R.I.P. Heath Ledger

I had intended to blog tonight about the Oscar nominations, which were announced early this morning, but very unfortunately there is much sadder news that takes precedence.

First Brad Renfro, now Heath Ledger...What curse is mowing down our lovely and talented actors who are still in their 20's?

We don't know that it's drugs for sure yet for either of them. But if Renfro - so adorable and so riveting as the newfound child star of "The Client" - was already something of a emblem of wasted promise when he died last week, his career a reflection of the conflict between his natural abilities and his chequered history of substance abuse, Heath - who as far as I know had no record of drug addiction - was indisputably a star on the rise, with seemingly everything before him, since his extraordinary performance in "Brokeback Mountain." As a result, his death feels even more surreal and cruelly premature. He recently wrapped production on the new "Batman" film, in which he stars as the Joker: it will be eerie to see him in it when it comes out this spring.

I hope for his family's sake - especially his little daughter's - that his death was not a suicide. Frankly, it doesn't sound like it was to me, though there's something even more horribly senseless about the idea that it was a pure accident. Either way, it's truly a loss. He had so much talent left to give the film world - so much talent that could have ripened into greatness.