Heath Ledger's dad blames his son for his own death

Heath Ledger's father, Kim, has opened up about the late actor's death in 2008, claiming his son's accidental overdose was "totally" Heath's fault.

The 66-year-old described the tragedy surrounding Heath's death, and explained how the actor's sister, Kate, begged him not to mix his prescription drugs hours before his death.

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"It was totally his fault," Kim told the Daily Mail.

"It was no-one else's - he reached for them. He put them in his system. You can't blame anyone else in that situation."

The Dark Knight actor was found dead in his New York apartment in January 2008 after accidentally overdosing on a fatal combination of oxycodone, diazepam, hydrocodone and doxylamine.

Heath's father believes the pressures that came with being a movie star - he was filming The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus at the time of his death - contributed to his overdose.

"In the case of someone with a higher profile it's often a case of 'what do you want?' instead of 'what do you need?'", explained Kim.

He added: "There's so much pressure on them to perform so even though your body is telling you that it's not good and needs time, it's like 'just take these painkillers and keep going'.

Heath's Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal has spoken out about how his death affected him.

"Personally, it affected me in ways I can't necessarily put in words or even would want to talk about publicly." he said.

"In terms of professionally, I think I was at an age where mortality was not always clear to me."

Heath was survived by his daughter Matilda, with whom he shared with actress Michelle Williams.

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