When Heath Ledger (April 4, 1979 – January 22, 2008) died, the world lost one of its most exciting dramatic actors. In The Dark Knight he gave a chilling, spot-on performance of the Joker, a character who kills for pleasure, and said it was the role he’d had the most fun ever playing. Fun? The Joker? The bane of my sleepless childhood nights? Heath was suffering from sleep deprivation and anxiety that made him take the toxic cocktail of prescription drugs that lead to his tragic death. At 28, he was close to that dangerous age that did in the musicians of the 27 Club:
- Brian Jones – drowned in a swimming pool
- Janice Joplin – heroin overdose
- Jim Morrison – heroin overdose
- Jimi Hendrix – sleeping pills overdose
- Curt Cobain – gunshot
Here is an interview with Heath just two months before his death, and the trailer. (For Steffi.)
