Eight years after Heath Ledger’s untimely death at the age of 28, the Australian actor’s family have spoken about their final words with him.
Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment in January 2008. He died from a fatal combination of different prescription medications.
The toxicology report from the time found that the Brokeback Mountain star’s death was the result of “acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine”, and that his death was “accident, resulting from the abuse of prescribed medications”.
Now, Ledger’s father, Kim, has given his take on the tragedy.
Heath Ledger’s parents, Kim and Sally, and sister Kate (right) accept the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor that Heath Ledger posthumously won for ‘The Dark Night’ in February 2009 (Jason Merritt/Getty Images)
“It was totally his fault. It was no one else’s – he reached for them. He put them in his system. You can’t blame anyone else in that situation. That’s hard to accept because I loved him so much and was so proud of him.”
Mr Ledger also revealed that his daughter, Kate, spoke to her brother the night before his death, urging him to be careful with his medication.
“His sister was on the phone to him the night before telling him not to take the prescription medications with the sleeping tablets,” Mr Ledger explained.
“[Heath] said: ‘Katie, Katie, I’m fine. I know what I’m doing’. He would have had no idea.”
Heath Ledger with his Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January 2006 (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Mr Ledger has stressed that his son was not a drug addict, but rather made a terrible mistake by mixing the wrong medication. He said:
“It was a one-off thing. That’s what killed us, because he was warned by his sister the night before: ‘You shouldn’t mix what you’re taking for pnemonia with your ambien’. But most of Heath’s problems were self-induced.
“He was a young guy that travelled all the time for work. Even as a two-year-old, he hardly ever slept. He was trying to work and travel and do everything in a short space of time.”
When Ledger died, he had just become a father for the first time to a daughter, Matilda, born to his partner, the actress Michelle Williams.
Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams at the 78th Academy Awards in March 2006 (Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Ledger’s final screen role was as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel, The Dark Knight, for which the actor won a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, as well as a Bafta, a Golden Globe and 26 other prizes and critic citations.
Via Wifflegif
