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NEW YORK — The massage therapist's first call on finding a lifeless Heath Ledger wasn't to 911. Nor was her second. Nor her third, police said.
A day before a Friday private viewing for the 28-year-old actor, police said the masseuse spent nine minutes repeatedly ringing "Full House" actress Mary-Kate Olsen before calling authorities for help.
The masseuse called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived — at the same time as Olsen's security guards.
The details emerged as Ledger's family made plans to bury the star of "Brokeback Mountain." The viewing was scheduled at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home in Manhattan, and Ledger's family was flying to the U.S. from his native Australia.
Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said that no details about the actor's funeral would be shared with the media.
Ledger's family placed a death notice that appeared Friday in The West Australian, a newspaper based in his hometown of Perth, remembering him as "the most amazing 'old soul' in a young man's body."
"As a close knit and very private family we have observed you so determined yet quietly travelling in your self-styled path in life, nothing would get in your way ... no mountain too tall, no river too wide," the family said in a death notice published Friday in The West Australian. "Our hearts are broken."
The actor's sister, Kate, said she could "hardly breathe" as she tried to write her tribute. "We were the ultimate soul mates," she said.
"You were so many things to so many people, but to me you were just my little brother."
Authorities believe Ledger was already dead while his masseuse was dialing Olsen, with the first three calls ranging from 21 seconds to more than a minute and a half. The details about the calls do not have any significant bearing on an investigation that has ruled out foul play, but they paint a more precise picture of the bizarre series of events surrounding Ledger's death.
The cause of death will not be answered for at least a week, after medical examiners complete toxicology tests. Authorities suspect a possible overdose, but nothing conclusive has been determined. Several prescription drugs were found in the Manhattan apartment where Ledger's body was found.
Police originally said the masseuse made two calls seeking Olsen's advice about what to do, but they revised it to four after taking a closer look at Ledger's phone records. The masseuse, Diana Wolozin, apparently knew both Ledger and Olsen and knew they were friends; all the calls were made from Ledger's cell phone, police said.
At 1 p.m. Tuesday, Ledger's housekeeper went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard what she thought was snoring. The masseuse showed up for Ledger's massage appointment at about 2:45 p.m., knocked on his door and called his cell phone at 3 p.m. to wake him up., police said.
After setting up her massage table, she tried to wake Ledger and realized something was wrong.
That was when events took a strange turn.
At 3:17 p.m., she made a call to the Olsen twin that lasted 49 seconds. At 3:20 p.m., she made another call, lasting 1 minute and 39 seconds. At 3:24 p.m., another call to Olsen. That one lasted 21 seconds.
Then, at 3:26 p.m., Wolozin called 911.
At some point during the frenzy, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help with the situation, the New York Police Department said.
Paramedics arrived at 3:33 p.m. and actually went up in the elevator to the apartment with Olsen's security guards. Paramedics did not allow the security guards into the bedroom where Ledger died, and they declared him dead at 3:36 p.m. — 19 minutes after the first call to Olsen.
The masseuse called Olsen a final time at 3:34 p.m. The duration of that call was unknown.
Ledger told The New York Times in November that his recent work on the films "The Dark Knight" and "I'm Not There" had been stressful, and that he was struggling with sleeplessness and had taken the sleeping pill Ambien.
Ledger received an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in 2005's "Brokeback Mountain," one of several acclaimed for the actor in recent years. He plays the Joker in the Batman flick "The Dark Knight," set to come out later this year.
Before moving to Manhattan, Ledger lived with then-girlfriend Michelle Williams in Brooklyn. Ledger split last year with Williams, who played his wife in "Brokeback." The two had a daughter, 2-year-old Matilda.
Williams and Matilda returned to their Brooklyn home Wednesday evening from Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been there shooting scenes for the upcoming film "Mammoth," said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film.
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Associated Press Writers Clare Trapasso and Verena Dobnik contributed to this report.
