Heath ledger autopsy, heath ledger, heath ledger dead, heath ledger death photos, michelle williams, heath ledger autopsy report
It will take at least 10 days to pinpoint what killed the 28-year-old, found dead in Manhattan on Tuesday.
It will be at least 10 days and perhaps two weeks before officials can determine what killed actor Heath Ledger, found in a Manhattan apartment on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the New York medical examiner’s office said today.
An autopsy of the 28-year-old Australian actor was inconclusive, Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said in a telephone interview. The additional time is needed to perform toxicology and other tests, she said.
The body is likely to be released sometime today, she said.
Ledger, nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of a cowboy’s tragic homosexual affair in “Brokeback Mountain,” was found lying naked at the foot of his bed in a SoHo apartment that he was renting. Prescription sleeping pills were nearby, police said.
Authorities said they have ruled out force. The tests will determine if Ledger died from a drug overdose.
Ledger’s death prompted the White House to postpone an event to promote an advertising campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse.
President Bush had been scheduled today to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room on the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s television advertisement about preventing prescription drug abuse.
But White House press secretary Dana Perino said it would be put off.
“We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue,” she said.
Outside the building where Ledger’s body was found, a memorial to Ledger was growing. Flowers were left on the sidewalk and a cowboy hat, emblematic of his breakthrough role, was placed on the ground, according to televised images.
Born in Perth, the actor made his name in television series and teen movies until he moved to Los Angeles and launched a film career based on character studies. Blessed with classic good looks, Ledger often chose to play against the cliched, romantic type as when he portrayed a heroin addict in “Candy,” or one of a series of Bob Dylans in the film “I’m Not There.”
He will next be seen as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film “The Dark Knight.”
Ledger split last year with Michelle Williams, who played his wife in “Brokeback Mountain.” The two had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda, and had lived together in Brooklyn.
Early today, Williams and Matilda left Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 27-year-old actress had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film “Mammoth,” Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film told the Associated Press.
“She received the news at her hotel late last night,” Stromberg said, adding that he had not spoken to the actress since she had learned of Ledger’s death.
In an interview in November about filming “Dark Knight,” Ledger said that he had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”
“Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” Ledger told The New York Times. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” He said he took two Ambien sleeping pills, which only worked for an hour.
Speaking in Perth, Ledger’s father called the actor’s death “tragic, untimely and accidental.”
“Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life,” he said in an interview broadcast around the world. “Please now respect our family’s need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately.”
Tags: Heath ledger, Heath ledger autopsy, heath ledger autopsy report, heath ledger dead, heath ledger death photos, Michelle williams