A co worker was just walking past my desk, stopped, turned around and asked me an unexpectedly shocking question, "Did you hear that Heath Ledger died?"

I could not believe it. And for some reason, even though I' ve obviously never met the man or anything to that effect, I was truly moved by it. It just made me so sad to hear that such a successful young man, a father of a 2 year old, and who is known to be a very quiet, down to earth, dedicated actor, had lost his life so unexpectedly.

Of course, there is much speculation regarding his death; was it accidental or a suicide?

He was found in his New York home, laying on his bed, with sleeping pills scattered about.

Missing an appointment with a masseuse, he was found unresponsive in his room yesterday afternoon.

As most would intitially translate it, the assumption is it was probably no accident. But after reading up on this tragedy as well as watching many stories on the news and entertainment shows alike, there are some facts that may help the story stray away from yet another celebrity suicide.

According to interviewers, Heath was one to become very engrossed with the characters he played. He took his work very seriously, choosing the different and more daring rolls rather than the "heart throb" or "leading man" roles typically played by someone of his appearance. This deep investment of his time and self into the characters he protrayed led him to explain that while shooting his most recently anticipated release, The Dark Knight, playing The Joker was truly traumatic and left him unable to sleep for more than 2 hours a night. He had said the character was so sinister and evil that it really did get to him, in turn, causing troubled and brief sleeps. This explains the sleeping pills that he had been currently taking for this very problem.

But the questions remain; "How many pills did he actually take?" and "How many pills can you ' accidentally' and innocently take before it can mortally affect you?"

Whether Ledger purposely took his life or it was truly an unfortunate accident, the shock felt by colleagues, fans, family, and friends alike, is very great.

Why? Because someone like Heath Ledger was never seen as a "we could see it coming" type of person. Yes, he has taken some recent personal blows what with the separation with Michelle Williams, and in turn, a changed relationship with his daughter, Matilda, but after Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain,  the latest acclaim for his role in I' m Not There (story of Bob Dylan) and his recently finished "The Dark Knight", his career was in full swing with a promise to go nowhere but up.

It shows however, that regardless of money, success, and fame, a person' s outlook on life may not necessarily be positive.

I can not determine simply from a bystander' s perspective, what actually happened and why it happened, but I know that it is a great loss to Hollywood and movie lovers everywhere. Heath always gave such a deep and determined performance that you could not help but watch his every move and listen to every word. At 28 years old, he had acquired greater success than many of the 50-year old stars in the same field. And it' s not even necessarily the money he made or the awards he won, but the way he presented his art in such a way that you knew everything he had and everything he was went into it.

Heath Ledger will be forever remembered and forever missed, and I hope everyone will respect him and what he contributed to the history of movie-making.