funeral

Ledger’s Wake: Uk Press Misses The Point

9:00AM Clem Bastow | When we saw the beautiful pictures of Heath Ledger’s family and friends (including former fiancee Michelle Williams) celebrating his life with a wake on Cottesloe Beach in Perth (one of his favourite surfing haunts, apparently) following a sombre day featuring a memorial service and funeral/cremation, we thought it was wonderful. Farewelling someone – particularly someone so young – is just as much about celebrating their life as it is mourning their death. So, we were disappointed to see that the UK press had completely missed the point, and chose the occasion to stick the boot into them, with the title “Heath’s family and fiancee mourn him in bizarre beach party“. For reals, dudes. It was a strange end to an emotional day as mourners at Heath Ledger’s funeral plunged into the sea laughing and giggling – still fully dressed. The bizarre spectacle of supposedly grief-stricken guests messing about on the beach where Ledger had loved to surf came at the close of a moving and private ceremony in tribute to the actor. Yes, how dare his family and friends take a moment to remember the good times and to bond with each other at the end of a month that psychological experts would likely describe as “ratshit” – what weirdos! Honestly, is it too much to ask for the Brits to get over their stiff-upper-lip complexes for a few minutes? More »

Sad Hollywood Exodus Continues As Friends Fly In For Heath Ledger’s Funeral

10:14AM Clem Bastow | Throughout the last few weeks in the wake of Heath Ledger’s sad death, we’ve felt more than a little pang of sorrow for Australian supermodel Gemma Ward. Ward was rumoured to be dating Ledger for the past couple of months (and that was more or less confirmed when her sister Sophie spoke of Ledger hanging out with the fam in Perth at Christmas) and she must be in a very confused place, particularly because in the eyes of the press, she’s not really “allowed” to grieve for him properly since they were only just starting to date. She has apparently just flown home to Perth for Ledger’s funeral. The sombre-looking Ward touched down in Perth as investigators concluded Ledger’s abuse of powerful prescription drugs led to a fatal “accidental overdose”. Tests on Ledger’s blood detected six different drugs, including narcotic painkillers, anti-anxiety pills and sleep medication. Ledger’s ex, Michelle Williams, touched down in Perth with the actor’s two-year-old daughter Matilda on Wednesday. We must say, we’re very impressed at the way the press has respected the Ledger family’s request not to seek out the funeral or publish details of it. If any snappers or reporters set up camp near the service, we’d hasten to guess they’d be taking a very swift chute straight to the fifth layer of hell – or at least to the dole queue. More »