Heathledger.com

IT WAS supposed to be the Brooklyn bar where Heath Ledger would be most comfortable — a place that the late actor not only invested money in but helped conceive.

Only those who knew him well would discern the “Heath touches”: the engraved, granite-topped bar tables were his idea, as it was to have his favourite tattooist, Scott Campbell from nearby Williamsburg, do the engravings.

It was Ledger who wanted one table engraved as a chessboard: he played the game his father taught him at a nearby chess club and often beat the hustlers, although he declined to take their money, his business partner, Jud Mongell, said.

On the chessboard table is engraved a scrawled heart, replicating one Ledger left on a note to a friend not long before his death in January this year.

The nautical theme — the space is furnished with deckchairs and fitted with a steel, bow-shaped bar to create the impression of being at sea — was an idea Mongell and Ledger devised together. The name — Five Leaves — is a Ledger family decision, recalling the album by Nick Drake and a reference to the warning near the end of a packet of Rizla cigarette papers.

Next week the bar Ledger planned will open, not as a tribute but as a place where he would belong.

“We’re 50-50 partners still,” Mongell said. “Heath is still my partner. He was fingerprinted for a liquor licence … he was going to DJ, bartend; he was not like some removed investor. At one point he put a bid in on the whole building. He was going to live upstairs.

“Heath was a very good chess player. He wanted a chessboard or two in here, so we could never not do that. So that’s Heath’s chessboard.”
The project was completed because the actor’s father, Kim, agreed to see through a project his son began to support a friend. Continue Reading »

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Wednesday dealt a serious, but possibly temporary, blow to a lawsuit filed by a celebrity magazine reporter who has accused a paparazzi agency of secretly filming Heath Ledger doing drugs in her hotel room.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John S. Wiley Jr. tentatively dismissed 11 of 12 claims filed against the agency and two photographers, saying most of the allegations lacked legal standing.

He allowed attorneys to file an amended complaint that could restore some of the claims.

The woman, identified in court documents only as “Jane Doe,” sued Splash News & Picture Agency and two of its photographers in April, alleging fraud, intrusion, unjust enrichment and other claims over the filming of Ledger in 2006.

The woman was on assignment for People magazine at the time.

According to the lawsuit, the tape was made after the Golden Globe awards in January 2006 and wasn’t revealed until after Ledger’s death from an accidental prescription drug overdose earlier this year. “Entertainment Tonight” and its sister show, “The Insider,” had planned to air the footage, but canceled those plans after feeling pressure from publicists and other Ledger supporters.

The video later surfaced online.

The lawsuit states the video was shot from a balcony of the reporter’s hotel room, and that Ledger became upset when he realized he was being taped. The photographers placated Ledger by telling him they would destroy the tape, the suit claims.

Ledger — who has been celebrated this summer for his role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” — was already an established actor when the tape was made. Indeed, the suit claims the video was shot hours after Ledger appeared at the awards show, where he was nominated as best actor for “Brokeback Mountain.”

The lawsuit claims the video shows Ledger doing cocaine and that some of the drugs were supplied by the photographers. It also shows Ledger saying that he was “going to get serious (word bleeped) from my girlfriend” for being in the hotel room and rolling cigarette paper and saying “I used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years.”

The reporter’s likeness is blurred on the video.

That element, and the woman’s assignment for People, were key reasons for Wiley’s decision to remove most of the claims from the suit.

“Jane Doe is as far as the Heath Ledger public is concerned, a complete unknown,” Wiley said. “She’s not a feature. She’s some blurry bystander.”

Wiley also noted that the reporter had dated one of the photographers, and that the alleged intrusion of her privacy took place in a hotel room she had apparently rented to conduct interviews in. “It’s a professional setting, not a personal setting,” Wiley said.

The judge sided with defense attorneys, who argued that the woman could not make many of her claims on behalf of Ledger. “The tape’s valuable because of Heath Ledger, not because of Jane Doe,” Wiley said.

Neville Johnson, who is representing the reporter, told Wiley his client was also harmed by the video.

“It ruined her,” he shouted at one point during the hearing. “She didn’t get a story out of it.”

The woman’s suit claims her inclusion on the tape has damaged her ability to work.

“Just because she’s a member of the press, she has the same rights as anyone else,” Johnson said.

He said afterward Wednesday’s hearing that he thinks a revision of the lawsuit will restore many of the reporter’s claims.

An attorney for Splash News and its photographers declined to comment after the hearing.

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Heath Ledger’s daughter, Matilda, will likely not have to worry about money matters ever again, thanks to the three stars who stepped in to finish her father’s final film.

Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who play different versions of Heath’s character in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, were worried about Matilda’s future as Heath left only an old will which did not include the little girl. So what did they do? They donated their entire paychecks to her!!!

Says director Terry Gilliam: “They didn’t take money — it goes to Heath’s daughter. That’s extraordinary! And wonderful . . . and when you’re part of that, you think, ‘Ah, this is maybe why I went into the movies in the beginning. I thought it would be full of wonderful people.’ “

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Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker in the latest Batman film was inspired by Sid Vicious, according to his co-star Christian Bale.

Chistian Bale said: He (Ledger) modelled the part on Sid Vicious which made this punk-like character. I think it is a classic portrayal of a great villain Photo: AP/PA

Bale, who plays the protagonist in the hit movie, said Ledger, who died in January of an accidental drugs overdose, had watched video clips of the late Sex Pistols guitar player while researching the role.

