While accepting his award as outstanding male actor in a leading role – for There Will Be Blood – Daniel Day-Lewis gave a moving tribute to Heath Ledger, who was also honored in the annual “In Memoriam” montage.

Recalling several of Ledger’s most iconic roles, Day-Lewis called the late actor an inspiration and “unique,” before dedicating the trophy to Ledger.

“Of course, in Brokeback Mountain he was unique,” Day-Lewis said. “He was perfect. And that scene in the trailer at the end of the film is as moving as anything I have ever seen.”

Asked backstage why he’d decided to dedicate the award to Ledger, he said, “I suppose that’s all I’ve been thinking about for the last few days. I never met him. I thought he was beautiful. I just have a very strong feeling that I would have liked him very much as a man. …I admired him very much.”

WENN

Christopher Nolan, the director of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, has paid tribute to it’s tragic star, Heath Ledger.

Nolan said Ledger, who was found dead in his New York apartment last week aged 28, was a deeply charismatic person who was “bursting with creativity”.

Nolan said: “Heath was bursting with creativity. It was in his every gesture.

“He once told me that he liked to wait between jobs until he was creatively hungry. Until he needed it again.

“He brought that attitude to our set every day. There aren’t many actors who can make you feel ashamed of how often you complain about doing the best job in the world. Heath was one of them.”

He added: “When you get into the edit suite after shooting a movie, you feel a responsibility to an actor who has trusted you, and Heath gave us everything. As we started my cut, I would wonder about each take we chose, each trim we made.

“I would visualize the screening where we’d have to show him the finished film-sitting three or four rows behind him, watching the movements of his head for clues to what he was thinking about what we’d done with all that he’d given us. Now that screening will never be real.

“I see him every day in my edit suite. I study his face, his voice. And I miss him terribly.”

And he recalled the moment Ledger turned up to work to perform a scene on a skateboard.

He wrote: “I curse the moment that Heath first skated onto our set in full character makeup. I’d fretted about the reaction of Batman fans to a skateboarding Joker, but the actual result was a proliferation of skateboards among the younger crew members.

“If you’d asked those kids why they had chosen to bring their boards to work, they would have answered honestly that they didn’t know. That’s real charisma - as invisible and natural as gravity. That’s what Heath had.”

An intimate memorial for Heath Ledger, attended by immediate family and close friends including former girlfriend Naomi Watts, was held in Los Angeles on Saturday night just hours after the actor’s death was marked at a New York event.

A discreet 30-minute service was held at Westwood Village Memorial Park, Australia’s Channel 7 reports, during which Watts was “visibly upset.”

Around 8 p.m. that evening, a small gathering of black-dressed mourners, including the Australian actress, was seen in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel for a private event, a source said. Ledger’s rep had said that no public memorial was planned for Los Angeles.

Earlier, about 1,000 guests at an Australian event in New York heard a message from Ledger’s father, Kim Ledger, read by Australia’s consul-general.

“Heath did not become an actor for the fame or fortune. He loved his craft and he loved helping his friends. He loved chess and skateboarding too,” said the letter read to guests at the G’Day USA Australia Day Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan. “My image of Heath in New York is him with his skateboard, a canvas bag and his beanie. That was Heath to me.”

But mostly, Kim wrote, “Heath is and always will be an Australian.”

Kim, Ledger’s mother Sally and sister Kate were in Los Angeles on Saturday awaiting arrival of the actor’s body from New York, The Age reports. Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment on Tuesday. A cause of death has not been determined.

According to several Australian news reports, a memorial and burial in Ledger’s hometown of Perth are also expected.

Source

Six years ago, Kate Hudson and Heath Ledger starred together in the movie, Four Feathers.

In the middle of promoting her new movie Fool’s Gold with Matthew McConaughey, Kate stopped for a moment to reflect on the tragic loss of Heath Ledger.

“Everybody’s still processing it,” she said at a press event Friday. “It’s very sad, and he is loved. We’re just thinking about his family right now.”

On Thursday, Hudson and Ledger’s Four Feathers director, Shekhar Kapur, said in a Web posting about Ledger, “He was one the most gentle, the most honest, most caring and most compassionate persons I had met. And one of the most honest actors I worked with.”

WENN

Johnny Depp is reportedly going to replace Heath Ledger in what was to be his last film role. Heath Ledger was just six weeks away from finishing the fantasy flick, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The film’s director, Terry Gilliam wants Johnny Depp to film the remaining scenes.

An insider to the movie says, “There is a point in the film when Heath falls through a magic mirror. He could easily change appearance. It would be a poignant moment.”

“Johnny’s not working at the moment so everyone is praying he will do it.”

I’m sure Johnny would do a great job, if he decides to take the role. We’ll let you know what happens with this.

WENN

This is the last footage of Australian actor Heath Ledger before he died of a suspected overdose.

He was filmed by a resident playing out scenes from his latest movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Panassus which were shot in Clerkenwell, central London.

Clare Timms, a local journalist who lives in an apartment overlooking the street where the scenes were shot, took the footage on her mobile phone.

In the film Heath can be seen dressed in the clown’s outfit fleeing from loud gunshot.

It was the first of five takes which were filmed around 9.30pm on Saturday, January 19th.

“She was angry about all the noise and started filming it because she thought she might complain to the council,” a friend said.

Little did she know that within days the Brokeback Mountain star would be dead.

Source

Law enforcement officials are planning to ask Mary-Kate Olsen a few questions regarding her connection with the late actor, according to reports.

The masseuse, Diana Wolozin, who found Heath Ledger, made four telephone calls to Olsen prior to calling 911. While that’s not that out of the ordinary, according to police, they are seeking to interview Mary-Kate.

Police want to ask for her account of the phone calls that she received from Wolozin on Tuesday. A total of four calls were made to the star before emergency services were called.

They also plan on asking Olsen why she sent a security team of bodyguards to the apartment, instead of calling 911 herself.

The housekeeper, Teresa Solomon found Heath Ledger, face down on his bed. In an attempt to wake him for his appointment, they tried to rouse him, and when their efforts failed, that’s when Wolozin called Mary-Kate.

“Heath is unconscious. I don’t know what to do!” Wolozin screamed in her first call to Olsen, police said.

Olsen replied: “I’m sending my private security there.”

Wolozin called Olsen again after finding Ledger was cold to the touch, and told the Full House star she was calling 911. “I think he may be dead,” a shaken Wolozin said.

Olsen replied: “I already have people coming over.”

Police officials said that it’s not unusual for people to call relatives or friends in an emergency situation:

“We have no problem with her calling [Olsen before 911],” one source said. “This happens with everyday people, they call relatives [during emergencies] before they call 911 all the time.

“Maybe [Wolozin] panicked, because he’s a celebrity. She was afraid.”

UPDATE: According to TMZ, the police have said that they have no plans on questioning Mary-Kate Olsen.

WENN