28 year old Australian actor Heath Ledger was found dead today in his New York City apartment. Early reports and rumors suppose that he might have died of a drug overdose (and that suicide was a possibility) or that he may have succumbed to pneumonia. I am terribly upset by this news and am somewhat surprised to find myself in shock. It’s not that I’ve been a huge fan of his all this time, but I’ve enjoyed watching the development of his career and really believe that he started hitting his stride and his potential with Brokeback Mountain. His public manner and the spirit he has displayed have always led me to believe that he was a grounded and sensitive man. He leaves behind a rather impressive body of work for such a young man as well as a very, very young daughter. My heart aches for his friends and family and I hope that they soon find peace and consolation for their pain.
Perhaps this is hitting me harder today because I’ve been thinking a lot about the tragic death of River Phoenix lately. This comes as a result of having watched 3 Gus Van Sant films in as many days, one of them being My Own Private Idaho. I did a bit of googling and found a March 1991 interview of Van Sant by River Phoenix and one particular part caught my attention. Phoenix asks Van Sant what his favorite holiday is and he answers that it is Halloween. For those of you who may not know, River Phoenix died of an overdose outside an LA club co-owned by Johnny Depp (The Viper Room) in the early hours of October 31, 1993. I wonder if this haunts Van Sant as much as it haunts me.
Both deaths are such a colossal waste. In 1995 Natalie Merchant wrote a song called “River” for River Phoenix and you can find it on her Tigerlily album. Many of the words are appropriate here as I think about the tragic loss of Heath Ledger and the resulting media frenzy. Please God, let us be allowed to remember him for the brightness he brought to our lives rather than the darkness of his death and all the half-truths and sensationalized drama that we will be spoon-fed by the media.
