For Heath: 'It had not occurred to any of us that he would be leaving so soon'

Tonight, I have the luxury of time and personal space to sit back and think on what we've lost. I want to post links to four articles about Heath (including one about Heath and Jake) because they have each made me feel a little bit better - they have also made me realise how proud I am of Heath Ledger. We've also all read today that Jake is on set in New Mexico, being protected by his colleagues, and long may he be so protected. Michelle and Matilda are back in New York City and I hope that they too are given the privacy they need as well as a little comfort from the messages of love.


Heath is all over the Guardian newspaper today, including the cover of its insert magazine. And it is all about Heath the actor and why we should feel this loss - as well as why we must hold Brokeback Mountain dear. The article is called 'It's not fair. It's not right': 'The shock felt by so many at the death of Heath Ledger shows how strongly we identify with great actors, says Joe Queenan.' I bought this tribute to 'The star we lost too soon' and have scanned the cover and inside picture for you (forgive the creases). Here are some excerpts.


'Those of us who followed his career from the beginning, those of us who may have remarked, just this past weekend, that we were looking forward to Ledger's sinister turn as the Joker in the upcoming The Dark Knight in a way we were not looking forward to Jude Law's turn as anyone in anything, are devastated that he will no longer be on hand to divert us, surprise us, inspire us, cheer us. It had not occurred to any of us that he would be leaving so soon; none of his admirers were quite prepared for this turn of events.'


'The public is like a doting parent that spends decades compiling a mental scrapbook in which it meticulously mounts photos of its child's greatest triumphs. When an actor dies young, it is almost as if one's own child had passed away. There is no greater tragedy than for a parent to outlive its children, because the old are supposed to exit the stage before the young. This is why Ledger's death seems not only tragic but morally incorrect. Once again, the universe is not playing by the rules.'


'If we are lucky enough to be exposed to an actor's work when he first starts out, in my case because my 15-year-old daughter originally viewed 10 Things I Hate About You as the defining film of her generation, we start to think of them almost as members of the family. We indulge their fledgling errors (A Knight's Tale, Four Feathers), chide them for squandering their talent (Casanova), beam with pride when they begin to assert themselves (Monster's Ball), and are outraged when they are denied the honours they deserve (the Academy's failure to give Ledger its best actor award for Brokeback Mountain ranks with its most hideous, cowardly decisions ever. Ledger will now be remembered as the victim of an epic miscarriage of justice, giving a truly astounding performance that somehow did not find favour with the grizzled, homophobic slobs who run Hollywood).'

'Ledger is not the first gifted actor to die long before his time, but not all actors who die long before their time fall into the same category.'


'Ledger made one film for which he will undeniably be remembered. When the news of his death was reported on the airwaves, commentators unanimously described him as the groundbreaking young Aussie who played the "gay cowboy" in Brokeback Mountain. This captures the press at its most lavishly cretinous. Brokeback Mountain is no more about gay cowboys than Hamlet is about indecisive, twenty-something Danes... I know quite a few people who have still not seen Brokeback Mountain, presumably because they find the subject matter off-putting. This is idiotic. Brokeback Mountain is a beautiful story about two people who love one another but live in a hypocritical society that needs a moral overhaul. Romeo and Juliet, anyone?'


The Los Angeles Times examines the ways in which Heath differed from other young, handsome leading men of his generation: 'Ledger had a basso profundo ruggedness about him, a premature cragginess that already had begun to nip away at his youthful beauty. But he wasn't afraid to show a deeper vulnerability beneath the scrappy Aussie exterior, a self-doubt that apparently mirrored the actor's own soul. "I like to do something I fear," he told The Times in a 2005 interview. ". . . I like to be afraid of the project. I always am. . . . There's a huge amount of anxiety that drowns out any excitement I have toward the project."'

'It was largely that roiling anxiety and vulnerability -- and the courage to show it to the world -- that set Ledger apart from the plastic action-hero and pretty-boy Hollywood masses, and that made him especially appealing to female audiences. (If you doubt this, check out the copious digital eulogies now flooding the Internet.)'

'Whether those qualities in Ledger, and his streaks of brilliance, would have coalesced into an era-defining artist is now unknowable. All we are left with is sentence fragments, inchoate feelings, the low murmur of an unfulfilled promise. "Jack, I swear. . . ."'


CNN has posted some personal memories of Heath from those who were blessed enough to meet him, each taking away something special. Thanks to Amy for the link - I really enjoyed reading these memories.

And finally, this writer remembers her phone interview with Heath Ledger and also recalls her final minute of talking with Jake Gyllenhaal. She asked him, for the last question, what he had in his pocket. '"Hmmm, lemme see..." (I hear him move around) "Oh," he said. "I have your phone number in my pocket!" He chuckled and we said our goodbyes.'


This post is dedicated, with special love, to four writers: to Mel, to Smilesalot, to Elfie and to Trekfan.

Includes pictures from IHJ and The Guardian.