Holy Shit :: Heath Ledger Found Dead

[megladon8]

There's only so much you can do for a person.

It's terribly sad, of course, though.

It's true, and it would be wrong to say it was entirely in others' hands to save him.

It just sounds like something that could have been avoided, had more taken notice of his struggle.

[Morris Schæffer]

Jack Nicholson did, apparently.

He warned him right?

[number8]

Yeh. Nicholson almost died from taking Ambien, and told Ledger to stay away from that stuff. But he did not. Nicholson was caught on camera when he first knew about the death, and didn't even flinch.

[megladon8]

I wouldn't really say that qualifies as Nicholson actively trying to help Ledger.

He gave him some advice, which is great, but I am saying someone needed to actually get help for Ledger, since he was obviously in a very bad place and couldn't handle it himself.

[number8]

That's ridiculous, though. Who the hell would know? Everybody said that he always seemed cheerful, nice, and eager to work. Did you read Nolan's obit? Ledger was full of life and was excited about becoming a director. People on the Gilliam set said the same. The only complains they ever heard Ledger say is that he had trouble sleeping. What's the obvious advice people give to that one? Sleeping pills.

[megladon8]

I find it hard to swallow that Ledger had this many issues and absolutely no one knew.

[DavidSeven]

Nicholson refuted the claims that he warned Ledger specifically about the sleeping pills. He says he never knew him personally.

From IMDB:

Hollywood veteran Jack Nicholson insists stories claiming he warned Heath Ledger about the dangers of sleeping pills are not true - stating he never even met the tragic star. The Departed legend was asked how he felt about the Brokeback Mountain actor's death last month by photographers in London and he was quoted as saying, "I told him so." However, the 70-year-old star, whose role as the Joker in Batman was reprised by Ledger in The Dark Knight just before his death, states he was misquoted and was simply warning everyone against using that brand of pills. He says, "What I actually said was, 'I warned them.' I had a bad experience with those sleeping pills (that Ledger apparently took). I took one of these pills and had just gone to sleep when I had a phone call to go to an emergency at a friend's house. I jumped up, went outside and some time later woke up on the driveway. It sounds amusing but I live in the mountains and it could of been worse. I didn't know Heath Ledger, but I know those pills." Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment last month at the age of 28. An autopsy failed to reveal the cause of death, and police are still awaiting the results of a toxicology test to asses if sleeping pills found in his apartment played a part in his death.

[number8]

Heh. I thought so (about him not knowing Ledger), but he gave a pretty misleading interview a while back.

[Kurosawa Fan]

He must have been drunk, because he flat out says, "I warned him."

And at the time, he has no idea it was sleeping pills, as you can tell.