Ledger's body heading to Perth
2008-01-27 08:00
Sydney - Hollywood actor Heath Ledger's body will be flown back to Australia but funeral plans for the Brokeback Mountain star remain uncertain, a report said Sunday.
Ledger, 28, was found dead last week in his New York apartment and initial results of an autopsy were inconclusive. His family, who have flown to the United States, insist he would not have taken his own life.
His uncle, Mike Ledger, told News Limited newspapers that the actor's father planned to bring the star's body back to his native city of Perth.
The family had not yet finalised details for his funeral, although holding it at his former school in Perth, Guildford Grammar, which has offered to host the event, was one possibility, Mike Ledger said.
The actor's father Kim and mother Sally would make the decision, he said.
"Kim will be bringing Heath home, but in terms of memorial services, it's up to Kim and Sally," Mike Ledger was quoted saying on a website for News Limited newspapers in Australia.
"We know the chapel at Guildford is available if Kim wants it. But they may even keep it very private. We may not even go to the funeral ourselves."
The star's uncle again ruled out suicide.
"We know he would never have done anything like that on purpose," he said.
Ledger, who shot to worldwide renown with his sensitive portrayal of a repressed homosexual cowboy in the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain, was found naked and unresponsive in his Manhattan apartment last Tuesday.
Police said that prescription medications were found in the residence and that a rolled-up $20 bill near the body had tested negative for drug residue.
- SAPA