Heath Ledger’s last words to his sister before his drug death in 2008 were “I’ll be fine,” his father revealed. Then he was found dead in bed in Manhattan with prescription drugs oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine in his system.
“The last conversation Kate had with him was this discussion about his medications and she warned him, ‘You can’t mix drugs that you don’t know anything about’,” Ledger’s father Kim told Australia’s News.com.au.
“He said ‘Katie, Katie, I’ll be fine.’ Well, that’s a cavalier boy’s answer. It just put his whole system to sleep I guess.”
Kim Ledger called his son’s decision to mix the drugs “a one-off thing” brought about by the stress of a demanding schedule.
“There is pressure on everybody, especially young people, to perform and to keep going,” Ledger told News.com.au. “He was a young guy that travelled all the time for work. Even as a two-year-old, he hardly ever slept. He was trying to work and travel and do everything in a short space of time.”
Kim Ledger is a drug awareness advocate, the New York Daily News reports.
Last year he announced that he would be a patron for Scriptwise, a nonprofit organization aimed at raising awareness about prescription medication misuse, the Daily Mail reported.
“If something positive can come from (Heath’s) passing such as raising awareness of the problem and moving towards some form of live monitoring for prescription medication, then my job is done,” Kim Ledger said at the time.
Heath Ledger, who is known for his role in “Brokeback Mountain,” won an Academy Award posthumously for his role as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.” He had just completed filming the movie when he overdosed.
Jared Leto, who plays The Joker in the coming “Suicide Squad” film, praised Ledger’s performance in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.
“Heath did an impeccable, perfect performance as the Joker,” Leto said. “It’s one of the best performances ever in cinema. I had met Heath before. I didn’t know him well, but he was a beautiful person.”
Heath Ledger left behind a daughter, Matilda, 10, with ex-girlfriend Mellissa Williams.
