Oh lord. Ladies and gentlemen, meet theatrical wunderkind Royce G. Garrison.

As our startlingly handsome and clever friend Will Larnach-Jones put it when he gave us the heads up about this clip, "There is nothing I love more than child drag". Touche.

Royce himself explains further -

This video was recorded by my father on November 29, 1991 in my grandmother's basement in Centerpoint, AL. I pretty much look like an 11 year-old Drag Queen in Training, huh?? I think it's totally hilarious. Enjoy!

THANK YOU ROYCE! THANK YOU FOR GIVING THE PEOPLE OF THE INTERNETS THIS VIDEO! YOU HAVE MADE A SHIT DAY A LITTLE BIT BRIGHTER!

Reader Nerida pointed out to us that The Age's online edition's recent headline regarding Heath Ledger - "DEAD IN BED" - is perhaps lacking in sensitivity, all things considered.

We suspect the Dr Seuss approach may not have been the wisest choice.

AAP have released some Australian "entertainment industry" reactions to Heath Ledger's passing, which range from the dutiful to the political to the touchingly heartfelt.

We'll stop short of providing all of the soundbites but we think Margaret Pomeranz (from At The Movies and the real OG version of The Movie Show, if you've been living under a rock) and Mel Gibson said it best:

"I am so upset, I just can't tell you," Pomeranz told ABC radio.

"I mean he is such a talented boy and really, I think a beautiful soul.

"And I think to choose the roles he chose shows such intelligence."

...

''I had such great hope for him,'' Gibson told the Entertainment Tonight website.

''He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss. My thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.''

Ledger's "devastated" ex-fiancee, Michelle Williams, is said to be flying to New York presently.

TMZ are now reporting that the police have quietly confirmed the Ledger family's belief that Heath's death was 'accidental'.

As we await further updates from New York, you may like to read UnderGroundOnline's article "Ten Things I Loved About Heath Ledger.

10. His teen heartthrob role was in an actually good movie: Like any respectable non-Australian moviegoer, I first met Heath Ledger as the object of Julia Stiles' affection in 10 Things I Hate About You. A teeny-bopper adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, the movie was smarter than the average bear and featured a young Heath at his brooding best.

9. His awesome Australian accent: Is it mere coincidence that some of the biggest stars of our time - Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Yahoo Serious - have come from a land down under? Perhaps, but we wouldn't put money on it. Heath Ledger's Aussie twang was a auditory badge of honor that branded him as part of an exclusive club...and made him sound cool, to boot.

8. "Hottest hot ever": Let's face it, you don't get to be a hot Hollywood commodity without a certain...let's call it "the look." And Heath, according to an informal UGO poll that includes myself and TV Editor Brooke Tarnoff, had "the look." He was a handsome devil, indeed, that Heath Ledger, landing in People's Most Beautiful People List and on the walls of countless girls just crossing the threshold into womanhood.

7. He didn't trade on his looks: Despite the above, you didn't see Heath Ledger exploiting his good looks. After 10 Things, he could have become the next piece of hunky eye candy to be paraded through a series of romantic comedies. Instead, he made an effort to take challenging and interesting roles, including one (Ned Kelly) in which he had to wear a bucket on his head most of the time. You have to salute a guy who shuns the easy paycheck in favor of artistic credibility.

The rest is available here.

While the media whips itself into a frenzy trying to deny Heath Ledger's family's assertion that his death was accidental, they have uncovered a recent radio interview in which the actor discussed his feelings about dying with respect to his now being a father to Matilda, two:

"I guess you're forced into kind of respecting yourself more, you learn more about yourself through your child, I guess," he told WJW FOX in Cleveland, Ohio.

"You also look at death differently.

"It's like a catch 22. I feel good about dying now because I feel like I'm alive in her.

"But at the same time, you don't want to die because you want to be around for the rest of her life."

We are very much inclined to think that, while Ledger was often reported as "troubled" or dark, this interview is nothing more than a man talking about how parenthood has changed him.

Hopefully this won't be the beginning of a comprehensive raking over of everything he ever said about dying, drugs or depression for some "evidence" that his death was a suicide, in some sort of rabid media version of the search for 'the golden ticket'.

