Pangasinense kept Heath Ledger's NY home clean

Heath Ledger maintained a clean house, was always nice, orderly and extremely good-looking. This was how Teresa Solomon, Ledger’s Filipina housekeeper, remembered the Brokeback Mountain actor before seeing him lying lifeless on the floor of his New York apartment last month. Solomon, a native of Mangaldan, Pangasinan told the New York-based Filipino Reporter early this month that she was hesitant at first to entertain questions from reporters and paparazzi constantly hounding her about Ledger’s life, thinking that “the media can twist words." The 56-year-old Filipina, who became an accidental celebrity after being the last person to see the Oscar-nominated actor alive, said she visited Ledger’s plush fourth floor apartment in Manhattan every Tuesday and was always astounded by the actor’s neatness and looks. "His place was always clean that's why I told him, 'what else am I going to do here?'" she said. “He's also very good looking. He really looks like a Hollywood leading man." In the medical examiner’s report this month, it was determined that the 28-year-old actor died of “acute intoxication" from a combination of two strong painkillers, two anti-anxiety medicines and two sleeping aids. "I cried when the emergency personnel said he's (Ledger) dead because I just couldn't believe he's gone. I even told them to check him thoroughly because they might be wrong," Solomon said in the article on the Reporter. Police said Solomon last saw Ledger at around 1 pm on January 22, face down on the bed, a sheet pulled to his shoulders, and snoring. According to the police, Solomon left the room after changing a light bulb in the adjacent bathroom, thinking nothing was wrong. ‘Housekeeper and proud of it’ For about 26 years, Solomon has worked as a domestic helper. In 1985, three years after working in Greece and Hong Kong, she came to the US and kept the homes of wealthy families in New York. She became an American citizen when an employer sponsored her years ago as a nanny for a young boy, according to the Reporter article written by Edmund M. Ilustre. Since the tragedy shocked Hollywood last month, Solomon has found it harder to evade the persistent journalists who even followed her to her home in Queens where she had been living for 12 years. Later this year, she plans to visit the Philippines, particularly her hometown in Pangasinan to spend the New Year with her family. "I've been a housekeeper almost all my life and I'm proud of it. This is a decent job and I earn a decent living. I have a nice apartment. I have a nice family. And I have a quiet life," said Solomon who only finished sophomore in college. - Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV