Original subtitles

♪♪

There was a train that was flying past,

and it was taking me to life, and I just had to jump on it

and discover what was at the end.

Yeah, I'm young. You know, I can't afford to be doing

anything but have fun, you know?

-Yeah. -I think.

♪♪

♪♪

Hi, everyone. I'm Hill Harper.

Heath Ledger -- in less than a decade in Hollywood,

the ruggedly handsome, intensely charismatic Australian actor

had become a household name.

With critical acclaim for "Brokeback Mountain"

and a blockbuster role as the Joker on the horizon,

Heath Ledger was seemingly unstoppable.

Then tragedy.

On a cold January afternoon in 2008,

the 28-year-old was found dead in a New York City apartment.

As the world mourned the loss of a beloved star,

speculation and suspicion about his death began to mount.

He was an immensely talented actor who died far too young.

What really happened?

[ Indistinct chatter ]

Ledger: I'm not looking to go anywhere, to tell you the truth.

I don't expect to go anywhere.

You know, I just take it day by day,

script by script.

That's my story.

♪♪

Roth: It was January 2008.

Things were looking bleak in the economy.

[ Bell dinging ]

And I was positioned near Times Square

in front of the NASDAQ stock market with our live truck

to do live reports on a falling stock market.

We're talking about a huge sell-off in worldwide markets.

Roth: And I looked down at what was, I think, my Blackberry,

and I saw that Heath Ledger had just died.

I remember going, "Oh, my God."

The news came as a shock. Actor Heath Ledger found dead.

I knew he was a big star and that he had been nominated

for "Brokeback Mountain".

Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain".

I knew that "The Dark Knight" film was going to be huge,

and I called the New York Bureau

and said, "I'm going to go down there."

We were just in our offices getting ready

for another day of entertainment news coverage

when this news breaks.

I remember hustling into a car to get downtown to Soho

right outside of Heath Ledger's building.

Here in New York, we're down in Soho on Broome Street.

And the crowds had been building through the afternoon

as word started to get around.

I remember the people who showed up outside his Soho loft,

just this massive crowd, chaotic scene.

Roth: It was dark, cold, and already

there was a lot of buzz on the streets.

There were cameramen, still cameras running around.

-Just push back. -Let's go!

Man: Clear the sidewalk.

Roth: The police had formed of this walkway

walking right from the apartment into what I believe

was the medical examiner's van.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

You line up, and the police push people back,

and you hear every second someone to your right

walking down the street saying, "Hey, excuse me.

What happened?" And another person on your left,

"Hey, do you know what's going on here?"

Reporter: What do you think of the scene here?

I actually just wanted to know what was going on.

It's pretty crazy.

Hammer: And when you would hear somebody tell them,

"That's where Heath Ledger lives,

but they just found him dead,"

there was a moment of pause pretty much in everybody's face

because I can't say anybody would have imagined this

or have seen this coming.

It's unbelievable. I can't believe it.

He was so young and so vibrant.

And then the body was brought out.

[ Camera shutters clicking ]

I think it was rather silent, as usual,

except for the loud buzzing, clicking of still cameras.

Velez-Mitchell: This was one of the rare instances

where you actually saw a star's body in a black bag

being removed from the scene in a stretcher.

It was a tragedy.

Cooper: There are the rumors and speculation,

the talk of whether illicit drugs may have been involved.

Yammanee: The news of Heath's death was quite hard-hitting.

Out of everyone we knew, he was the one that seemed invincible.

He was the one that was so full of life.

He'd be the last person I would've expected

to be gone so young.

Heath was about living and life.

I'm always learning my performance as I as a person,

it's evolving and maturing,

and I just want to continue to do that.

The "Brokeback Mountain" actor was found dead in his apartment

in downtown Manhattan today.

He had just completed the new Batman movie

in which he plays the Joker.

Ledger was just 28 years old

and leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter.

When news of his death hit, it just didn't make too much sense.

And that just adds to the tragic nature of this story.

Reporter: Relatives and friends have been consoling his family

at their home in Perth.

Heath spent his Christmas there

in what he described as his best holiday ever.

Outside the home of his former fiancée Michelle Williams

and his 2-year-old daughter Matilda,

signs of happier times.

Williams has told friends she's devastated,

that words cannot describe how she's feeling.

My very last memory of him is at this party we were at,

and he was about to leave for Prague,

and, you know, he said,

"When I get back, we're going to get together."

