Heath Ledger’s Family Arriving for Funeral
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
Funeral arrangements for Heath Ledger have been completed and his relatives were expected to arrive in New York on Friday, a funeral home spokesman said.
The general manager of the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, George Amado, refused to disclose further details, saying any additional information would have to come from Ledger’s manager.
“The family doesn’t want us to give out any information,” he said yesterday.
The 28-year-old actor’s body was taken to the funeral home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side on Wednesday, a day after he was found dead in his SoHo loft,
An autopsy Wednesday was inconclusive and further test results weren’t expected for several days, the medical examiner’s office spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said.
Ledger’s housekeeper and a massage therapist found the “Brokeback Mountain” star dead Tuesday, lying naked and face-down on his bed. Police said no illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
There were six different types of prescription drugs in the apartment, including pills to treat insomnia and anxiety, and an antihistamine, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The officials said three of the drugs were prescribed in Europe. Ledger had recently been filming in London.
Police said a housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb Tuesday and saw him sleeping and heard him snoring around 1 p.m.
“I didn’t think anything was wrong,” the housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, told the New York Post. She said she was “still shaking” and unable to sleep a day after the actor’s death.
At 2:45 p.m., 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 actress Mary-Kate Olsen, whose number was programmed into Ledger’s cell phone, to seek advice, police said.
Ms. Olsen said she would send over her private security. In the ensuing moments, the massage therapist realized that Ledger might be dead, called Olsen again, and then called 911. Paramedics — and Ms. Olsen’s security people — arrived minutes later.
