Kent Ninomiya - Add Heath Ledger to the list of young Hollywood stars who died too young. His mysterious end at the age of 28 in a New York apartment, naked with a bottle of sleeping pills nearby, has all the ingredients of a posthumous legend in the making. Like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe before him, an early tragic death of an up and coming star has a way of immortalizing and exaggerating a personality, talent and accomplishments. It is unclear how Ledger died, but whatever the eventual explanation, it will be doubted and conspiracies suggested. Celebrities are bigger than life for the masses. When they die tragically we tend to claim a piece of them for ourselves. This way we can feel the loss as if they were acting a role for us. Never mind that we may not have noticed the deceased much when they were alive. Their passing forces us to reflect on what they were and ponder what will never be. That imagination usually surpasses the reality.

I remember covering the death of Chris Farley in Chicago in 1997. He was found dead in his apartment by his brother. Farley was 33. I traced his steps the night of his death and spoke to several people who spent time with him. They told me he seemed a bit preoccupied and drank alone in a number of bars and clubs. The coroner later said a drug overdose killed him. It was a tragic story. Despite this I remember many people, fans and commentators alike, trying to turn his death into something noble. I actually heard one person say "at least he died doing what he loved." I doubt very much that would be the reaction if Farley wasn't a celebrity.

We shouldn't forget that celebrities are people like all of us. They have problems and demons plus the added burden of dealing with them under public scrutiny. Whatever the cause or reason for Heath Ledger's demise, let's not make it into something it's not.

Heath Ledger recently wrapped up shooting his role as the Joker on the "Dark Night" Batman sequel. It will be his swan song and will be promoted as such when it is released.

Kent Ninomiya

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