You know, he kind of gave me that smile

and walked out the door, and that was it.

That was the last time.

The body was found about four hours ago here.

That is what we are being told.

People were saying, "Was it suicide?

Was it a drug overdose?

What was going on?"

How did this happen?

Why did this happen?

People wanted answers.

In the death of actor Heath Ledger --

The death of Heath Ledger --

On so many different levels during his short life --

Banfield: This was a story that transcended just general news.

There was a lot of mystery involved.

One of the pieces of that mystery that still hasn't been

figured out is what the heck did Mary-Kate Olsen have to do

with this entire situation?

Suddenly, if you weren't interested in the story before,

now you are.

Roberts: Lots of questions this morning surrounding

the death of actor Heath Ledger.

Hammer: There was obviously rampant speculation

that night, that day that Heath died, of what happened.

Roth: Ledger's body was discovered

at the foot of the bed.

Cause of death is still to be determined.

No.

I can't say that for certain.

Why did Heath Ledger die?

What was really going on in that apartment?

Just moments ago, Ledger's father spoke to reporters

in Perth, Australia, where Ledger is from.

Heath has touched so many people

on so many different levels during his short life,

but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him.

He was a down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted,

life-loving, unselfish individual

who was extremely inspirational to many.

He was very close to his family, and they were devastated.

It was heartbreaking. They lost their boy.

Ledger: I've chosen to stay out of the whole,

you know, dazzlement of Hollywood.

I am -- you know, I have my own life.

I have my own friends, and, I don't know.

I keep grounded through that, especially my friends back home

here in Australia, my family back here.

They're very rich, and they're strong,

and I love them, and I couldn't have done it without them

and can't do it without them.

Heath Ledger was born in Perth, Australia,

and he was the only son of a race car driver/engineer,

that was his dad, and his mother was a French teacher.

And he was into skateboarding and wind surfing.

Ledger: I grew up surfing.

When I go home to Australia, I surf as much as possible.

He didn't really start acting or catch the acting bug

until he was in grammar school

and he was in a production of "Peter Pan."

Heath and I met at Gilford Grammar School.

We were 13.

I just remember this vibrant, jovial, young boy

with a massive cheeky grin.

That's my first memory of Heath.

Yeah, he never really changed.

Ledger: I haven't really done that much theater.

I mean, I did when I was younger,

but I haven't for a long time, for about seven years.

Yammanee: One of my favorite times with Heath was back stage.

The theater, acting, that was where we discovered ourselves

and became who we were.

Both of us were so excited to move from Gilford

and go into the next chapter.

It was one of those moments where you look into the future

and everything looks bright.

Heath Ledger's beginnings were really in Australia in the '90s,

and it wasn't until he signed on to a show in America

called "Roar" that he really became part of the scene here.

I don't want to forget what you look like.

I'll be here tomorrow.

Koslow: We got a 13-episode commitment for a Fox summer show

and we decided to do it in Australia.

An Australian casting director sent us an audition tape

with about a dozen Australian actors, young guys,

and Heath just jumped off the tape.

You can't ever go back there.

I don't want to. I want to be with you.

I know a place where you're safe for the night.

Some young talent comes with this light around them.

I've seen it before, and he had that light.

We were shooting it at the small resort town in Queensland,

so everybody was on location.

I remember I wandered into a little restaurant one night,

and I saw Heath and his dad having dinner,

and they invited me over to the table.

And it turned out it was Heath's 18th birthday,

and his father, obviously, was very proud of him

and a little bit astonished that his son was suddenly

the star of an American television series.

Acting, well, for me, at least, it's all about harnessing

the power of belief, you know, and I think once you do that,

you can take yourself kind of anywhere, really.

Anderson: I think I became aware of Heath

when most girls or young women did,

when he did "10 Things I Hate About You"

with Julia Styles.

-How are you doing? -Sweating like a pig, actually.

And yourself?

Now there's a way to get a guy's attention, huh?

"10 Things I Hate About You" is what really got him noticed.

Anderson: He was good. He was handsome.

He was charming.

I think that's when I knew,

"Hey, here's this guy from Australia,

and he's really going to make his mark."

Your eyes have a little green in them.

[ Chuckles ]

[ Retches ]

Yammanee: I remember seeing "A Knight's Tale"

sitting in the cinema and listening to all the females

behind me swooning over him.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

And it was just fun just to chuckle to myself

listening to these people

idolizing this larger-than-life person on the screen

knowing that he's such a down-to-earth guy.

