The DJs I've been listening to, geeks all (and also fans of his), aren't the only ones who are stunned.
Damn. He seemed like a good guy, and was a good, eccentric actor. He's one of director Terry Gilliam's favorite young performers; they'd worked together on The Brothers Grimm and had been working together on The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.
He leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter from his earlier marriage to actress Michelle Williams.
Dear God.
3:44 p.m. edit: Two things to get off my chest:
1) DON'T DO DRUGS. Jesus, how many people have to die this way?
2) I'm sick (and I've long been sick) of people doing the "three deaths" thing. George Carlin said this: "Things do not happen in threes. Things happen in ones." People who look for things to happen in threes are, I think, forgetting or trying to forget that even just one death like this is a tragedy; they're looking for a pattern that is not there. Please don't do that. I'll try not to do that (I've been guilty of it).
Rest in peace, Mr. Ledger.
1/25/08 update for future reference: The signs are pointing increasingly to Ledger's death being an accident. So it's likely not the typical "famous person can't handle fame, dies" story. It's still just sad.