Oscar Nomination On First Death Anniversary

Heath Ledger died one year ago today at the age of 28 due to an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. We recently did a gallery of his life via photos which you can view here.

Ledger was found to have a mix of " oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine" in his body when he died, according to MSNBC. What is it with the incredibly talented types that go this route?

He left behind a young daughter with actress Michelle Williams - Matilda Rose.

In a fitting tribute, he was nominated this morning for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Dark Knight as the looniest, coolest most bad-ass villain since Hannibal Lecter. Ledger's role as the Joker in the film which came out posthumously has been called the performance of his way too brief career. Don't just read this, go out and get the DVD and see for yourself. I've taken to only watching the Joker scenes, he's so good.

What doesn't kill you makes you.....stranger. His family must be exceptionally proud today. And sad.

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Heath's Trophy Will Go To Matilda

Heath Ledger's mother says her son's Golden Globe award and other accolades will end up in the hands of the person who mattered most in his life: his daughter Matilda.

"I should imagine that eventually it will be going to Matilda," Sally Bell says from her home in Perth, Australia, in an exclusive interview. "At this stage she is only so young, but down the track she will have all these things. It will belong to her because she is part of him."

Bell says she and her family are "bursting with pride" over her son's recognition for playing the psychotic Joker in The Dark Knight, a role he "loved."

"It is such a fantastic and wonderful legacy for his daughter. Matilda will have so many people who will be able to speak to her about her father's abilities and [the] respect he had in the industry. That is such a wonderful legacy to leave," she says.

Bell says she learned of his Golden Globe win before boarding a flight in Australia, adding there were "a few tears."

"There is a lot of emotion tied up in this and we have to deal with that emotion first before we can relax and enjoy the moment, if you know what I mean," she explains.

Bell says it has been "a bit of an emotional rollercoaster" for the family, but notes Heath would have appreciated the acknowledgment from his peers. "That's what meant the most to him really," she says.

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Heath's Golden Globe Drama

Now that Heath Ledger has been posthumously nominated for aGolden Globe, there's maneuvering behind the scenes as to who will accept the award should he win.

"Kim desperately wants to do it," one cognoscento tells us of Heath's father. "But the studio and the producers would rather have Michelle receive it on behalf of Matilda" - the couple's daughter.

Some Hollywood insiders have speculated that the foreign journalists who decide upon the Golden Globes choose some nominees based on their attractiveness and star power, to goose up their televised awards show's ratings. Michelle Williams, who broke up with Ledger four months before he died in January, is a lot purtier than the senior Ledger, who accepted an "Aussie" award for his son last weekend.

But a friend of the family tells us, "Why would Michelle be involved? She had nothing to do with the movie. They weren't even together when he passed away. Would you have your ex-wife accept your award? And they weren't even married. [Director] Chris Nolan or [star] Christian Bale would make more sense. Michelle makes no sense. It's like those rumors that she would go to the premiere of 'Dark Knight.' That was never in the realm of possibility."

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Heath Ledger's Family Does The Right Thing

Heath Ledger's two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose will inherit the late Australian actor's entire estate, estimated to be worth 20 million dollars (16.6 million US), a report said Sunday.

The 28-year-old actor, who died in New York in January from an accidential overdose of prescription drugs, had named his parents and sisters as the beneficiaries in his will, Perth's Sunday Times reported.

The will, which has been probated behind closed doors at the Supreme Court in Perth, was made before Matilda was born, and there had been speculation that the child's mother, actress Michelle Williams, would lodge a claim.

But Ledger's father Kim has put an end to such speculation, revealing that Matilda will inherit the lot.

"There is no claim. Our family has gifted everything to Matilda," he told the News Ltd paper.

Ledger's will listed just 145,000 Australian dollars in assets and cash when it was drawn up in 2003, but the Hollywood star's estate is now believed to be worth more than 20 million dollars, the Sunday Times said.

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Jake Gyllenhaal Is Not Over Heath Ledger

Heath Ledger is receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, but his friends have mixed feelings about seeing the late actor in one of his last roles.

