching and writing a script based on the life and death of Nick Drake. In case you missed the whole Drake resurgence of the late `90s (spurred by Volkswagen's usage of his song "Pink Moon" in a now-classic advert), he was an English singer-songwriter who battled insomnia and depression before overdosing in his bed at age 26. Sounds sickeningly familiar, right? According to the piece, Heath's last weeks involved saying goodbye to the Nice Guy character he'd played publicly since the birth of his daughter Matilda and falling into another role altogether: a depressed, masked public figure who, consumed with writing the Drake screenplay, just might have got too close to his subject. More »
Take this with a grain of salt, but AICN is reporting that Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus director Terry Gilliam has cast Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law to film the remaining scenes that Heath Ledger was to have played. If word from Harry Knowles' camp ends up being true, it'll be quite a score for both the project and the notorious bad-luck magnet Gilliam. While it remains to be seen how Heath Ledger's scenes will be integrated into the final product, we can all agree that this casting news is a definite improvement over Christopher Plummer's vision of using "stills and something I think they call CGI" to save the flick. [AICN]
updates
'Parnassus' Marketing Machine Kicks Into Gear, Despite Uncertain Fate Of Film
Terry Gilliam's pledge that the Parnassus show will indeed go on just got a shot of quasi-validity. Amid reports that production has been shut down, the movie's online marketing campaign began taking root this week. Not only did (an admittedly bare bones) official website go live, fanboy outpost Quick Stop managed to get their hands on the first official teaser image (with another to follow). However, there's still one little problem that needs resolving. Namely, what to do with Heath Ledger's remaining scenes? More »
Heath Ledger's family has issued a statement in reaction to the autopsy findings: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage." Read the rest by clicking on the link. [CNN.com]
cause of death
Coroner: Heath Ledger Dead Of Accidental Prescription Drug Overdose
This morning, the New York City medical examiner revealed the Heath Ledger autopsy results: His death was ruled an accidental overdose from five different prescription medications found in his system. (There was no trace, however, of the cocaine being shockingly ingested several feet away from him two years ago at the Chateau Marmont.) The official cause of death was from "acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam (Valium), temazepam, alprazolam (Xanax), and doxylamine." Developing... More »
noble threats
Upset Actors Let 'ET/Insider' Know That Running Heath Ledger Video Could Lead To Immediate Red Carpet Embargos
According to ABCNews.com, a coalition of arm-twisting publicists and sympathetic, outraged actors including Natalie Portman, Sarah Jessica Parker, Josh Brolin and Ellen Page were behind a campaign that persuaded ET and The Insider not to air their $200,000 video revealing that Heath Ledger stood in the same Chateau Marmont bungalow as some cocaine following the 2006 SAG Awards.
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marketing
Two-Face Ready For His 'Dark Knight' Close-Up; Prefers You Shoot Him From The Right
Many, including us, have been wondering out loud how Warner Bros. plans on addressing the unique (and thankfully so) marketing problem currently facing The Dark Knight: Namely, what to do about a campaign that took fiendish pleasure in showcasing Heath Ledger's singularly bleak and twisted take on iconic Batman villain the Joker. Slate now reports that the studio's plan, in place since the beginning but perhaps being ushered in more hastily since the actor's death, is to shift the focus over to the film's other featured villain:
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annals of dinnertime tv compassion
'ET' /'The Insider' Pay Large Amount Of Money For, Then Slowly Back Away From Alleged Heath Ledger Drug Video
An allegedly shocking video of Heath Ledger attending a "Hollywood drug party" (or as such an event is more commonly referred to in Los Angeles, "a party") at the Chateau Marmont following the 2006 SAG awards, which may prove conclusively that the recently deceased actor has been in the same room as cocaine and may have discussed his own chilling marijuana use, has surfaced.
mourning
Heath Gone, Two Remaining Points On A 'Brokeback' Love Triangle Try To Pick Up The Pieces: Update
Instruct your assistant to hold all your calls, poor yourself a tumbler of whiskey, and fire up the Bose Wave to ease you into haunting opening strums of Gustavo Santaolalla's "The Wings"—this next one's going to be a little rough. Sources from the New Mexico set of Jake Gyllenhaal's new movie Brothers tell People that the actor is "devastated" since learning of his Brokeback Mountain sharpshooting partner's death: More »
scams
Hollywood's Guardian Angels Tom Cruise And John Travolta Duped By Fake Heath Ledger Father
In a shocking development in the Heath Ledger tragedy, the NY Post is reporting that an unidentified con man has been making calls pretending to be Heath's father. Not only did he convince the Manhattan funeral home that held Ledger's body to book him multiple rooms at the Carlysle hotel for him and his "family," he also took advantage of grieving A-list movie stars Tom Cruise and John Travolta. From their report:
By the [day after Ledger's death], a man claiming to be Kim Ledger managed to get Cruise on the phone, a source said.More »
the dawn of technology
Christopher Plummer Thinks 'Parnassus' Can Be Saved Using Stills And Something He's Pretty Sure Is Called CGI
When we last checked in on the status of The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus, the Terry Gilliam joint that featured the final work that Heath Ledger committed to celluloid, the project looked to be in serious jeopardy. However, as we should have all learned by now, it's impossible to underestimate the power of creativity in Hollywood, especially when a $30 million production budget is on the line. According to an interview that Christopher Plummer gave to People (and since when is he on the radar of People, anyway?), the project hasn't been shitcanned quite yet:
"Terry's throwing himself into the job of trying to salvage the picture. [He's] trying to work out at this moment how to continue on. Fortunately, because the film deals with magic, there is a way, perhaps, of turning Heath into other people and then, using stills and I think they call it CGI."More »
actor-on-actor action
Daniel Day-Lewis Brings Heart To Otherwise Predictable SAG Awards
Though the lingering fear that the writers strike will render the Oscars nothing more than the most -hyped clip show in show business history caused many to breathlessly bill last night's SAGgies as Hollywood's Only Chance To Throw Itself A Proper, Self-Congratulatory Orgy, we watched the ceremony without any of that unpleasant baggage, choosing to enjoy the show for what it is: two hours of attractive people throwing themselves a big party to publicly celebrate how amazing it is to get paid millions of dollars to prove their disappointed parents and nay-saying high school drama teachers wrong.
