CNN Clears up some of the lies about Heath Ledger's Death

Tests on a $20 bill found at the Lower Manhattan apartment where "Brokeback Mountain" actor Heath Ledger died yielded no drug residue, New York Deputy Police Commissioner Paul Browne said.

The bill was collected to see whether it had been used to snort illegal drugs because of the way it was folded, New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said earlier.

The Academy Award-nominated actor was found dead Tuesday. He was 28.

An autopsy Wednesday morning was inconclusive, and a cause-of-death determination will take 10 to 14 days, a medical examiner's spokeswoman said.

"There were no illegal drugs found" in the apartment, Kelly said on Wednesday. He said there were prescription drugs, in their bottles, not strewn around as previously reported.

Two law enforcement officials who asked not to be named said six types of prescription drugs, including an antihistamine and pills to treat anxiety and insomnia, were found in the apartment, according to The Associated Press.

A publicist for Ledger told CNN Thursday that the actor was suffering from the flu and had been prescribed antibiotics during recent filming for "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" in London.

New details are emerging about the moments before and after Ledger's death.

The masseuse who discovered Ledger's body at the apartment at 421 Broome St. in SoHo called actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's, twice before calling 911, a police source with knowledge of the investigation said.

A housekeeper, identified by the source as Teresa Solomon, arrived at the apartment about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, the police source said.

She went into Ledger's bedroom to change a light bulb in an adjoining bathroom about 1 p.m., saw him on the bed face down with a sheet pulled up around his shoulders and heard him snoring, the source said.

Masseuse Diana Wolozin arrived at the apartment about 2:45 p.m. to give Ledger a massage, according to the police source. About 15 minutes later, when he had not come out of the bedroom and the door remained closed, she went in, saw him lying in bed, and set up a massage table nearby.

She shook Ledger, but he did not respond, so she used his cell phone to call Olsen in California, knowing Olsen was a friend of Ledger's, the source said.

Wolozin told Olsen that Ledger was unconscious, according to the NYPD source.

Olsen told her she would call private security people in New York. After getting off the phone, Wolozin tried to wake Ledger again, then called Olsen back to tell her she believed the situation was an emergency and was calling 911.

In the 911 call, at 3:26 p.m., Wolozin told authorities Ledger was not breathing. While on the phone with dispatchers, Wolozin tried to perform CPR on Ledger, but he was unresponsive.

Emergency personnel arrived seven minutes later, according to the police source, at about the same time as a private security person summoned by Olsen.

The medical technicians performed CPR on Ledger and used a cardiac defibrillator, but their efforts were in vain and he was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m. By then, two other private security people summoned by Olsen had arrived, as well as police.

Olsen is not the apartment's owner, as had been reported, her publicist told CNN.

Ledger's family on Wednesday called his death "very tragic, untimely and accidental." Watch family and other Australians mourn actor »

Ledger's former fiancee, actress Michelle Williams, returned with their 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, to her Brooklyn home Wednesday night. She has been filming a movie in Sweden.

Condolences poured in from Ledger's friends and co-stars.

"He was a wonderful guy, he was a wonderful actor, he had a wonderful future ahead of him, and I liked him," actor Eric Roberts said Wednesday on CNN's "Larry King Live."

Roberts worked with Ledger in "The Dark Knight," the latest installment in the Batman series. The film is to open in July.

The role as arch villain The Joker disturbed Ledger, according to The Associated Press. He called the character a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

"Last week, I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."

He said prescription sleeping pills didn't help, according to AP.

Ledger was born in Perth, Australia, and named Heathcliff Andrew after the main characters of Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights." He began acting at a local theater as a child. Find out more about the actor »

Ledger's first American film was the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999, and he immediately attracted attention from Hollywood. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" in 2000 and "A Knight's Tale" in 2001. He also played a supporting role in "Monster's Ball," among other films.

But Ledger was perhaps best known for his 2005 portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain," about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned him an Oscar nomination.

Asked how he felt about filming love scenes with another man, Ledger said he and his co-star Jake Gyllenhaal simply focused on their roles.

"We can't say that we weren't nervous about it," Ledger told Oprah Winfrey in 2006. "But once the first take was over, it's like, 'OK. So what? It's kissing another human being. How are we going to finish this scene? Let's get on with it and let's get out of here.' "

In light of Ledger's death, President Bush on Wednesday postponed an event surrounding the launch of a public-service ad campaign warning against the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

"We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

3 Things:
-Has anyone else noticed how the media is trying to make him out to be some kind of fucking junkie? There were no drugs "strewn" all over his loft; there was no ~drug residue~ on his $20 bill. He had four prescription drugs--no narcotics--which were ALL prescribed to him and in their original packages. Half of NYC is probably on those pills. Most likely, his medication combined with his pneumonia/his pneumonia meds resulted in his death or he just mistakenly took too much. I guess that story isn't as interesting talking/writing about how a "Young Star Succumbed to Excess." They should at least wait until the full autopsy report comes back before drawing comparisons btwn HL's death and those of River Phoenix/Chris Farley/etc.
-Please share your Heath Ledger memories/pics in the comments. Mine: Last Valentine's Day one of my best friends and I were both single so we ordered pad thai, drank wine, watched Brokeback Mountain and commiserated with one another over not having guys who loved us as much as Ennis loved Jack.
-Request of fellow posters There's going to be footage of HL's family while they're in mourning; there's not much anyone can do about that. It would be great if people could try to leave those photos/videos out of their posts.
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