Koslow: I think perhaps the role that turned the corner

for him was "The Patriot."

I was actually working with Mark Gordon

at the time, who produced "The Patriot",

and I remember him asking me, "Do you think he can do it?"

And I said, "No question."

You know, it was the most important year

of my career, definitely.

Hammer: "The Patriot" was a big deal for Heath Ledger.

This is where he really got to show his acting chops,

and that really set the foundation for

the bigger roles that he was about to walk into.

Reporter: Where can you go from here?

I mean, only up, right?

Um, no, you can go down.

The thought crossed my mind that if we hadn't picked him off

that tape, that kid from Perth,

who knows, maybe he'd still be alive.

Cooper: The search for answers tonight continues.

We've learned much more about what was going on inside

his New York loft just before and after his body was found,

even the link to Mary-Kate Olsen.

What is going on here?

The youngblood from Perth who is 22

is already one of the hottest stars in Hollywood.

Would you please welcome actor Heath Ledger?

[ Cheers and applause ]

-Whoo. -Could you believe

when you drive around Los Angeles, for example,

and you see your face up on a billboard

or on the back of a bus, is that weird?

I get really nervous with it,

and I get very self-conscious of it,

but I guess I'm learning to deal with it

a little better these days.

[ Indistinct chatter ]

Chetry: Actor Heath Ledger who was found yesterday

in his New York City apartment.

Ledger, just 28, had finished shooting a new Batman sequel

called "The Dark Knight" where he played the Joker.

He also earned an Oscar nomination for his role

in "Brokeback Mountain."

I think what truly hit home was how somebody

with so much promise and so much potential,

the life could be snuffed out like that.

Banfield: One of the first reports that came out from

the police was that sleeping pills had been found

in or on or around Heath's body when they discovered him.

There were -- I don't have an exact number.

People were saying, "Was it suicide?

Was it a drug overdose? What was going on?"

I don't deal in gut feelings.

I can just tell you there's been no determination

as to the cause of death, okay?

Velez-Mitchell: There was a sense he was a decent guy

who may have just fallen into the wrong path

because of a whole bunch of stressors.

Long days, 18-hour days, and that's it.

So I've just really been consumed with the work

that I've been doing.

Have you found it a challenge to be working

and promoting your films and be traveling so much?

Yeah, it is.

You know, I mean, it's not killing me, but it's a grind.

Roberts: He was actually kind of a quiet fellow.

I shared a row with him on a flight

out to Chicago last summer.

We chatted a little bit, and, you know,

he's a very quiet sort of guy,

but he liked to choose challenging roles.

Norris: I spoke with people that said Heath Ledger's darkest

moment during the time that he knew them was after

being nominated for an Academy Award

for "Brokeback Mountain."

He got a lot of attention.

Reporter: Are you prepared for the onslaught

of all the Oscar buzz that it's already receiving?

Um, no, not really. I'm not sure how to.

Woman: The Best Performance By an Actor in a Leading Role,

Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain."

And this thing grabs hold of us again in the wrong place

and the wrong time, and we're dead.

Reporter: Getting a lot of Oscar buzz.

Uh, sure. Have you thought about it?

Uh, obviously, yeah.

You can't help but think about it

when people are ramming it down your throat.

Tuchman: He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance,

and the woman who played his wife in the film,

Michelle Williams, became his girlfriend in real life.

Hammer: Heath and Michelle met on the set of

"Brokeback Mountain" back in 2004,

and they instantly hit it off.

Their romance was written like a Hollywood script.

Anderson: It was said that when he was really rough on her

during a scene that he would apologize

and wrap her in his embrace

and, "I'm sorry I was hard on you today,"

that sort of thing, but that's where

they became extremely close,

and that's where they fell in love.

Ledger: My life changed certainly from meeting Michelle.

I have a family, a beautiful family

and two beautiful girls thanks to "Brokeback Mountain."

So it's extraordinary, the level in which my life has changed.

Hammer: Less than a year later,

Michelle gave birth to their daughter, Matilda,

to whom Heath was so devoutly dedicated.

This was now the great love of his life.

Reporter: Congratulations.

How does it feel to be a dad?

Um, very humbling, yes. Yes.

I'm very comfortable in the daddy position.

Yeah. Just like that.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

On the red carpet, Heath was working,

but not really doing the work he really liked.

I don't know.

I'm not really up on the whole system.