So how's The Dark Knight for goodbyes? Give us anything - Brokeback Mountain's heartache, Candy's cautionary tale of - gulp - heroin addiction, even Casanova (OK, not Casanova) - but not the The Dark Knight. Not that disfigured creep in the trenchcoat. Heath's last words to us can't be a menacingly growled, "It's all...part of the plan". His last note, not "Why so serious?" scrawled across a theatrical one-sheet in fingerpainted blood. Warner Bros. has issued this statement in response to his death:

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Though recently spotted flirting with a roomful of celebrities in downtown New York, Heath Ledger was most recently linked to 21 year-old Australian model Gemma Ward. The blue-eyed blonde just wrapped her third feature film role (The Black Balloon, with Toni Colette) in Australia, but hasn't been spotted out and about at an event since November, when she attended a gala in Madrid solo.

First spotted together in Perth on December 20th, the new couple allegedly spent every day together through Christmas until Boxing Day, when Heath had to return to the London set of The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. Reports that those dates and shopping sprees had been upgraded to full-on coupledom surfaced in the UK as recently as January 18th, only 4 days ago. With Gemma MIA since New Year's, which she spent with her family in Sydney, her current whereabouts are still a mystery.

Though pronounced dead at 3:45pm local time (7:45am AEDT), it took nearly three hours for the NYPD to survey the scene and ambulances to finally, morbidly, carry the body of Heath Ledger out the front door of his Broome Street apartment, currently on its way to the morgue.

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As unexpected as Heath Ledger's death of an apparent overdose has been to anyone currently scouring the web for every incremental update on the still-unfolding tragedy (does knowing whether or not Mary-Kate Olsen owns that apartment actually help anyone make sense of the situation?), a "close friend" tells UsMagazine.com that the actor had been struggling with his sobriety and that things were "very dark": "This is terrible and I'm in shock. But to tell you the truth... we saw it coming." Meanwhile, the HuffPo has already identified the tackiest reaction to Ledger's death, courtesy of the MSNBC reporter who remarked "In a lot of ways, this reminds me -- we've almost had a dress rehearsal for this with Owen Wilson." In fairness, however, the clip of the remark does reveal she did couch that statement with two "almosts." [UsMagazine.com]

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At ten minutes to 5pm in New York, only a few news crews had reached the scene of Mary Kate Olsen's the loft building at 421 Broome Street, where Heath Ledger was just found dead. Just a handful of passersby were gawking at the small police presence guarding his door. But by 5, a pack of 15 paparazzi had arrived, acting far calmer than the usual frenzied pap scene, respectfully obeying the NYPD's orders to stay back. Almost everyone there, reporters both on-air and from various print outlets, collectively believed that the actor committed suicide using sleeping pills; a bottle of prescribed sedatives were allegedly found next to his bed.

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The updates on the cause of Heath Ledger's death are starting to roll in, and it looks like a drug overdose (though naturally there is no idea as to whether or not it was intentional or accidental).

From wires via News.com.au:

Ledger, an Academy Award nominee, was found naked and unconscious in bed at the apartment in the trendy Manhattan area of SoHo by a housekeeper at 3.35pm (7.35am AEDT).

Law enforcement sources told celebrity website TMZ.com they did not believe it was a crime, saying prescription pills were found strewn near his body.

New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said: "We are investigating the possibility of an overdose."

"There were pills within the vicinity of the bed," Mr Browne said.

There is no word yet as to whether the pills were prescription or 'recreational'.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Ledger was staying in an apartment owned by Mary Kate Olsen at the time of his death.

Police officials have said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen.

Officials said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.

Defamer Australia will continue to bring you updates throughout the day.

Update: NYPD has confirmed that the apartment is not owned by Mary Kate Olsen.

So by now we've all seen what the building where Heath Ledger overdosed looks like from the outside. But over at Corcoran.com, the NYC-based real estate site, they have photos of what the apartments at 421 Broome look like on the inside. There is a three-bedroom loft space currently renting out for $US23,000 a month. [Corcoran, 421 Broome]

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The last known photograph of Heath Ledger alive was taken in London Saturday night on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, the latest project from wildly talented yet notoriously cursed director Terry Gilliam. The auteur, who got his start as part of the esteemed Monty Python troupe, has suffered perhaps the worst streak of luck for any director not named Uwe Boll. His pockmarked career will, unfortunately, likely be remembered more for his role on big budget disasters like The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen and The Brothers Grimm (with Ledger in lead) than it will for creative triumphs like Brazil and The Fisher King. And then, there was the sad story of Gilliam's Don Quixote project, which was felled by floods and bad casting and turned into the total downer documentary Lost In La Mancha. As for the fate of The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (not to be confused with Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium), we are awaiting word.

