Ledger Masseuse Took 9 Minutes To Call 911
Police said that Heath Ledger's masseuse, Diana Lee Wolozin, spent nine minutes making three calls to actress Mary-Kate Olsen before she dialed authorities for help. She called the "Full House" actress a fourth time after paramedics arrived. Fearing a "media circus," Wolozin, who discovered the body lying naked and face-down on his bed on Tuesday, picked up the actor's cell phone and dialed Olsen, whose phone number was programmed into Ledger's phone, for advice.
"Heath is unconscious. I don't know what to do!" Wolozin said in her first call to Ms. Olsen, reports the New York Post.
Olsen said she would send over her private security. In the ensuing moments, the masseuse made a second call to Olsen, saying, "I think he may be dead. I'm calling 911," the Post reports. Paramedics - and Olsen's security people - arrived minutes later.
Authorities are investigating whether or not Ledger was breathing when the masseuse made the decision to call Olsen first, rather than 911, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace.
Funeral arrangements for actor Heath Ledger have been completed and his relatives were expected to arrive in New York on Friday, a funeral home spokesman said.
George Amado, the general manager of the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, refused to disclose further details, saying any additional information would have to come from Ledger's manager.
"The family doesn't want us to give out any information," he said Thursday.
The 28-year-old actor's body was taken to the funeral home on Manhattan's Upper East Side on Wednesday, a day after he was found dead in his SoHo loft with bottles of prescription drugs nearby.
Photos: On Losing Ledger
Police said Ledger probably died between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. At 1 p.m., the housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard him snoring.
"I didn't think anything was wrong," the housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, told the New York Post. She said she was "still shaking" and unable to sleep a day after the actor's death.
Photos: Ledger's Life Cut Short
Medical examiner's office spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said the 28-year-old actor's autopsy Wednesday was inconclusive and that authorities would know more in about 10 days, when more tests are expected to be complete.
Photos: Ledger On Film
There were six different types of prescription drugs in the room, including pills to treat insomnia and anxiety, and an antihistamine, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael Welner told CBS' The Early Show that it isn't easy to overdose on a drug like Ambien, a drug prescribed to treat insomnia. He says that it's unlikely Ledger died taking a few extra pills above the recommended dosage by accident.
Photos: A Look At Heath Ledger
"Well, anyone who takes way more than what's prescribed is doing it on purpose," says Wellner. "There are a number of pieces to the puzzle. If we're only looking for one piece, we're unlikely to find a solution."
"There are people who go a little bit over, and then there are people who don't expect at all to have a toxic reaction, but mix something that their body can't handle, and they tragically and unexpectedly die," says Wellner. "So many possibilities."
A rolled-up 20-dollar bill was found on the floor near the bed, but New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said lab tests found nothing to indicate the bill had been used to snort drugs. Police also said no illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
Lee Daniels, who produced the critically acclaimed 2001 movie "Monster's Ball," in which Ledger starred, strongly disputed any notion that Ledger had a drug problem.
"The definition of substance abuse is really up to one's perspective," Daniels said. "I didn't see him as a drug addict. I saw him as someone who enjoyed life. I know drug addicts - he was not a drug addict."
The law enforcement officials said three of the drugs were prescribed in Europe. Ledger had recently been filming in London.
Ledger told The New York Times in November that working 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 sleep aid Ambien.
To many who saw Heath Ledger in the last months of his life, the actor appeared to be happy, healthy and excited - "in a great place," in the words of one friend.
Which only made his sudden end feel more tragic.
Daniels also said the Australian-born actor was in great spirits when they saw each other a few months ago.
"He was in a good mood, he was in a great place ... he was excited about living in New York," Daniels said.
News of the death stunned family, fans and colleagues.
"We have fond and loving memories of a very loving, gentle trickster," his uncle 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."
"Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life," said Ang Lee, who directed Ledger to an Oscar nomination in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain." "He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking."
Fans left flowers and candles Wednesday outside Ledger's apartment in Manhattan's tony SoHo neighborhood. Khaled Ali, 41, a stage manager for a Broadway show, dropped off a candle at the apartment building on his way to work, saying he and fellow cast members were devastated.
"I felt a connection with him as an actor, as a fellow in the theater community," he said. "With 'Brokeback Mountain' he touched me personally in telling the story of my community. It was very touching."
Intense roles became Ledger's trademark soon after he got his start in such teen movies as "10 Things I Hate About You." He buried his Australian accent and downplayed his leading-man looks as a sexually confused cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," a drug addict in "Candy," and an incarnation of Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."
His role as the Joker in the upcoming Batman movie "The Dark Knight" may be his final finished performance.
Ledger split last year with Michelle Williams, who played his wife in "Brokeback." The two had a daughter, Matilda, now 2.
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," his uncle said.
Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Trollhattan, 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.
Stromberg said Williams had received the news of Ledger's death at her hotel late Tuesday night.
Streams of reporters and a thicket of satellite trucks on Wednesday surrounded Ledger's Manhattan apartment, where some letters were piled among well-wishers' bouquets and candles.
One handwritten note on plain white paper read:
"Heath, how could anyone hate 10 things about you. We couldn't find one bad thing about you. God bless your soul, you're in our prayers."