And when he was home,

he loved to carry his daughter around all the time.

Cho: They really tried to give that little girl

as much of a normal life as they could.

I mean, as normal as you could be for a Hollywood star.

Banfield: The fame came to him so quickly,

the paparazzi, the attention, the media glare.

It's a lot of stress for a young person to handle

when you're working hard at the same time.

Velez-Mitchell: People think being an actor is easy,

but when you're an actor who becomes a star, it is so hard.

You've got to go out there and sell yourself.

Heath Ledger hated it.

Hammer: So part of deal when you sign up to be in a movie

is you sign up to do the promotion for the movie.

He didn't love being in front of the camera

unless it was for portraying a role.

What I love doing and all of that I do

is that time between action and cut.

That's what I really love,

and that's what I invest all my effort

and all my emotions and time into.

Hammer: Howard Bragman was one of people who was brought in

to help him be more comfortable

in preparing for interviews for "Brokeback Mountain."

I was retained by Focus Features to get everybody involved

in "Brokeback Mountain" singing from the same hymnal, as we say.

Heath was one they were particularly concerned about.

Heath was never known to be a good interviewer.

We're recording right now.

Bragman: He had no desire to be more comfortable in the media.

It was very clear to me by reputation

and watching his interviews that he didn't like it.

It's obviously -- you know --

He can't sit still, the poor guy.

He's kind of anxious and scratching and jumping around,

would get irritated if he didn't like the question.

That was a quick eight minutes. Thanks.

Just kind of everything you could do wrong,

he kind of embraced it.

Anderson: He loved acting. He loved his craft.

He wanted to be an actor.

He did not want to be a celebrity.

Man: Look straight ahead, Heath!

Heath always had a tenuous relationship with the paparazzi,

and who can blame the guy?

The paparazzi can be extremely aggressive and intrusive.

Woman: And over here, please!

Hammer: The Australian press had become frustrated

with Heath Ledger.

He was their native son.

He had all the success in Australia in the late '90s

that led to a big Hollywood career,

and here now we have "Brokeback Mountain."

This is arguably going to be

the biggest role of his career so far,

and he was always press averse, not interested in necessarily

giving the photographs and great sound bites.

Woman: Heath, over here, please!

So at the "Brokeback Mountain" premiere on the red carpet...

Man: Turn around!

Woman: Please turn around!

...paparazzi shoots him with water guns to get a reaction.

[ Indistinct shouting ]

Anderson: The paparazzi said they were just getting him back,

basically, because Heath had spit on them.

-Get him off me. Get him off me. -Look, look, look, look.

This is a guy that did the water pistol.

And the reason Heath spit on them was apparently

because they had jumped out and surprised him

and he was with Michelle.

So it wasn't pretty for him.

Velez-Mitchell: The lack of privacy, the false rumors,

the gossip, the constant scrutiny.

Norris: There's an assault not just of flashing lights

but of yelling, "Over here, over here, over here!

Heath, Heath, Heath!

I don't know how long that's been a fact

of being in the public eye,

but it can't be easy to acclimate to.

It was too much, and he retreated from it.

Anderson: They settled in Brooklyn.

They had a quaint life with their baby Matilda in Brooklyn.

Not at all glitzy, just shockingly, shockingly normal.

It's an honor to kind of be part of films that are well-received.

On the flip side of that, you know, my personal life

completely outweighs any hype that's in my professional life.

Anderson: It was a nice life, and it seemed to be the normalcy

outside of his job that he was seeking,

but things did get tough for them.

I don't know what his demons were in his past,

but Heath clearly had them,

and I think acting was a way to soothe his soul.

Anderson: His performances onscreen were intense.

They were dynamite. They were gold.

But at what cost?

Ledger: I've just really been consumed with the work

that I've been doing.

Hammer: That was the beginning of a deep, dark spiral

for Heath Ledger.

Welcome back to "how it really happened."

The mystery surrounding the death of Oscar nominated

actor Heath Ledger continued to deepen.

Police reported sleeping pills and other prescription drugs

had been discovered near the 28-year-old's body.

And speculation ran rampant.

Was it foul play, suicide, or an unfortunate

and untimely accident?

Investigators delved into the last weeks, days,

even hours of Ledger's life, looking for clues.

A private viewing today for the family of Heath Ledger.

Details about the actual funeral not being released just yet,

but there are new details about the timeline of events.

This was a story that led the news.