Mary-Kate Olsen, whose role in Heath's death is reportedly being questioned by the DEA and was rumored to be casually dating Heath at the time of his death, made a low-key visit to see The Dark Knight in New York City on July 24.

Dressed entirely in black, wearing sunglasses and sipping her customary Starbucks drink, Mary-Kate, 22, caught the 7:30 p.m. show at NYC's Battery Park….”She was keeping to herself,” an onlooker tells OK! “She shut off her phone before entering the theater and seemed somber.”

Shutting off her cell phone must be how Mary-Kate shows respect.

Heath's Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal is still coping with his death and can't bring himself to see The Dark Knight, even though his sister Maggie is also in the film.

“Jake is proud that Heath did such a great job and is getting rave reviews for his performance - even Oscar talk - but he can't see it right now,” a source tells Star. “He's still not over it.”

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Bogus Investigation Over Heath Ledger's Death

Sources connected with the Heath Ledger investigation say the Drug Enforcement Administration set a new low for starf**king.

People who have talked to TMZ off the record are now willing to go on record -- still anonymously -- about one of the most bizarre DEA power grabs ever.

How's this for starters ... no one we've spoken with connected with the case can point to a single DEA case where a massive investigation was launched over an accidental death in which no criminality was even hinted at.

We know the DEA went all over the country, in one case tracking down a guy in California who smoked a joint with Ledger in the '90's, telling him he had to testify in a Grand Jury probe. And how's this for chutzpah ... the DEA told the guy he would have to pay his own way to NYC to testify before the Grand Jury!

In another case, the DEA was nosing around a film set in Arizona looking for people who had information about possible Ledger drug connections.

We know the NYPD was furious at the DEA for making an immediate power grab to control what should have been a simple case. NYPD cops felt "humiliated" by what one source called "utter disrespect" on the part of the DEA.

As for the U.S. Attorney's office, were told officials they were appalled at what they felt was a "bogus" investigation. Our sources say the U.S. Attorney finally had enough and shut down the entire investigation -- an investigation the DEA desperately wanted to go before a grand jury.

TMZ

UPDATE

The U.S. Attorney's Office closed an investigation into Heath Ledger's accidental overdose death and will not enforce a subpoena against Mary-Kate Olsen, a law-enforcement source tells PEOPLE.

The probe was closed without any charges being filed, the source says.

Olsen, 22, was subpoenaed by a federal grand jury, but agents were seeking to interview her without enforcing the subpoena, the source says.

Olsen had requested immunity before testifying.

Mary Kate Olsen Wants Immunity

In the heated days of confusion and mourning immediately following the January death of Heath Ledger, many of the actor's admirers loudly proclaimed it absurd to raise questions about the role played by the actor's friend Mary-Kate Olsen in his death and aftermath. New York police concluded their investigation into Ledger's death without even interviewing the elfish young actress, even though, as the Post repeatedly pointed out, she was told of Ledger's death before emergency responders and even though her bodyguards may have arrived at his apartment just before paramedics, who Olsen did not bother to call. Having stayed on the story, the Post today reports that federal drug agents are pressing Olsen hard to cooperate in their investigation into how Ledger obtained the powerful painkiller OxyContin without a prescription — and into what happened to the bottle:

According to sources, all of the drugs in Ledger's body and discovered nearby in prescription bottles were legally obtained from two physicians - with the exception of OxyContin, a powerful painkiller.

Investigators "are trying to ID the source of the OxyContin," a source said. "Did it come from a dealer, from a friend? If he had a bottle from a friend, was it taken by someone else before police responded? That is what is trying to be determined."

But Olsen, the tabloid claims, is refusing to talk until she gets immunity from prosecution. Immunity, one naturally wonders, from what? Would supplying a prescription drug to Ledger carry so much jailtime, if Olsen even did that? Or is she worried about something more nefarious — like tampering with a crime scene?