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We're just as shocked as you are likely to be by this news, which is beginning to filter through Agencies.

Some reports have it as a drug overdose, but there is no official word yet.

Australian actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, a New York Police Department spokesman says.

The celebrity website TMZ said Ledger, 28, was found dead in his bed in one of his residences in Soho by his housekeeper at 3.35pm New York time (0735 AEDT) today.

Law enforcement sources said they believe it was not a crime, TMZ said.

Defamer Australia's thoughts are with his family and friends and we hope someone is looking after little Matilda if this is all true.

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It's halftime for the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, and while Paris plays air guitar, Mischa buys guitars, and Dennis Quaid signs guitars, Hollywood has collectively sighed after every flick being screened, save for a sad handful of standouts. But taking the fest's past few years into consideration, we're starting to grow wary of Sundance's power in both next year's Oscar race AND at the box office. So far the most exciting thing we've heard from Utah has to do with Sarah Jessica Parker and her non-comments on the most overhyped movie ever (SATC: The Movie, in case you hadn't heard), and the to-be-bomb isn't even showing there.

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The comparison of American Gladiators' winner-take-all final event, The Eliminator, to the Harry Potter series' Qudditich matches never would have occurred to us, but seem pretty apt: Something about the way that contenders with huge leads always seem to collapse in an exhausted heap at the foot of that conveyor belt obstacle to give their opponents catch-up time makes the whole thing feel just as fixed as the fictional contests J.K. Rowling has rigged in favor of her Snitch-collecting wizard. [Geek Toob]

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Katherine Heigl's pantsless hubby Josh Kelley is kind of like the poor man's Chris Martin: he sings sad little wimpy songs, isn't the best-looking guy in the room and bores us to tears in interviews, but he somehow still managed to convince a gorgeous blonde actress to pay his rent. But hey! He writes songs for her! So all is forgiven. Well, besides the fact that he says things like "holla!" and "hot diggity dog!" with no shame. In this clip from Extra, we finally get some insight into how exactly he managed to score the insanely hot (yet terribly controlling) Katherine Heigl. Josh, you had her at...actually we still can't figure it out. Anyone?

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Still reeling from the Kathy Batesiest nominations announcement ever, we're left entirely encouraged that the 80th annual Academy Awards brings with it a Best Picture race containing at least two extremely worthwhile nominees. (We realize we're supposed to be impartial observers, but...No Country for everything! Included Best Animated Short and the Irving G. Thalberg!). But enough about us--this is the nominees' morning! It's time for a reactions round-up:

· Michael Moore: "If I'm fortunate enough to stand on that stage again, I will be true to myself and very gracious and grateful for the acknowledgement, but I would start by finishing the last 10 seconds of the previous speech." [Variety]
· Tom Wilkinson: "I had forgotten about the nominations and was walking the dog. Then someone told me to turn on the TV and I saw it. I got this character from the start." [Variety]

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Is Scientology just a fancy term for reparation therapy? That's what investigative journalist Ian Halperin, author of books on Kurt Cobain's death and the underbelly of the modeling world, is claiming in his new tome, Hollywood Undercover, out today. After claiming to be a gay actor afraid that revelations of his homosexuality would ruin his career, the Church took him in, promising they could "cure him of his sexuality through auditing,"or, you know, asking him to pay up. We asked Halperin if he had any dirt on the usual suspects (Tommy C. and Johnny T., natch), and learned way more than we wanted to. Hear why Travolta remains a smiley scientologist out of fear, why bisexual Anna Nicole Smith refused to join the tribe, and details on founder L. Ron Hubbard's proven contempt for these "sexual perverts" after the jump.

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If you're anything like us, even breaking news on Kiefer's freedom, Oscar noms and the snoozefest that is Sundance still leaves us aching for our guiltiest pleasure: Brit Brit updates! So when we heard Mr. Romulus von Stetzelberger, designer of the hat Britney wore in our all-time favorite shot of her, musing on his swag suite run-in with The Animal on Jonesy's Jukebox, we had to dig up more dirt just for old time's sake. To hear the tale behind the hat, including cameos by ex-bff-turned-traitor Alli Sims and Felicity Huffman (!), a classic diva-like performance by our girl, and gruesome details about her struggle to shimmy into a tight velvet jacket while knocked up, read on.

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