You're waiting for every last little detail

that could give any clue into what may have happened.

Police officials telling CNN earlier that some

sleeping pills, over-the-counter sleeping pills,

were found near the Australian actor

who had completed filming of the latest Batman film.

When I finally went to see "The Dark Knight",

excellent film, you couldn't not think of

standing outside his apartment

and watching his body come out.

It's just 900 degrees

from the unbelievable performance on that screen.

I think it's safe to say that his death

cast an enormous shadow over the subsequent release

and promotion of "The Dark Knight",

the Batman film.

Bale: The problem becomes when people start to look at it

in a macabre fashion.

When people start to abuse that,

it becomes a circus based on that.

Banfield: And I think a lot of people in those theaters

were wondering, "Did this role have anything to do with this?"

I've spoke with people who found it offensive

that that role was sort of used to explain his descent

into darkness and ultimately death.

-So what are you proposing? -It's simple.

Kill the Batman.

Norris: "See the role that drove Heath Ledger to the edge."

Come on. Hit me!

Hammer: The Joker, yeah.

That was the role that everybody has pointed to

as sort of the beginning of a deep, dark spiral

for Heath Ledger, and particularly how Heath

played him was this massive psychopath.

Ledger: You're a product of environment, and there are

certain methods and things that you have to go through

in order to feel that and portray that,

but it's quite hard to put a finger on it exactly.

Yammanee: He'd find the layer, and then he'd go deeper

and deeper and deeper, and that's what gave

such wonderful characters that he brought to life.

You know, it's kind of a Faustian bargain.

You really have to give a lot.

You have to sacrifice a lot of yourself

to do something like that.

It doesn't come without cost.

He would spend a long time trying to get the smallest

detail of a character right.

He had said that he spent a month locked up in

a hotel room trying to figure out what was the voice

he was going to use for the Joker,

secluding himself from everywhere

and everybody just so he could figure out the voice.

Ooh, you want to play. Come on.

♪♪

Velez-Mitchell: He created a diary where he really

fleshed out the Joker's persona, not for the camera

but behind the scenes, to try to inhabit

this role of a sociopath.

That's pretty extreme.

Hammer: And as the diary evolved,

it got darker and darker.

Anderson: And the very end of that diary, it says "Bye-bye."

And he may have been talking about just wrapping up

that role, but with what happened, ultimately,

it hit home a little bit differently.

I think that Heath always immersed himself in his role,

and certainly the character had a lot of pathology,

and I'm sure it didn't help Heath, but it didn't kill him.

Maybe it's really all about the fact that he had issues

with prescription medication, and to play a role like that

might push you right over the edge.

Banfield: There were so many things that created a confluence

of circumstance for Heath Ledger,

a dark role, a bright spotlight that was not welcome,

a new child, a breakup in his life.

Reporter: People.com reports Heath Ledger

and Michelle Williams have split.

The couple met filming while "Brokeback Mountain"

three years ago.

Their daughter Matilda turns 2 next month.

Heath Ledger actually was in a perilous place

in his life right then.

Hammer: One of the narratives that was going on about

why there was trouble for Heath and Michelle

was that he still wanted to be out and about.

Certainly by the time he died, there were two Heaths

that the public consciousness seemed to be entertaining.

One was the committed the Oscar nominated actor,

serious artist, who was just as serious about his daughter.

The other Heath was a party boy.

Hammer: There was that other thing going on that portrayed

Heath as a guy at one point in his life who loved

the party scene, who loved to go out and go to clubs,

and then there was speculation about drugs

because drugs will follow in those circumstances.

Yammanee: The close friends of Heath were saying that

abuse of drugs was not an issue,

and I tend to trust them on that.

It's a mystery when someone dies inexplicably,

but it was more the way

that the pieces didn't fit in this puzzle.

The New York City police spokesman saying very firmly,

"We do not have a cause of death,"

and that's going to be determined

by the city's medical examiner.

Over time, we did learn some more

about what really happened in that apartment.

At this hour, the details are still unfolding.

And then, of course, la piece de resistance

would be Mary-Kate Olsen.

Mary-Kate Olsen, we all heard that and thought, "What?"

Just not five days ago, finished a job in Sydney

and that was my fifth in a row,

and so now I'm just going to retire for a while, live.

There's some new details this morning about the moments

immediately after actor Heath Ledger was discovered dead

in his New York City apartment.

Here was a 28-year-old actor, a Hollywood movie star

in the apex of his career,

and suddenly he was gone under mysterious circumstances.

Reading all the reports, the gossip items,

you're struggling to find a picture of who was

Heath Ledger, especially in his final days.

Banfield: In 2007, he was struggling after the breakup

with Michelle Williams, and he really threw himself

into his work, and he started in on this very unique film called

"The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus."

Shooting on "Dr. Parnassus" started two or three weeks

after he finished his work on "The Dark Knight."

He was already suffering from chronic insomnia.

The weather wasn't good.

Apparently it was very damp and very cold.

Heath, as far as people were able to tell,

actually came down with walking pneumonia.

Anderson: When you're working that hard,

when you're traveling between time zones,

when you don't really sleep well anyway,

and then you're having trouble in your relationship,

you're going to struggle.

A couple days before Heath Ledger died,

he flies back from London to New York

and settles into his place down in Soho.

[ Siren wailing ]

♪♪

Scott: I spoke to Heath Ledger three hours or four hours

before he died, and he seemed to be

having a miserable time sleeping.

Heath's father reported that Heath had been on the phone

with his sister Kate the night before,

that he told her he wasn't feeling well

and that Kate had actually warned him

not to mix prescriptive drugs.

Anderson: A massage therapist went to his Manhattan apartment

to give him a scheduled massage.

She calls his cellphone because he failed to answer

her knock on the door.

She goes in and sets up her massage table,

even while Heath Ledger is lying there.

And that's making a lot of noise,

but he doesn't stir, he doesn't wake up.

Then the masseuse goes to try to shake Heath

and wake him up and finds his body cold to the touch.

She became concerned, so she used his phone.

Calls a client that she had in common with Heath Ledger.

Cho: The masseuse did not call 911.

She called not once, not twice,

but three times, his very good friend,

another celebrity, Mary-Kate Olsen.

So Mary-Kate Olsen is well-known for people

who used to watch "Full House."

She was one of a set of twins, Ashley Olsen being her sister.

Anderson: We were all stunned.

We never knew that there was a connection.

Hammer: Apparently, Mary-Kate tells the masseuse --

she didn't say she was going to call 911 for her.

She said, "I'm sending over a security guard."

Roth: Mary-Kate Olsen dispatches her private security guard

to the apartment while the massage therapist

finally dials 911.

Hammer: The folks at 911 instruct the masseuse

in how to perform CPR on Heath.

Finally, at about the same time the security guard shows up,

so do the medical professionals.

Paramedics arrived. It was too late to revive Heath.

Cooper: It is a grisly scene as he was taken out

just a few hours after being found at approximately

3:30 p.m. this afternoon.

There was no suicide note.

There were no signs of foul play.

People were speculating it was drugs immediately.

There were reports that a $20 bill had

drug residue on it.

And you're never really sure how much of it is true.

Police are revising their story as more information comes out

and as they talk to more people who were there.

There were no illegal drugs found.

There were prescription bottles.

There's been wide speculation that he may have overdosed

on sleeping pills, but it's going to be another

two weeks before we know for sure.

He gave an interview toThe New York Times

saying that he had chronic insomnia.

In fact, he said, and I believe I'm quoting,

"I was sleeping two hours a night

because my mind was just going and going and going."

And so it was known that he had sleep problems.

How he died, still a mystery, but remember,

this is a young actor, just 28 years old,

compared to Marlon Brando, Sean Penn.

Anderson: There was a lot of speculation and criticism.

Why did no one call 911 immediately

when there were concerns?

The idea that it's not a reflex

when you come upon a person who's non-responsive,

you don't try to revive them and call paramedics immediately

is hard to comprehend.

Anderson: Why did Mary-Kate want to reach out

to security versus paramedics?

Lots of questions this morning surrounding the death of actor

Heath Ledger.

Investigators wanted to know, why her?

What did she know?

Banfield: They wanted to talk to Mary-Kate Olsen.

Astoundingly, she didn't want to talk.

It has changed the question from what killed

Heath Ledger to what does Mary-Kate know?

♪♪

Anderson: Two weeks after the death

that shocked Hollywood and the world,

the New York City medical examiner

revealed how Heath Ledger died.

People wanted answers.

So every day, we worked to try and get more and more answers.

Heath died of an accidental overdose

of six prescription medications.

Roth: The New York City medical examiner eventually reported

that Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose

from prescription medications.

Nothing illegal.

No illegal drugs were found in the apartment.

