Whenever I hear of Hollywood icons and musicians’ untimely ends at such young ages, as a result of their excessive alcohol and drug use, be it illegal or prescribed substances, the one word I come up with that best describes such people is “Loser” with a capital L.
There ought to be a medical name for celebrities with such ailments, like “James Dean Syndrome.” The latest star to fall into the category is Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger. His death Jan. 22 at the age of 28 was the result of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs according to the New York City medical examiner.
To quote the phrase: “Live fast, love hard, die young and leave a good-looking corpse.”
I didn’t always feel this way.
A few days after actor John Belushi was found dead, as the result of a drug overdose in March, 1982, I found the comment one of my classmates made about the 33-year-old comedian to be rather cold. I will not publish his exact words but to put his comment in my own words, he said how much of an idiot Belushi was for giving into drugs, thus ending what was a promising film career.
I can understand where he was coming from. I did not, for example, shed tears for former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith when she passed away last February, the result of an overdose on prescription medications. She brought her downfall on herself. If Smith was deeply concerned about her newborn baby, she would have done everything in her power to stay healthy. If anything, I felt worse for her one-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope, who would now grow up without a mother.
The sad fact is that behind all the blockbuster movies, television shows and rock albums is a small group of individuals who have either a hard time coming to grips with their sudden stardom, think they are invulnerable to everything, or are unhappy.
This seems to be the case for Heath Ledger, if you believe the comments in People magazine who said the star had been depressed and was not himself in the weeks prior to his death last month. Recently he had been spotted partying until the early morning hours.
“He looked like he was going through a hard time,” said one source on a movie set. “It really looked like all the traveling, filming and the separation from Michelle (Williams) and his child was really taking a toll.”
As in the case of the untimely death of actor River Phoenix in 1993, I did not want to believe the possibility that Ledger’s end was the result of drug use, even if it was all prescribed medications.
I did not care for the gay subject matter in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) but I admired Ledger’s courage for taking the role, which earned him his first Oscar nomination, and tackling an issue that even today, despite growing acceptance, is still stigmatized by Hollywood.
Ledger had been working heavily during the past year shooting the Bob Dylan biopic, “I’m Not There.” He reteamed with director Terry Gilliam on “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” whose production is now suspended and was in the process of directing his first feature film next year.
Upon the completion of his role as the villainous Joker in the highly anticipated Batman sequel, “The Dark Knight”, due out this July, Ledger described the role first made famous by Jack Nicholson back in 1989’s “Batman”, as “a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”
As a result of working non-stop, the actor admitted to The New York Times back in November that he had had trouble sleeping, saying that even two Ambien pills was not enough.
"I couldn't stop thinking,” he said. “My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."
The day after Ledger’s passing, one of my coworkers said you would think today’s rising stars would learn the harsh lessons that ended the lives of actors Belushi, Phoenix, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin and most recently actor Brad Renfro and musician Ike Turner.
That lesson will continue to fall on a lot of deaf ears in the entertainment industry, despite warnings that comes from Ledger’s father Kim through the actor’s publicist on the day the toxicology reports were released.
"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."
Heath Ledger is not the first, nor will he be the last celebrity to succumb to “James Dean Syndrome.” The Associated Press already has Britney Spears’ obituary ready to go to press should she be next.
Ledger’s sudden departure, like so many others before him, is just another grisly tabloid case in which a promising young career is cut short. All that grieving fans are left with are small bodies of their work dwelling on what might have been.
©2/4/08
There ought to be a medical name for celebrities with such ailments, like “James Dean Syndrome.” The latest star to fall into the category is Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger. His death Jan. 22 at the age of 28 was the result of an accidental overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs according to the New York City medical examiner.
To quote the phrase: “Live fast, love hard, die young and leave a good-looking corpse.”
I didn’t always feel this way.
A few days after actor John Belushi was found dead, as the result of a drug overdose in March, 1982, I found the comment one of my classmates made about the 33-year-old comedian to be rather cold. I will not publish his exact words but to put his comment in my own words, he said how much of an idiot Belushi was for giving into drugs, thus ending what was a promising film career.
I can understand where he was coming from. I did not, for example, shed tears for former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith when she passed away last February, the result of an overdose on prescription medications. She brought her downfall on herself. If Smith was deeply concerned about her newborn baby, she would have done everything in her power to stay healthy. If anything, I felt worse for her one-year-old daughter, Dannielynn Hope, who would now grow up without a mother.
I have never understood how people with such talent, who have everything they could want in life, could be so insecure with themselves that they need illegal or prescribed chemical substances to battle their inner demons.The list of troubled celebrities seems to be growing daily starting with Britney Spears but not limited to Lindsey Lohan, Mischa Barton, singer Amy Winehouse, Gary Collins, Rebecca De Mornay, Tom Sizemore, Kiefer Sutherland and most recently Sean Young.
The sad fact is that behind all the blockbuster movies, television shows and rock albums is a small group of individuals who have either a hard time coming to grips with their sudden stardom, think they are invulnerable to everything, or are unhappy.
This seems to be the case for Heath Ledger, if you believe the comments in People magazine who said the star had been depressed and was not himself in the weeks prior to his death last month. Recently he had been spotted partying until the early morning hours.
“He looked like he was going through a hard time,” said one source on a movie set. “It really looked like all the traveling, filming and the separation from Michelle (Williams) and his child was really taking a toll.”
As in the case of the untimely death of actor River Phoenix in 1993, I did not want to believe the possibility that Ledger’s end was the result of drug use, even if it was all prescribed medications.
I did not care for the gay subject matter in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005) but I admired Ledger’s courage for taking the role, which earned him his first Oscar nomination, and tackling an issue that even today, despite growing acceptance, is still stigmatized by Hollywood.
Ledger had been working heavily during the past year shooting the Bob Dylan biopic, “I’m Not There.” He reteamed with director Terry Gilliam on “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” whose production is now suspended and was in the process of directing his first feature film next year.
Upon the completion of his role as the villainous Joker in the highly anticipated Batman sequel, “The Dark Knight”, due out this July, Ledger described the role first made famous by Jack Nicholson back in 1989’s “Batman”, as “a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”
As a result of working non-stop, the actor admitted to The New York Times back in November that he had had trouble sleeping, saying that even two Ambien pills was not enough.
"I couldn't stop thinking,” he said. “My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."
The day after Ledger’s passing, one of my coworkers said you would think today’s rising stars would learn the harsh lessons that ended the lives of actors Belushi, Phoenix, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin and most recently actor Brad Renfro and musician Ike Turner.
That lesson will continue to fall on a lot of deaf ears in the entertainment industry, despite warnings that comes from Ledger’s father Kim through the actor’s publicist on the day the toxicology reports were released.
"While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."
Heath Ledger is not the first, nor will he be the last celebrity to succumb to “James Dean Syndrome.” The Associated Press already has Britney Spears’ obituary ready to go to press should she be next.
Ledger’s sudden departure, like so many others before him, is just another grisly tabloid case in which a promising young career is cut short. All that grieving fans are left with are small bodies of their work dwelling on what might have been.
©2/4/08
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