The much acclaimed new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, is now in theaters and already there is much buzz about Heath Ledger's performance as Joker. Many folks - including one of my favorite writers, Dan Savage - have claimed that Heath will be nominated and win an Oscar this year.

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RIP Heath Ledger [dt]

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead today in his SoHo apartment by his cleaning lady and his masseuse. According to the NY Times: At 3:31 p.m., according to the police, a masseuse arrived at the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street, between Crosby and Lafayette Streets in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table.

There have been several conflicting stories already flying around about this tragic death. Authorities believe there was no foul play involved and Heath's family have responded to the rumors of suicide. They told TMZ: "he was not that kind of person."

Heath had been sick with pneumonia. An autopsy will be completed on Wednesday to determine the cause of death. According to authorities there were no signs that Heath had been drinking and no illegal substances were found in the house. Heath was only 28 years old and had a 2-year old daughter, Matilda Rose Ledger, with his ex-fiancee, Michelle Williams.

His friends and family - including the Prime Minister of Australia - are all broken up by this severely tragic news. Lindsay Lohan has been seen weeping in her car and Michelle Williams is currently on a plane to NYC.

I feel like I've begun writing for the Obituary section. Last week it was Brad Renfro and today Heath. I'm finding the news to be quite sad. It almost feels like someone I know died. I got teary-eyed when I was reading the headlines and when I pulled together the pictorial memorium (shown below) I did so with a heavy heart.

Heath was most notably known for his break through performance as Ennis del Mar in Brokeback Mountain. His other works include: The Brothers Grimm, A Knight's Tale, 10 Things I Hate About You, and Monster's Ball amongst others. He recently starred as one version of Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' experiemental biopic I'm Not There. Filming of The Dark Knight which he played The Joker was complete and he was in the middle of filming his new film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.