I vividly recall my way of discovering that Sir William Thatcher passed away… If you’re not sure who that is then I am talking about the late Heath Ledger in one of his best roles ever.

Unfortunately, everyone has chosen to remember him as the gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain, I had switched on my Instant Messenger which I had not done in ages and the MSN headlines popped up about him and I shouted the whole house down and everyone asked what is the matter with me and when I said then everyone thought I was joking – but my wife got a text from her eldest daughter in the USA telling her the star of “Casanova” was dead and that was sent about two hours after his death was announced!

Police investigating the death of Heath Ledger are to interview former child star Mary-Kate Olsen, according to reports from New York. A police source said that Diana Wolozin, the 21-year-old masseuse who found Ledger’s body in his Manhattan apartment on Tuesday, called Olsen four times – three before she finally called emergency services.

Olsen and Ledger met in the summer of 2006. American news sources have suggested Ledger and Olsen were dating casually for at least three months prior to Ledger?s death from a presumed drug overdose, although neither had wanted to make the relationship ‘exclusive‘.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on Olsen’s part, but the sequence of events shows how those employed by the stars are supposed to handle potentially explosive situations involving famous people: police say the masseuse was phoning Olsen “for guidance” before involving emergency services.

Many folk wonder why the masseuse delayed in notifying officials about Heath’s passing –

Authorities believe Ledger was already dead while his masseuse was dialing Olsen, with the first three calls ranging from 21 seconds to more than a minute and a half.

Police originally said the masseuse made two calls seeking Olsen’s advice about what to do, but they revised it to four after taking a closer look at Ledger’s phone records. The masseuse, Diana Wolozin, apparently knew both Ledger and Olsen and knew they were friends; all the calls were made from Ledger’s cell phone, police said.

At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ledger’s housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard what she thought was snoring. The masseuse showed up for Ledger’s massage appointment at about 2:45 p.m., knocked on his door and called his cell phone at 3 p.m. to wake him up, police said.

After setting up her massage table, she tried to wake Ledger and realized something was wrong.

That was when events took a strange turn.

At 3:17 p.m., she made a 49-second call to Olsen. At 3:20 p.m., she made another call, lasting 1 minute and 39 seconds. At 3:24 p.m., another call to Olsen. That one lasted 21 seconds.

Then, at 3:26 p.m., Wolozin called 911.

At some point during the frenzy, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help, police said.

Paramedics arrived at 3:33 p.m. and actually went up in the elevator to the apartment with Olsen’s security guards. Paramedics did not allow the security guards into the bedroom where Ledger died, and they declared him dead at 3:36 p.m. ? 19 minutes after the first call to Olsen.

The masseuse called Olsen a final time at 3:34 p.m. The duration of that call was unknown.

Messages left at telephone numbers listed for Wolozin were not returned. Her name is not listed on the New York State Education Department’s Web site, which tracks licensed health care professionals.

Among the qualifications for a massage therapy license in New York is CPR certification; police had said an emergency operator provided Wolozin directions on how to perform CPR on Ledger, but it was too late. Practicing massage in New York without a license is a felony that can result in fines or jail time.

Down Under? His family are making arrangements for his body to be returned to Valhalla –

Police set up barricades outside a funeral home Friday as Heath Ledger‘s family made arrangements to claim the body of the 28-year-old “Brokeback Mountain” actor.

A private viewing was scheduled for Friday at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home in Manhattan, and Ledger’s family was flying to the U.S. from his native Australia.

At the funeral home Friday morning, a few onlookers and a large crowd of journalists gathered outside. Ledger’s family was expected there later in the day.

Ledger’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said no details about the funeral would be shared with the media.

Ledger’s family placed a death notice in The West Australian, a newspaper based in his hometown of Perth, remembering him as “the most amazing ‘old soul‘ in a young man’s body.”

From what I have seen on youtube, Heath will give a totally stunning interpretation of The Joker in The Dark Knight Returns; he was stunning as Ned Kelly and everyone adored his interpretation of The Taming Of A Shrew … yet this is how folks choose to remember him, something I believe haunted him for the last few months –

Heath Ledger, who has died aged 28, was one of the most promising actors of his generation, best known for his sensitive performance as one of two cowboys who embark on a homosexual relationship in Ang Lee?s film Brokeback Mountain (2005).

Ledger was Ennis Del Mar to Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jack Twist, two ranch-hands who meet in Wyoming in the early 1960s.

They are thrown together looking after sheep in a remote mountain range, and fall in love.

When the job comes to an end, they resume life in the outside world, both marrying and having children. Four years later they meet again, and the relationship is rekindled.

Given the theme, making the film at all was considered a commercial risk, but Ang Lee had no doubts.

Heath Ledger, the Hollywood actor, died naked and surrounded by sleeping pills hours after asking a friend to wake him the following day, it has emerged.

Shekhar Kapur, the film director, said Ledger had made him “promise” the previous evening to call him in the morning so they could meet.

But by the time Kapur made the call, the 28-year-old actor’s body had been found in his loft apartment in Manhattan.

“I last spoke to him the night before he died,” said Kapur, who directed the Australian actor in The Four Feathers.

“I had just arrived in New York [from London]. He said he could not see me that night but really wanted to meet me the next day.

“He made me promise that I would call him in the morning and wake him up. I tried. Little did I know that his soul had already left his body.”

The disclosure came after a post-mortem examination on Ledger’s body proved inconclusive.

