There's a real and poignantly tragic irony to the untimely passing of Heath Ledger on the day the Academy Awards nominations were announced and only two days after the GLAAD Media Awards nominations were listed.
We'll let the tabloids waste their efforts in needless speculation about the cause of the young actor's death. We simply prefer to honor his memory by taking a few moments to remember him fondly.

 We think the message posted at GLAAD's website says it best:

 "Los Angeles, January 22, 2008 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) mourns the death of actor Heath Ledger, who died today at the age of 28.  GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano released the following statement:

 'Heath Ledger will forever be remembered for his groundbreaking role as Ennis del Mar in Brokeback Mountain.  His powerful portrayal changed hearts and minds in immeasurable ways.  He will be greatly missed.  Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.' ”

  During the last few days we learned of the lung-cancer related deaths of two gifted and versatile actresses Lois Nettleton and Suzanne Pleshette and we'd planned to devote space to them here when Heath Ledger's death was announced. She we altered our plans slightly ad decided to include all three in our humble tribute.

 Lois Nettleton was a very familiar face to those of us who grew up on TV in the 60s and 70s. Although she also did film and stage, Ms Nettleton's plaintive voice and sympathetic eyes were often featured in the many TV roles (both guest and recurring) she did for over 30 years. In the 60s she appeared on a classic and prophetic episode of The Twilight Zone as a young woman slowly going mad in her sweltering NY apartment as the earth drew closer to the sun. In the 70s she guested on the Mary Tyler Moore Show as the new station manager with the hots for Lou Grant. In the 80s she was on The Golden Girls as a  lesbian with an unrequited crush on Betty White's character Rose. In the 90s she appeared as a recurring character on In the Heat of the Night and had a memorable guest shot on Seinfeld as the mother of one of George's girlfriends who caught Jason Alexander's character eating out of the trash.

 Suzanne Pleshette had a long and successful career in all media and was well-like by all who worked with her. The touching tributes we read had a common thread--that she was warm-hearted, outrageously funny and enjoyed life. To many she will always be known as Bob Newhart's sitcom wife on his successful 1970s TV, a role she famously reprised in a cameo on the final episode of Newhart. But she also had a variety of other noteworthy roles including the schoolteacher in The Birds, as Leona Helmsley in a TV biopic, and as Karen's mother on Will and Grace.  She was a frequent guest star on series TV and was always a treat to watch when she appeared on Johnny Carson. She was married to actor Troy Donahue, Tom Gallagher, and Tom Poston whom she had met in 1959 but did not marry until each other them were much older and widowed. A quick overview of her career at imdb.com will give you a good idea of how much she worked and how versatile she was.

 As noted by GLAAD handsome and talented Heath Ledger's role in Brokeback Mountain will always enshrined as a milestone in gay-themed cinema, but he also leaves behind an impressive and wide-ranged body of work including 10 Things I hate About You, The Patriot, A Knight's Tale, Monster's Ball, Casanova, and many others. Listening to his fellow actors speak of him you got a real sense of how respected and how well-liked he was.  His last complete film role was that of the Joker in the upcoming Batman: The Dark Knight due this summer. Truly sad.