- In pictures: Heath Ledger`s life
- Heath Ledger: 1979 - 2008
HOLLYWOOD will have a chance to mourn Heath Ledger`s loss before the Aussie star is laid to rest in his hometown Perth.
Ledger`s friends said a memorial service in Los Angeles, the heart of the glitz and glamour world Ledger rejected, was planned for the weekend.
News of the Hollywood service came amid worldwide grief, with his former high school offering also to hold a memorial for their star graduate.
Sophie Ward, sister of supermodel Gemma Ward who had been romantically linked to Ledger, said she might fly to LA for the service.
Ward`s mother Claire has said her daughter Gemma was planning to stop in LA on her way home for "an event" which was to be attended by Ledger`s shattered father Kim.
"That (the memorial) will be in LA, then he will be buried in Perth," said Sophie Ward who spent time with Ledger in Perth over Christmas.
Naomi Watts, who dated Ledger for two years, was expected in LA yesterday but changed her mind.
She cancelled her appearance at her new film premiere and all of her media commitments.
Watts, 39, and Ledger met on the Victorian set of the romance Ned Kelly in 2002.
Their relationship lasted for two years, with the pair sharing a home in the bohemian Los Angeles neighbourhood of Los Feliz.
The actress, 11 years older than Ledger, was scheduled to fly into Los Angeles late last night from Salt Lake City where she was attending the Sundance Film Festival, but cancelled her flight at the last moment.
She is expected to be among a long list of screen stars and film industry powerbrokers attending the memorial service for Ledger in Los Angeles later this week.
It was unclear whether stars such as Lindsay Lohan, who was seen crying in West Hollywood after learning of Ledger`s death, or friend Mary-Kate Olsen, who was the first to learn of the tragedy, would attend the planned memorial service.
Ms Ward said she expected Ledger`s family would fly in but she also said only tentative plans were so far in place last night.
Another source said the service would likely be held Friday LA time but details were yet to be confirmed.
It is believed Ledger`s father Kim and mother Sally flew out of Perth on a private jet yesterday, bound for New York.
Ledger`s body was moved from the New York medical examiner`s office to the Frank E. Campbell funeral chapel.
The bodies of Beatles star John Lennon, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Judy Garland were all taken to the New York funeral home.
Australian consulate staff are helping the Ledger family make plans for his body to be sent home to Perth.
The Ledgers are considering an offer from the star`s former school Guildford Grammar in Perth which wants to hold a memorial service to honour their star former student.
Ledger`s former partner Michelle Williams only arrived at the Brooklyn home she shared with Ledger and their two-year-old daughter Matilda late on Wednesday night New York time. It is understood that she would likely attend a memorial for her former lover.
Gemma Ward`s mother had hinted at a commemorative event in LA.
"I anticipate (Gemma) will be coming home for the premiere of the movie The Black Balloon but she will probably attend the memorial event in Los Angeles at the end of the week with (Ledger`s) father," Claire Ward said in an interview.
Her sister Sophie said it had been a pleasure knowing Ledger.
"He was very private and guarded but very loyal to the people that loved him," she said yesterday.
"He was very true to himself, he was an amazing person."
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