Rumours began to circulate that he had overdosed on prescription drugs following the breakdown of a relationship and months of insomnia and overwork.

It is understood that pills including Xanax, Valium and the controversial sleeping tablet Stillnocks, which is known to cause dangerous and bizarre behaviour, were surrounding the actor’s body. He was also believed to have been ill with pneumonia.

The New York chief medical examiner’s office said new tests had been ordered and it would take up to two weeks to determine the cause of death.

The actual name of the drug is STILNOCT as the link will take you to the correct data about that substance. I still find it difficult to believe that brash young banneret will joust no more!

One of my most favorite movies of all time is “A Knight’s Tale” and here’s what I said about Heath two years ago –

Now the weird thing is there were similar deaths for two others in entertainment who had ties to the UK and Australia as well…

Let’s get to the furthest back but closest in resemblance – Andy Gibb… A transplant from Manchester, Great Britain to Australia, he too, had a meteoric rise to fame. Also after a tempestuous romance (Dallas‘ Victoria Principal), he got into a variation of substance abuse – alcoholism and many believe this combined with a virus he was fighting at the time led to his death due to inflammation of his heart muscles.

Flying fwd to not that long ago, some recall him as Kano arch-villain of Mortal Kombat or as Mic Brumby in JAG; but Trevor Goddard was a pretender to the Aussie throne and probably paid the ultimate price in the end –

Zap2it.com TV News
JAG Actor Died of Overdose
Wednesday, August 06 11:11 AM

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) – On Wednesday (Aug. 5), a Los Angeles coroner ruled that “JAG” and “Pirates of the Caribbean” co-star Trevor Goddard died from an accidental drug overdose. Initial reports following Goddard’s death on June 9 focused on the possibility of suicide.

Goddard, an Englishman who masqueraded as an Australian to land his recurring role on CBS’ hit military drama, built up a complicated and largely fictional backstory about his Australian past. His stories became so successfully ingrained in his biography that AP stories on the cause of his death still repeat the misinformation that the actor was born in Perth.

At the time of his death, Goddard, a father of two, was in the middle of a divorce from wife Ruthann.

The autopsy found a fatal combination of cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs in his system.

“The findings of the autopsy have established the cause of death to be multiple drug intoxication,” LA Coroner’s spokesman David Campbell says. “The coroner has ruled the death accidental.”

—–

Daily Telegraph
Actor’s overdose was not suicide
By PETER MITCHELL in Los Angeles (Aug 06, 2003)

HOLLYWOOD actor Trevor Goddard ? who fooled Tinseltown with his claim of being an Australian ? died from an overdose of heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs but did not commit suicide, a Los Angeles coroner ruled yesterday.

The Englishman who affected a thick Australian accent and promoted himself as an Australian in Hollywood was found dead in his North Hollywood home on June 8.

He had a starring role in the TV show JAG and his latest big screen performance was in the hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner initially suspected the 37-year-old had committed suicide.

“The findings of the autopsy have established the cause of death to be multiple drug intoxication,” coroner’s spokesman David Campbell said.

“The coroner has ruled the death accidental.”

Mr Campbell said an autopsy performed on June 10 found heroin, cocaine and the prescription drugs Valium and Vicodin in Goddard’s body.

Goddard’s father Eric shocked mourners at a wake for the actor in LA with the revelation that Goddard was not Australian.

Goddard had made up a fictitious but colourful story about himself growing up in Perth and moving to the US to become a professional boxer.

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NEWS.com.au
Actor’s death ruled ‘accidental‘
August 05, 2003

HOLLYWOOD actor Trevor Goddard died from an overdose of heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs but did not commit suicide, a Los Angeles coroner ruled today.

Goddard, an Englishman who fooled Tinseltown for years into believing he was Australian, was found dead in his North Hollywood home on June 8.

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner initially suspected the 37-year-old had committed suicide.

“The findings of the autopsy have established the cause of death to be multiple drug intoxication,” LA Coroner’s spokesman David Campbell said.

“The coroner has ruled the death accidental.”

Campbell said an autopsy performed on June 10 found heroin, cocaine and the prescription drugs valium and vicodin in Goddard’s body.

Goddard had a starring role in the TV show JAG and his latest big screen performance was in the hit movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Goddard had promoted himself as an Australian in Hollywood and had a thick Australian accent, but it was not until after his death it was revealed Goddard was born and raised in England.

—–
Actor Goddard’s death ruled accidental
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES – Coroner’s officials ruled that actor Trevor Goddard’s June 9 death was from an accidental drug overdose and was not a suicide.

Goddard, 37, had a recurring role on the military TV series “JAG” and appeared as a pirate in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.“

Investigators had classified the death a suicide but Craig Harvey of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Monday that an accidental multiple drug overdose killed Goddard. An autopsy showed Goddard had taken heroin, cocaine and prescription drugs, Harvey said.

Goddard, the father of two children, was going through a divorce.

Born in Perth, Australia, Goddard’s work as a professional boxer led to an acting role in a beer commercial. He portrayed the martial-arts fighter Kano in the 1995 film “Mortal Kombat” and was Lt. Cmdr. Michael “Mic” Brumby on “JAG” from 1998-2001.

Trevor was quite formidable in his day, someone you’d not willingly want to cross the path of, especially if you did him wrong and he found you alone in a dark alley –

But if you catch my drift, all three guys had an Aussie connection, all three had substance abuse problems related to a physical ailment and all three were at odds with their spouses or chossels. Weird, huh?