Taiwanese director Ang Lee (
Ledger costarred with Jake Gyllenhaal in Lee's Oscar-winning movie Brokeback Mountain.
He played Ennis Del Mar in the story about two lonely ranch hands who carried on a secret love affair.
"Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life. He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined -- a thirst for life, for love, and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking," Lee said in an e-mail.
Ledger's performance in Brokeback Mountain earned him a best actor Oscar nomination. Lee won the best director award for the film.
Sleeping pills
The 28-year-old actor was found dead on Tuesday by his housekeeper and masseuse in New York City -- lying naked and face-down at the foot of his bed, with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said.
The cause of his death will not be known for several days after a preliminary autopsy was inconclusive, authorities said.
Six different types of prescription drugs were found in Ledger's apartment.
They included anti-anxiety medications and an antihistamine, said two law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the investigation is still in train.
A rolled-up US$20 bill was also found on the floor near the actor's bed, but lab tests detected no traces of drug residue, officials said on Wednesday.
Police also said that no illegal drugs were found in Ledger's apartment.
Police said Ledger probably died on Tuesday between 1pm and 2:45pm.
At 1pm, the housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard him snoring.
At 2:45pm, the massage therapist showed up for Ledger's appointment, knocked on his door and got no answer. She later noticed Ledger was unconscious and called for help.
`Dark Knight'
Playing the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight may be Ledger's final finished performance.
He said in a November interview that his roles in Dark Knight and I'm Not There took a toll.
"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."
A day after Ledger's death, at least six TV satellite trucks were parked on the block or around the corner from his Manhattan apartment, with a stream of TV reporters doing their standup coverage.
There were bouquets, letters and candles piled in front of the building.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
One person was killed and another seven injured today when a tourist shuttle bus plunged 30m to 40m down a ravine in Nantou County, the Tourism Administration said. The bus is suspected to have suddenly accelerated out of control near the flower center of the Sun-Link-Sea Forest Recreation Area, a popular attraction during cherry blossom season. Of the eight onboard, a 66-year-old man was killed, four were seriously injured and three sustained minor injuries, including the driver. The Nantou County Police Department said it received a report of the incident at 12:15pm and dispatched seven teams to assist. All surviving passengers have been transferred
RSS