His father Kim said his son, who died in 2008 of an overdose, had been warned before his death by his sister, Kate, of how dangerous it was to mix prescription medications.
According to the autopsy report, Ledger died from an accidental overdose after taking a combination of several different prescription medications.
Kim told Daily Mail that one of Kate’s last conversations with Heath had been a serious discussion about his medication use, with the sibling issuing the warning her brother: “You can’t mix drugs that you don’t know about.”
He said his son’s attitude towards the advice was ‘cavalier’ with the 28-year-old telling his sister that he would be “just fine”.
“It was totally his fault,” Kim said. “It was no one else’s. He reached for them. He put them into his system. You can’t blame anyone else in that situation. That’s hard to accept because I loved him so much and was so proud of him.”
Ledger died in New York after filming wrapped for the production of The Dark Knight – a performance which saw the actor awarded an Oscar posthumously for his now infamous portrayal of the Joker.
The relentless demands of the industry, Kim said, had pushed Heath to the limit. The constant pressure to perform had taken its toll, and taking painkillers had been a way for him to keep going, despite his body being in desperate need of rest.
Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams attending the 78th Academy Awards.
“That was the case with Heath. He had to be back on set to finish (the next day). They were doing night shoots in the freezing cold and he had a week chest anyway. He’d caught this [cough] and just couldn’t shake it but he thought he had to because he wanted to get the movie done.”
The actor is survived by his daughter Matilda, a child he had with fellow Australian actress Michelle Williams.
