Ledger's Beautiful Life Celebrated With Splash and Tears
Friends and family of actor Heath Ledger gathered in Perth for a private funeral service on Saturday followed by a spontaneous splash in the West Australian surf.
About 300 people, including Ledger's crushed former partner, Michelle Williams, gathered in the actor's hometown Perth for the final farewell. Oscar-winning actor Cate Blanchett, model Gemma Ward and the heart-broken Ledger family came to pay their last respects.
We want to thank those of you who took care of him and participated in his beautiful life, his family said.
The ceremony was held in the theatre of Penrhos College, the exclusive girls' school where, as a child, Ledger often sat in the front row watching his sister perform in school plays.
Unmarked police cars and plain-clothed officers escorted the entourage to the chapel and stood watch as mourners were required to produce identification to get admission to the chapel. The service which began at 1pm local time forbade the use of cameras during the 90-minute service.
A grim-faced Williams, dressed in a cream dress and without daughter Matilda, looked frail and had to be supported by Ledger's sister Kate.
Ledger's best friend and godfather to Matilda, Jake Gyllenhaal, was absent from the service at a chapel at an exclusive girls' school.
During the service, clips from some of Ledger's films were screened and a tune called Matilda, written by musician Ben Harper, was played as the montage of his daughter Matilda was screened.
The family and friends then gathered for a wake last night at Cottesloe's Indiana restaurant overlooking the surf at the famous Perth beach. Williams and Kate Ledger left his wake to join dozens of others at an uplifting farewell at the Perth beach he had loved so much. For Ledger's loved ones, it was a soothing end to an emotion-charged day.
Ledger, an Oscar nominee for his role in Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on January 22 of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Order of the service:
Opening music: These Days (Powderfinger), Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd), Superstition (Stevie Wonder), The Times They Are A Changin' (Bob Dylan), Seven Nation Army (White Stripes), The Past And Pending (the Shins)
Words: Kate Ledger
Family montage: To Here Comes The Sun by the Beatles
Paul Summers: Speaks on behalf of Ledger's American agent Steve Alexander
Matilda's montage: To Happy Everafter In Your Eyes written for Matilda by Ben Harper
Words: Neil Armfield
Off-screen footage
Words: Cate Blanchett
On-screen footage
Words: Kane Manera, Paul Mullvert
Friends' montage: To 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins
Words: Kim Ledger, Sally Bell
Family montage: To Old Man by Neil Young
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