The 34-year-old said: “Heath’s created an anarchic Joker unlike any ever seen before.

“He modelled the part on Sid Vicious which made this punk-like character. I think it is a classic portrayal of a great villain.”

The punk rocker, whose real name was John Simon Ritchie, died in New York 1979, also from a drugs overdose.

The troubled musician - renowned for his violent behaviour - was facing trial over the murder of his former girlfriend Nancy Spungen at the time of his death.

Ledger is being tipped to win an Oscar for his role in The Dark Knight.

Bale added: “Heath immersed himself in the role. I would love to see him get an award.”

Before his death, Ledger said he also drew inspiration from A Clockwork Orange for the role.

“It’s the most fun I’ve had with a character and probably will ever have…” he said.

The actor added: “It was an exhausting process. At the end of the day I couldn’t move. I couldn’t talk. I was absolutely wrecked.”

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Mary-Kate Olsen may be taking a deep breath after news the U.S. Attorney’s Office closed its investigations.

The investigation into Ledger’s accidental overdose death is over, a law-enforcement source told Peolple magazine.

No charges were filed against the actress and Olsen will not get a subpoena after all. The tiny twin was the first to be called after Ledger’s body was found in his Soho apartment.

The 22-year-old former Full House actress was subpoenaed by a grand jury on April 23, but her attorney had been in negotiations with federal authorities since then, the insider told the magazine.

Olsen requested immunity and earlier this week Olsen’s attorney released a statement saying the actress “had nothing to do” with Ledger’s drugs and had already provided “relevant information” to investigators.

Olsen was the only person who declined to be interviewed in the investigation, the source said. Model Helena Christiansen was interviewed as was Ledger’s ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams and Ledger’s family and friends.

The 28-year-old Joker star was found dead on Jan. 22, and the coroner determined the actor died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs for pain, anxiety and sleep.

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” smashed yet another Hollywood record as it cleared the $400 million domestic box office mark in 18 days, less than half the time it took “Shrek 2″ to reach that milestone, Warner Bros. Pictures said on Tuesday.

After a third straight weekend at No. 1 in U.S. and Canadian theaters — grossing $42.7 million Friday through Sunday — “Dark Knight” amassed $6.3 million on Monday to bring its domestic tally to $400.03 million, the Time Warner Inc.-owned movie distributor reported.

The previous record holder, the computer-animated storybook spoof “Shrek 2,” crossed the $400 million mark in 43 days back in 2004, according to box office watcher Media By Numbers.

Warner Bros. has said it expects “Dark Knight” to add at least another $100 million to its North American ticket sales, surpassing the $461 million haul of 1977’s “Star Wars” and its two reissues. “Star Wars” ranks as the No. 2 movie of all time in the United States and Canada.

While “Dark Knight” appears destined to become only the second movie to gross $500 million domestically, the $601 million record held by 1997’s “Titanic” seems unlikely to sink, said Media By Numbers president Paul Dergarabedian.

“That $600 million is kind of one for the ages. It’s held for 10 years,” Dergarabedian told Reuters. “It’s very, very difficult to get from $500 million to $600 million. But the fact we’re even talking about it tells you something about the strength of ‘The Dark Knight’ and what a phenomenon it is.”

Adjusted for inflation, though, “Titanic” ranks at No. 6 in the record books, far behind “Gone with the Wind” at $1.4 billion, according to tracking firm Box Office Mojo.

“The Dark Knight,” the second of the newly revived Warner Bros. film franchise based on the adventures of D.C. Comics’ Batman character, is a follow-up to 2005’s “Batman Begins.”

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Christian Bale

His blockbuster film The Dark Knight is obliterating box office records, but Christian Bale says the tally is secondary to the audience’s enthusiastic embrace of his late costar Heath Ledger.

“It’s satisfying to see people celebrating the incredible talent of Heath,” Bale said of Ledger’s performance as the villainous Joker. “I just want him to be recognized.”

While the film has earned $300 million in just 10 days, “I would have been happy with this movie even if it hadn’t broken so many box office records,” Bale told audience members at the film’s Tokyo premiere Monday. “I’m used to being in movies that five people go to!”

Adding that The Dark Knight “really raised the bar,” Bale was quick to point out that much of the success was due to Ledger.

Director Christopher Nolan added that Ledger was “what the Joker in our film would need to be.”

“[We were] looking for an actor with the fierceness, excitement and teeth to do our version of the Joker,” Nolan continued. “It’s very different.”

Bale deflected a question about how he’s been holding up since his London arrest, explaining “The fans are not here for me. They’re here for the movie. It speaks for itself.”

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HOLLYWOOD — A driving portion of the Bat Fever that has followed the release of The Dark Knight can be attributed to Heath Ledger’s fearless/terrifying portrayal of The Joker.

Even with the considerable buzz leading up to the release of the movie, few were prepared for the commanding disappearing act that was Ledger’s performance.

Understandably, Academy Awards talk has begun in earnest. While a nomination is an absolute shoo-in, there’s a growing consensus that a win is likely in the cards.

If so, it would be the first time an Oscar was awarded posthumously since 1977, when the late Peter Finch (playing a raging “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” TV commentator in Network) won a Best Actor statuette.

He had died of a heart attack two months prior to the telecast.

Finch was the first and, to date, only person awarded an Oscar posthumously. Should Ledger’s performance go the distance, the actors have some other things in common:

In addition to both hailing from Australia, their only prior Oscar noms were for playing gay characters — Ledger in Brokeback Mountain and Finch in Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

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