Or perhaps Olsen's alleged request is more routine, a pro forma form of legal hardball designed to bring authorities into contact on the most favorable terms possible. But unlike most parties to an investigation, Olsen is a celebrity with an image to uphold, an image that can be damaged simply by trying to get immunity in the first place — as today's Post story shows.

Gawker

Joker's Widow Dating Spike Jonze????

MICHELLE WILLIAMS has sparked rumours of a new romance with filmmaker SPIKE JONZE - six months after the death of her ex-fiance HEATH LEDGER.

The former Dawson’s Creek star has been repeatedly spotted with Jonze, the ex-husband of Lost In Translation director Sofia Coppola, near his Manhattan apartment in recent weeks.

The pair first met in 2006 when Williams auditioned for Jonze’s film adaptation of the classic children’s story Where The Wild Things Are. She won a role, but later withdrew from the project.
And according to U.S. magazine Star, the couple has now reunited - and struck up a romance. An onlooker tells the publication, "Michelle kissed Spike with a closed mouth on the corner of his lips. There was definitely a bit of caressing going on.

She was clutching his arm. The body language was very romantic."

PR Inside

Go Watch "Batman: The Dark Knight"... Awesome!!!!

Media By Numbers' OFFICIAL DARK KNIGHT RECORDS SO FAR (in order of occurrence):

1 - LARGEST NUMBER OF OPENING THEATRES WITH 4,366 (MORE THAN THE 4,362 DEBUT THEATRES OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END IN 2007).

2 - BIGGEST MIDNIGHT PREVIEW GROSS WITH $18.489 MILLION IN 3,040 THEATRES (BEATS STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH AND ITS $16.9 MILLION IN 2,915 THEATRES IN 2005).

3 - BIGGEST IMAX MIDNIGHT PREVIEWS SET AN NEW RECORD WITH $640,000 (INCLUDED IN THE $18.489 MILLION PREVIEW NUMBER).

4 - BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $67.850 MILLION (BESTS THE $59,841,919 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

5 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY WITH $155.340 MILLION (BESTS THE $151,116 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

6 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS FOR AN IMAX RELEASE IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY WITH $6,214,061 MILLION IN 94 THEATRES WITH $66,107 PER THEATRE. (BESTS THE $4.7 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007.) IMAX SHOWING AT FULL CAPACITY $1.9 MILLION ON SATURDAY ALONE.

7 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND OF 2008 WITH $151.340 (BEATS INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL'S $101.137 MILLION FROM MAY 23-25, 2008)

8 - BIGGEST JULY OPENING EVER (BEATS PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST'S $135,634,554 ON JULY 7, 2006).

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Batman Batman Batman

As expected, Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight includes a dedication to the late Heath Ledger in the credits. The text will read:

“In memory of our friends Heath Ledger & Conway Wickliffe“

For those of you who don’t know, Wickliffe is the special-effects technician who was killed last September in a stunt-car accident on the set of the Batman sequel.

In other related news:

Fandango reported today that pre-sales are huge for the film so far and that extra night screenings have been added!

Fandango is reporting dozens of showtimes for The Dark Knight are sold out in advance, even though the movie doesn't open until Friday, July 18 at 12:01 a.m. A few theaters have added 3:00 a.m. showtimes on Friday morning, July 18, to meet the consumer demand.

Comcast has updated its tie-in website for the movie with additional videos, including "Filming in Chicago," "Batman Unmasked" and "Gotham Knight Behind the Scenes." Just go here and then click 'Videos' to watch them.

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No Feud Over Heath's Will

Michelle Williams is not feuding with Heath Ledger's family over the late actor's will, her rep tells Usmagazine.com.

According to the New York Post, Williams plans to skip the upcoming Dark Knight premiere because Ledger's family will be there. A source says she is still "furious" with them because she "has seen nothing" from Ledger's will.

But her rep tells Us: "The presumption that Michelle ever intended to attend The Dark Knight premiere is unfounded, but to say she is 'boycotting' due to a rift with Heath’s family is absurd.

"It is time to allow this family to go about their lives without this continued scrutiny and speculation."

US Magazine

Give Heath's Money To His Immediate Family Already!!!!

Things aren’t entirely peachy between the family of late actor Heath Ledger and his former live-in love Michelle Williams. In fact, the Dawson’s Creek star is thinking of boycotting the July 14 NYC premiere of his film, The Dark Knight.

Why, you ask? It’s all about money, honey!

Heath’s most recent will on file was written in 2003, almost two full years before the October 2005 birth of daughter Matilda. It stipulates that his immediate family was to inherit his millions. And even though it has since been decided that young Matilda will be the beneficiary of her father’s estate, Michelle is worried about the ability of Heath’s dad, Kim Ledger, to act as executor of the will. He allegedly mishandled his own inheritance after the passing of his father, losing a large sum of money for himself and his siblings.

Neither side has commented on this sticky situation.

Faded Youth

'Brokeback Mountain' - The Opera

The New York City Opera commissioned Charles Wuorinen to compose an opera based on "Brokeback Mountain," the 1997 short story by Annie Proulx that became the basis for a 2005 movie that won three Academy Awards.

The opera is scheduled to premiere in spring 2013, City Opera said Sunday. It will be City Opera's second Wuorinen premiere, following "Haroun and the Sea of Stories," which was based on a Salman Rushdie novel and opened in October 2004.

"Ever since encountering Annie Proulx's extraordinary story I have wanted to make an opera on it, and it gives me great joy that Gerard Mortier and New York City Opera have given me the opportunity to do so," Wuorinen said in a statement.

"Brokeback Mountain" is a cowboy romance about two ranch-hand buddies who start a homosexual affair when they meet on the fictional mountain in 1963.

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A painting of late actor HEATH LEDGER has won a prestigious Australian art prize.

The portrait, titled Heath and painted by Ledger’s friend Vincent Fantauzzo, landed the prestigious People’s Choice honour at the Archibald Prize art awards on Friday (09May08) morning.

Ledger sat for the painting just weeks before he died of a drugs overdose in January (08), and the finished artwork sees the actor bare-chested and surrounded by two other whispering versions of himself.

Fantuazzo’s painting came second in the race for the main award - with a picture by Del Kathryn Barton taking the coveted Archibald Portrait Prize.

The artist turned down all offers to buy the picture - which drew record crowds to the exhibition - giving it instead to Ledger’s mother Sally, who decided to donate the canvas to the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

PR Inside

Heath Ledger Is Still Around

Heath still hanging around?

Heath Ledger's former lover claims she is being haunted by his ghost.

Actress Michelle Williams told friends that Ledger, who died aged 28 of an accidental drug overdose in January, had twice visited her as a 'shadowy apparition'.

The first time, she was woken at night after hearing furniture move.

In another 'visitation', she said he apologised to her for not being there to help raise their two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Williams, 27, claimed the hauntings helped her grieve.

Source

*****Batman Spoiler Ahead*****

Turns out that a key scene in the new Batman film may have to be cut because audiences have not reacted well. The scene shows Heath Ledger's character The Joker playing dead inside a body bag. When it first came on the screen people were gasping and there was a great deal of shuffling and murmuring as well. For obvious reasons there is an argument to cutting the scene, but the scene is also crucial to the film, and so right now no one can decide what to do. I doubt it will be cut.

The good news is that Heath Ledger gave the performance of a lifetime and people will always be talking about his Joker and that it puts Jack Nicholson's Joker look like a Three Stooges episode. With no Katie Holmes to bring the film down with her box office jinx, Warner Brothers is expecting the film to be absolutely huge.

CDAN

And The Vultures Are Coming

Heath Ledger may have fathered a secret love child with a married older woman.

The 'Brokeback Mountain' actor - who was found dead in his New York apartment in January following an accidental drugs overdose - had an affair with the unnamed woman when he was just a 17-year-old schoolboy.

The woman is thought to have discovered she was pregnant after their relationship ended and has only now come forward, saying her 11-year-old girl could be Heath's daughter.

