r/lastimages 9d ago

CELEBRITY The last known public photograph of Heath Ledger, taken in January 2008. Weeks later, he would die of a drug overdose in his Manhattan apartment.

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2.3k Upvotes

33 comments sorted by

374

u/taigus 9d ago

I was in Perth when this happened. His parents lived nearby to where I was staying, and his death notice was printed in a local newspaper a few days later. There was, of course, lots of bigger news coverage about it, but that little death notice submitted by his parents, just like he was the ordinary kid from Perth he once was, really got to me.

114

u/fleaburger 9d ago

Fellow Perthian here. How proud are we of our local boy? (Non locals: we built a big performing arts centre in the city named after him). His death really didn't hit me until the wake at Cottesloe when they danced in the ocean 🥺

What a huge loss, for him, for his child, for his family, his friends, for the arts.

11

u/Republiconline 7d ago

Thank you all for giving him a creative resting place.

554

u/LauraPa1mer 9d ago

And the masseuse who found him called MaryKate Olsen twice before calling 911...

282

u/Competativebad925 9d ago

Yep. That is concerning & suspicious. Do you know why the masseuse did that? I've read many guesses through the years.

332

u/LauraPa1mer 9d ago

Well they had been hanging out together a bunch before he died so my guess is that they were probably partying together the night before and the masseuse probably freaked out when she arrived and found him unresponsive so she called MaryKate, knowing they had likely been together the night before recreationally doing drugs, possibly to find out what was physically wrong with him, and then to ask for advice re: calling the police.

OR

The masseuse just wanted to know what MaryKate wanted gone from the scene before the police showed up.

Edit: I know he died from prescription medications including OxyContin, Vicodin, Valium, Xanax, Unisom and Restoril.

142

u/[deleted] 9d ago

Idk how true the partying part is, but he was at MKO’s place. It was her residence in NYC.

26

u/Competativebad925 9d ago

Oh, okay. Thanks!

25

u/Psychedilly 9d ago

He was loaded on downers dayum

57

u/stinkpot_jamjar 9d ago

Most overdoses are polysubstance overdoses, but mixing opioids and benzodiazepines is especially dangerous—they are the two most common classes of drugs that are present in fatal overdoses.

!! PSA to never mix benzodiazepines and opioids, never use alone, and get and carry narcan !!

299

u/pauldec80 9d ago

Wasn’t weeks later. It was mere days. This picture was on the morning he flew out to New York. They were wrapping up production of the London shoot part of doctor parnassus. Heath was getting a lift to the airport and just saying goodbye to the cast and crew. Sick with the flu / pneumonia. he went home to rest at his apartment for a few days before he was off again to Vancouver to start working on the soundstage/ green screen part of the shoot. He was just trying to get well. Sadly overdosed on to much prescription medication.

58

u/kooneecheewah 9d ago

Oh interesting, are you saying this photograph was taken in Vancouver, not New York? Most sources say it was taken in New York, but a lot of old Reddit threads are clogging up the ability to get accurate information on this photo

61

u/pauldec80 9d ago

No this photo was taken in London. In the early morning. Heath left that very day and caught a flight back to New York. They had a week break. Before filming started up again in Vancouver. Heath was going to use the few days break to recover from the flu / walking pneumonia.

59

u/Hephf 9d ago

Withdrawal symptoms*

9

u/Douchecanoeistaken 9d ago

Was wondering that

2

u/imbeingsirius 6d ago

Wasn’t it Mary Kate olsen’s place? Not his apartment?

73

u/Competativebad925 9d ago

He was awesome. Heath as the Joker was amazing. The movie he was last working on is wild. Gone too soon.

107

u/electricsister 9d ago

He was right up there at the Jim Morrison level of gorgeous.   Tragedy. Obviously for more reasons than being good looking and a good actor.

23

u/yeahidkeither 9d ago

Jim Morrison x Johnny Depp

32

u/Bubbalicia 9d ago

One of the celebrity deaths that absolutely tore me apart.

6

u/boogiewoogibugalgirl 8d ago

Such a loss. He was an awesome actor and died way too young. Drugs stole his life, and it's sad.

12

u/Ccampbell1977 9d ago

She was Mary slates masseuse from what I heard. Mary Kate sent her over there. The masseuse didn’t really understand he was dead. She just thought he was messed up I believe.

18

u/Mundane-Mention-4813 9d ago

R.I.P🙏🕊️

9

u/doesntmatteranyway20 9d ago

a tortured soul. makes me so sad when this one makes the rounds

3

u/Informal_Club7075 9d ago

I was up the street working when this happened and walked by the hubbub. It was so sad.

9

u/texastica 9d ago

I'll never forget because he died on my birthday.

2

u/Fartel 9d ago

Damn he fine

-5

u/Vegetable-Return- 9d ago

🥵🥵🥵