Ledger Is Memorialized in Perth

Australian actor Heath Ledger was given a moving farewell by friends (including I'm Not There co-star Cate Blanchett) and family, as well as former fiancee Michelle Williams, in Perth on Saturday. The by-invitation-only service for some 600 mourners was followed by a family-only private ceremony at a local funeral chapel following the actor's reported cremation. It was also followed by a much livelier celebration at a local restaurant overlooking Cottesloe Beach on the Indian Ocean.

The 28-year-old actor, who died January 22 in his apartment on Broome Street in Manhattan, was eulogized by Blanchett and others. According to a politico in attendance, "One of the very poignant things [Blanchett] said was what a great potential we will never know, because he achieved so much in his short life and was capable of so much more."

Williams read Shakespeare's 18th sonnet, with its familiar "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" (It goes on to say, "And summer's lease hath all too short a date...') to a crowd that included actress Rose Byrne (from his early film Two Hands), model Gemma Ward, (whom he'd dated) and his family, including parents Kim and Sally--each accompanied by their later second spouses. As the Austalian paper The Age reported of his sister Kate, who entered the service arms entwined with Williams,

Ms. Ledger spoke of her love for her brother, who, after death, will be seen as The Joker in the latest Batman film The Dark Knight. Mourners were reduced to tears by "Happy Everafter In Your Eyes", a song written for Matilda by musician Ben Harper.

Perth-born Ward, who dated Ledger during his last Christmas holiday in Perth, left the service distressed

The ceremony was held in the theatre of the private girls' college where, as a child, Ledger often sat in the front row watching his sister perform in school plays.

In a sidebar report, The Age said:

It started as a teary farewell but ended in celebration as Hollywood stars joined Heath Ledger's family and friends in a spontaneous sunset dip in memory of the young star.

Actor Rose Byrne was among a group of people who stripped off to their underwear and jumped into the water late yesterday at Perth's Cottesloe Beach, one of Ledger's favourite hometown spots.

Ledger's heartbroken former fiancee actor Michelle Williams was dragged fully-clothed into the surf for the laughter-filled send-off which came at the end of an emotional day for Ledger's mourners.

After attending a memorial service for the late actor at a private Perth girls' school, mourners gathered for a wake at the Indian Teahouse overlooking the famous beach.

And as the sun began to set, the tears gave way to laughter as some shed their clothes and ran into the water to celebrate the 28-year-old star's life.

Music played during the service included an aboriginal mounring song performed at a low drone on a the traditional didgeridoo wind instrument, a and two Beatles songs ("Here Comes The Sun" early on, "Come Together" at the end), as well as Powderfinger's "These Days" and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here".

The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

Ledger's parents Kim Ledger and Sally Ledger Bell also paid tribute to their son.

Mourners watched family montages and heard some of Ledger's favourite music including the song The Times Are A Changing by Bob Dylan.

There was also a video tribute to her father from two-year-old Matilda, News Ltd reported.

Ledger's family and Williams left by a side entrance before going to Fremantle Cemetery, where it is understood they held a small, private cremation service ahead of a wake at the Indiana Tea House overlooking the popular Cottesloe beach.

On a less elegiac note, even as the New York Post 's Andrea Peyser wrote a condemnatory, some said condemnable, column
calling the death "selfish", there was, said The Herald, talk of an investigation as to how Ledger accumulated the prescription remedies that added up to a lethal drug cocktail.

[Ledger's] Australian doctors will be investigated to determine if any of the prescription drugs that led to his death were prescribed here, the US Drug Enforcement Administration says.

The administration has subpoenaed Ledger's autopsy results from the New York medical examiner's office and is attempting to find out why the actor was in possession of five types of powerful prescription drugs.

New York police, who are also assisting the administration with its investigation, have said some of the prescription drugs were prescribed in Europe.
A drug enforcement spokesman in Washington DC, Michael Sanders, said if evidence led to Australia, the administration officers would follow it up.

It is interested in why Ledger had on prescription two powerful painkillers and three anti-anxiety drugs. A sixth drug, doxylamine, found in over-the-counter cough medicines, was detected in his blood. The administration will determine if one doctor prescribed the five drugs or whether Ledger went "doctor shopping".

On America's west coast, the coroner's report ascribing actor Brad Renfro's January 15 death to an accidental heroin overdose, engendered a deeply researched, compassionate piece by Rachel Abramowitz in the Los Angeles Times. The piece quoted a local expert:

"They seek drama," says Southern California psychotherapist and addiction specialist Jim Conway. "For actors who do features, they have this huge circus environment for a few weeks. Then it's over and they're empty."

Perhaps the reverberating sentiment is from the Powderfinger song that was played at Ledger's memorial:

It's coming round again
the slowly creeping hand
Of time and its command
and settles in its place
its shadow in my face
puts pressure in my day
Soon enough it comes
And settles in its place
Its shadow in my face
undignified and lame

This life well it's slipping right through
my hands
These days turned out nothing
Like I had planned

(Former Heath Ledger fiancee Michele Williams was dragged into the surf by friends during the surfside wake for the actor in Perth; photo by Matt Jelonek/Gety Images)