Heath's uncle Hadyn Ledger said: "There is a very real possibility that Heath was the father."

If DNA tests confirm the girl is Heath's child, it could mean she is entitled to a share of his estate.

'The Dark Knight' actor has a two-year-old daughter Matilda Rose, with ex-partner Michelle Williams, however, both were left out of his will.

Heath wrote his will before his daughter was born, but his family have promised they will be looked after.

Female First

Is Heath's Family Trying To Put One Over Michelle???

Heath Ledger's family is being accused of not being honest when it comes to the assets that Heath Ledger had when he died. According to the Sydney Sunday Telegraph, papers filed in New York listed the total assets of Heath Ledger at $145,000 when he died. The documents, according to the newspaper, list furniture and fixtures worth $20,000, a Toyota Prius worth $25,000 and $100,000 in miscellaneous bank accounts. That's it. A guy who earned millions in his career has $145,000 to show for it.

Michelle Williams' dad thinks it is a bunch of crap and that the Ledger family, with Heath's dad specifically trying to hide the rest of the loot. In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Williams, a well-known stock trader, urged the Ledger family to "come clean with everything" and asked Heath's father Kim "to say where the income went and where the assets are. ... I have no idea what Heath Ledger was worth [but] they certainly haven't stated all of the assets to the court."

It is kind of hard to believe that Heath did not have more assets. It's not like he was a guy who was going out and spending a fortune each and every night. Now, it is possible that these are all the assets they have found as of the time the papers were filed. Often it takes several months to find where people had their money, or stocks or anything else they owned. Even if they had an accountant, it is not always easy to find where the assets were put. The good thing about this situation though is that because Keith did have a business manager and an accountant, they will probably be able to account for almost every penny and hopefully make both sides happy.

Crazy Days and Nights

Heath's Daugther Might Not Get Money After All

The uncles of tragic HEATH LEDGER fear his father KIM will fail to provide for the actor’s young daughter, because he has such a bad track record of financial management.

The Brokeback Mountain star left all of his assets to parents Kim and Sally and older sister Kate, having filed his will in Australia in April 2003 - two years prior to birth of his daughter, Matilda, with then-girlfriend, actress Michelle Williams.

Kim has ensured both Williams and her daughter will be financially "taken care of" but his brothers Mike and Larry are not convinced, claiming they were forced to remove him as executor of their grandfather’s estate 15 years ago after "it plunged into enormous debt".

Mike insists their only motivation for casting doubt over their brother’s ability to handle Heath’s assets is the welfare of little Matilda, telling People.com: "Our only vested interest is to assure that Matilda is well looked after." Larry claims he’s had a conversation with Williams’ father Larry, who asked if Kim was capable of handling the finances: "I just said, ‘No, not if he handles it like ours.’" The bitter family feud dates back to when Kim became an executor of their grandfather Sir Frank Ledger’s estate, which was worth an estimated $2 million (£1 million) in the mid 1980s.

Sir Frank’s daughters filed a motion in Supreme Court asking to remove Kim as the executor on the grounds he’d "placed the assets at risk".

Heath Ledger suffered a fatal accidental overdose of prescription drugs in his New York apartment on 22 January (08). He was 28.

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Remembering Heath

Written as a conversation, the tribute remembers Ledger's work ethic, his off-screen persona and his love of chess. Below are some excerpts from the article:

• Naomi Watts: "He was a huge, obsessive, chess freak – and very, very good at it."

• Michelle Williams: "He had uncontrollable energy. He buzzed ... His mind was turning, turning, turning – always turning."

• Ellen DeGeneres: "He didn't try to be something that he wasn't. And I appreciated that."

• Phillip Seymour Hoffman: "Whenever Heath talked about something he liked, he did it in the way that any fan would. He wasn't somebody trying to cover up his excitement about something, or someone."

• Todd Haynes: "That performance in Brokeback Mountain was such a sensitive, understated, controlled interpretation of this character. The entire emotional power of that film, which is enormous, resides in that performance, and how much Heath holds in."

People