Heath Ledger found dead in New York
Story by Jack Foley
HEATH Ledger has been found dead at a residence in Manhattan, the New York Police Department has confirmed.
The 28-year-old was reportedly found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead. