Heath Ledger's Body Leaves Funeral Home
The body of Heath Ledger left the funeral home as the family prepared to bury the "Brokeback Mountain" actor, the same day police insisted they have no interest in interviewing actress Mary-Kate Olsen.
Details about the Australian-born actor's funeral remained shrouded in secrecy. The body was moved from the police-barricaded funeral home at about 4 p.m. Friday amid a swarm of cameras and reporters. Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said funeral arrangements "will continue to be kept private at the family's request."
Their immediate plans were not known, though Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said his government would do whatever is needed to help the family bring back his body to Australia.
Olsen called Heath Ledger a "friend" in a brief statement released Friday, the first word from the "Full House" star since the Australian-born actor's death. Released by her publicist, the statement, in its entirety, reads: "Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time."
Photos: On Losing Ledger
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said investigators have no interest in talking to Olsen. They interviewed everyone at the scene, each of whom was cooperative. That eliminated "any need to interview Miss Olsen," he said.
On Thursday, police released a detailed timeline of the calls that were made by Ledger's masseuse on Tuesday afternoon, after he couldn't be roused for a scheduled massage.
Police said the masseuse spent nine minutes making three calls to Olsen before she dialed 911 for help. The masseuse called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived.
The details about the calls do not have any significant bearing on the investigation because authorities believe Ledger was dead at that point and they have ruled out foul play.
Photos: Ledger's Life Cut Short
Also Friday, a few onlookers and a large crowd of journalists gathered outside the funeral home where Ledger's family was expected later in the day.
Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said no details about the actor's funeral would be shared with the press.
"As a close knit and very private family we have observed you so determined yet quietly traveling in your self-styled path in life, nothing would get in your way ... no mountain too tall, no river too wide," said the notice, which the newspaper said had been submitted by Ledger's relatives. ".... Our hearts are broken."
The actor's sister, Kate, said she could "hardly breathe" as she tried to write her tribute. "We were the ultimate soul mates," she said.
"You were so many things to so many people, but to me you were just my little brother."
Authorities believe Ledger was already dead while his masseuse was dialing Olsen, with the first three calls ranging from 21 seconds to more than a minute and a half.
Photos: A Look At Heath Ledger
The cause of death will not be answered for at least a week, after medical examiners complete toxicology tests. Authorities suspect a possible overdose, but nothing conclusive has been determined. Several prescription drugs were found in the Manhattan apartment where Ledger's body was found.
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ledger's housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard what she thought was snoring. The masseuse showed up for Ledger's massage appointment at about 2:45 p.m., knocked on his door and called his cell phone at 3 p.m. to wake him up., police said.
After setting up her massage table, she tried to wake Ledger and realized something was wrong.
That was when events took a strange turn.
At 3:17 p.m., she made a call to the Olsen twin that lasted 49 seconds. At 3:20 p.m., she made another call, lasting 1 minute and 39 seconds. At 3:24 p.m., another call to Olsen. That one lasted 21 seconds.
Then, at 3:26 p.m., Wolozin called 911.
At some point during the frenzy, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help with the situation, the New York Police Department said.
Paramedics arrived at 3:33 p.m. and actually went up in the elevator to the apartment with Olsen's security guards. Paramedics did not allow the security guards into the bedroom where Ledger died, and they declared him dead at 3:36 p.m. - 19 minutes after the first call to Olsen.
The masseuse called Olsen a final time at 3:34 p.m. The duration of that call was unknown.
The death prompted rumors that Ledger may have been depressed and taking too many pills. Haydn and Mike Ledger, two of the actor's uncles, deflected a question from a CBS The Early Show interviewer Thursday about whether their nephew had been depressed, saying that should be left to his parents to address.
"We have fond and loving memories of a very loving, gentle trickster," Mike Ledger told The Early Show. "It was his vibrance and personality that really got people together. And that certainly was a trait that he took later on in life into his career."
Ledger told The New York Times in November that his recent work on the films "The Dark Knight" and "I'm Not There" had been stressful, and that he was struggling with sleeplessness and had taken the sleeping pill Ambien.
Ledger received an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in 2005's "Brokeback Mountain," one of several acclaimed for the actor in recent years. He plays the Joker in the Batman flick "The Dark Knight," set to come out later this year.
Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived with then-girlfriend Michelle Williams in a Brooklyn brownstone with a black wrought-iron fence. Ledger split last year with Williams, who played his wife in "Brokeback." The two had a daughter, 2-year-old Matilda.
Mike Ledger told The Early Show that being a father meant everything to the young actor.
"We know that Heath would have wanted to be with her forever," the actor's uncle said.
Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been there shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.
Makeshift tributes and memorials continued to pile up Thursday in front of Ledger's apartment building, including candles, handwritten notes and more than 100 bouquets.