PERTH (Reuters) - Heath Ledger was remembered at a private
memorial service in his Australian home town on Saturday, with
fellow actor Cate Blanchett giving a eulogy and Ledger’s father
thanking his son’s fans for their support.Ledger, 28, best known for his role as a conflicted gay
cowboy in the 2005 movie “Brokeback Mountain,” died of an
accidental overdose of prescription drugs in his New York
apartment on. Jan 22.His death shocked film fans and actors around the world and
prompted warnings about mixing prescription drugs, particularly
pain killers, tranquillizers and sleeping pills.Among the mourners at Saturday’s memorial service, in
Perth, were Ledger’s former partner and Brokeback Mountain
co-star Michelle Williams, who arrived with Ledger’s sister
Kate but without the couple’s two-year-old daughter Matilda.Also among the hundreds of mourners at the service, at a
private girls school in the Western Australian city, was model
Gemma Ward, with whom Ledger had been reportedly linked, as
well as Australian actors Blanchett, Bryan Brown and Joel
Edgerton.Ledger’s father, Kim Ledger, had earlier asked the media to
allow the family to grieve in private, but said cameras would
be allowed to photograph mourners as they arrived for the
memorial service.”It’s a pretty sad time and we are finding it difficult to
cope by ourselves, let alone cope with everybody around the
world,” Kim Ledger told reporters outside the family home
earlier on Saturday.”Having said that, we do really appreciate the outpouring
and the emotional support from all over the world.”The memorial service lasted about 90 minutes. Local media
said Ledger’s body was then cremated at a private funeral
service attended by only about 10 immediate family members.Other mourners went on to a beachside restaurant for a
wake.
OSCAR NOMINATIONLedger starred in 18 movies in Australia and Hollywood, and
received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a gay cowboy
opposite co-star Jake Gyllenhaal in “Brokeback Mountain.”Most recently, he starred as the Joker in the latest
“Batman” movie “Dark Knight,” and was one of the many
incarnations of Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There.” He was working in
Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” at the
time of his death.Other films included “Casanova,” “The Brothers Grimm,”
“Monster’s Ball,” “A Knight’s Tale,” “10 Things I Hate About
You” and “Ned Kelly,” where he portrayed Australia’s best-known
bushranger.Mourners said Blanchett, Ledger’s parents and sister all
gave moving and poignant eulogies at the service, which also
included video clips of the actor and some of his favorite
music, including Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changing.”Ledger met Williams, 27, on the set of “Brokeback
Mountain,” but the pair split last September and Ledger moved
from their Brooklyn home and into an apartment in Manhattan’s
Soho area.Close friend and model Sophie Ward in January said the star
had been anxious and edgy over the Christmas holidays about not
seeing his daughter.Born in Perth in 1979, Ledger first gained attention
playing a surfer in an Australian television soap, but had his
big break when fellow Australian Mel Gibson cast him in a
leading role as Gibson’s character’s son in the 2000 film “The
Patriot.”The brooding actor was considered one of the industry’s
great young talents, with Australia’s media including him in
the “Aussie Hollywood Mafia” group alongside Blanchett, Nicole
Kidman, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman.Ledger continued to work in both the United States and
Australia, but he had an ongoing feud with Australian
photographers, who fired water pistols at Ledger and Williams
at the Australian premier of “Brokeback Mountain.”The incident prompted Ledger to leave his Sydney beachside
home to live in the United States, where he hoped to find some
privacy and anonymity, saying photographers were “kicking me
out of the city.”(Writing by James Grubel; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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