That was a great ending, neither cliche nor predictable. This piece sums up the essence of this tragedy rather than the reality of it while being informative and sincere, a balancing act well performed.

Hamlet, Oedipus, maybe even Jimi Hendrix--those were tragedies. Another pretty face, not so much. A person dying is sad and everything, but his movies were schlock. Must everyone mindlessly close ranks when another Hollywood pretty boy swallows too many pills?

. . . that much of Hendrix's output was schlock.

Yes, Ledger did some silly films. He also did a couple of really good ones, and some of the projects that were in post-production or that were filming at time of death had a lot of potential.

He was a guy who did his job reasonably well (to some people's tastes and standards, including mine), and died younger than those who enjoyed his work might have hoped.

Geez.

I just want to add that it was a great obit void of cliched and cookie-cutter remarks. Heath will be sorely missed and I personally find comfort in the fact that I'm not the only person who feels this way. Great piece. Well done.

He was excellent in Monster's Ball, Brokeback Mountain, and I'm Not There. To suggest otherwise, you probably didn't see them, or you're a homophobe. The people who knew Skip whatshisname from Zephyr, say that Heath nailed his performance in Dogtown...of course people who don't know him obviously don't know that. Otherwise, he was at the very least good in everything else I've seen him in. To flippantly dismiss his as the death of "another pretty face" is ignorant and disrespectful.

Hear hear.

I agree with you (haven't seen I'm Not There, yet, but plan to). I think he was pretty talented (especially for such a pretty face).