A Farewell to Heath Ledger, 28
by Fred T. Beeman

An accidental overdose of six different prescribed medications claimed the life of Heath Andrew Ledger, who was born April 4, 1979, in Perth, Western Australia (where he had been given the abbreviated name for “Heathcliff,” based on a character in the Emily Bronté novel, “Wuthering Heights”), and passed away January 22, 2008 in New York City.

Although he was never a child actor while stateside, he did appear in performances while under 18 in his native Australia, debuting in a movie called “Clowning Around” in 1992 (at age 12), prior to immigrating to the USA, where he came to the attention of American audiences with his performance in “Monster’s Ball” (2001) and his Oscar®-nominated role in the controversial “Brokeback Mountain” (2005).

While we mourn his loss and extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends and fans, we feel compelled to take this opportunity to caution everyone, everywhere, to exercise extreme care and due diligence, when consuming prescription medications. Keeping some kind of “daily log,” or using a simple “pill box” will lessen the likelihood that a tragedy of this magnitude will happen to you, or those close to you.