Just days after the passing of Brad Renfro in what is widely presumed as a drug overdose, the day of Academy Award nominations has been overshadowed by the shocking news that fellow actor Heath Ledger, Oscar-nominated for his role in Brokeback Mountain, has been found dead today in a Lower Manhattan apartment at the age of 28. CNN is reporting that Ledger was found unresponsive by a housekeeper at an apartment owned by billionaire actress Mary-Kate Olsen*, who was not at the scene; pills, possibly an over-the-counter sleeping medication, were found “in the vicinity of the bed.”
UPDATE 1/23: * Apparently it wasn’t Mary-Kate Olsen’s apartment. Nor her building. Nor was she even in the city. The masseuse who discovered Ledger’s body at the apartment in SoHo called Olsen (twice) before calling 911, because she knew she was a friend of
Ledger’s. Ummm… okay.