Security tight as Ledger's family visits funeral home
Last Updated: Friday, January 25, 2008 | 12:20 PM ET
CBC News
Police set up barricades around a Manhattan funeral home on Friday, as Australian actor Heath Ledger's family made their way to New York to claim the body of the late actor.
Heath Ledger, seen here in November, had been scheduled to continue filming his new movie in B.C.
(Evan Agostini/Associated Press)
A private viewing has been scheduled for Friday at Manhattan's Frank E. Campbell funeral home, but Ledger's publicist said that no details about a funeral would be shared with the media.
The death notice from Ledger's family appeared in Friday's edition of The West Australian, a newspaper based Perth, honouring the 28-year-old actor as "the most amazing 'old soul' in a young man's body." Perth is Ledger's hometown.
"Our hearts are broken," the notice read.
The paper also reported that a funeral service was to take place in the U.S., but that the Brokeback Mountain star would likely be buried in Perth, according to Australian model Sophie Ward, who had been one of the actor's friends.
Burnaby, B.C., shoot on hold
In the meantime, producers of Terry Gilliam's latest film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus — in which Ledger was to star — announced they have suspended production following his death.
"We are still in a state of deep shock, saddened and numb with grief," the filmmakers said in a statement.
"Terry and the producers will be assessing how best to proceed."
The young actor, who previously starred in Gilliam's The Brothers Grimm, had recently completed shooting scenes for the $30-million US fantasy film in London and had been set to travel to a Burnaby, B.C., soundstage to shoot further interior and "green screen" scenes for special effects to be added to the feature later.
The postponement has left the production crew working on the film at the city's Bridge Studios in limbo.
Crews had expected to begin preparations this weekend and start work on Monday, said Don Ramsden of the Vancouver local of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