Hammer: There were a whole lot of drugs in Heath's system

and a whole lot of drugs that shouldn't be taken together.

Painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication.

I mean, drugs with names like valium,

vicodin, oxycontin, Xanax.

Anderson: And these were strong drugs,

and he combined them, and it was fatal.

Pinsky: Today when my patients die of drug addiction,

9 times at least out of 10, prescription drugs,

and it is always the combination of benzodiazepine and opioid.

And that is precisely what they found in Heath Ledger.

Opioids suppress your respiration.

Benzodiazepines suppress your respirations,

but together they do it profoundly

without you noticing it.

So when you go to sleep, you do not wake up.

King: Heath's father released a statement on behalf of

the Ledger family after the medical examiner's

findings were released.

"We learned today that the combination of

doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy."

Heath Ledger's father, Kim, issued that statement about

saying that this combination of drugs proved lethal

for our boy.

The last four words of that press release are so sad

and do show what this is actually about.

An investigation was launched because they wanted to find out

exactly who prescribed these drugs,

where they all came from.

I think whenever someone dies regarding any drug overdose,

you want to dot your I's and cross your T's.

Was he on prescription medication?

If so, were they the right doses?

Were they properly prescribed?

Good afternoon. I'm NYPD lieutenant --

Banfield: The investigation is going into full steam,

and they wanted to ask a lot of questions

of anybody who might know something.

Chetry: New developments today

in the painkiller-related death of actor Heath Ledger.

They did speak to doctors and speak to his former fiancée

and speak to those who were close to him.

And there was an issue, though, in speaking to Mary-Kate Olsen.

[ Police radio chatter ]

Mary-Kate Olsen got involved because when his masseuse

found him and he was cold and non-responsive,

she didn't call 911.

She called Mary-Kate Olsen.

Hammer: Investigators are putting the pressure

on former child star Mary-Kate Olsen

to answer questions about Ledger's mysterious death.

And investigators want to know what Olsen knows.

It took a while, but finally she released a statement saying,

"I knew nothing about where the drugs came from."

In response, Olsen's attorney put out a statement

this week saying in part, quote,

"Mary-Kate Olsen had nothing whatsoever to do with the drugs

found in Heath Ledger's home or his body,

and she does not know where he obtained them."

She demanded immunity before talking to investigators,

and that only created more mystery, more intrigue.

I will say of all the things that raises an eyebrow,

it's the fact that she's reportedly asked for immunity.

Jackson: Now, they never got to speak with her

because the federal government of the Southern district

just closes up the investigation.

Cho: Federal Investigators have dropped their case

into how Heath Ledger got those powerful painkillers.

In published reports, a law enforcement source

says prosecutors have given up on the case in part

because there's no, quote, "viable target."

Velez-Mitchell: They never found out who prescribed all the meds

or how he got all the meds, whether he got them online

or he got them through some friend,

but here's the sad truth about America.

You want prescription drugs, you can get your hands on 'em.

It's not difficult.

Nobody will ever know exactly what happened in the hours

before Heath Ledger's death because he was alone.

And at the very least, he seemed like someone

who, at that point, should not have been alone.

Yammanee: The death of Heath is going to go into

the annals of history as a mystery.

I'd rather people concern themselves with the way he lived

and what he did rather than how he died.

He had an incredible life,

and his light really burned bright, very brightly,

but not long enough.

That's the tragedy.

Arkin: And the Oscar goes to

Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight."

Bragman" I remember when I watched the Oscars

and he won, shedding a tear and just thinking how sad it was

that he wasn't there to grab this moment.

[ Applause ]

Koslow: I was just thrilled, vindicated, you know,

a real celebration of who he was and what he did with his life.

Bragman: But I'm not sure how comfortable

he would have been in that moment either.

I think there's a part of him that would have loved

the recognition by his peers and a part of him that would

have cringed at all the press he would have had to do, too.

It's almost like you're trying to hide yourself,

and what bleeds through of yourself

are the bits that make it on film, I guess.

The rest is just there.

It's me anyway with a wig and some funny teeth on.

In the years following Heath Ledger's death,

his father has crusaded against prescription drug misuse.

He toldPeople Magazine in July 2016

that Heath mixed a couple of drugs together with

sleeping tablets, and he's gone forever.

That's something we just have to deal with.

But the reasons why his son took the lethal combination of pills

will forever remain a mystery.

I'm Hill Harper. Thanks for watching.

♪♪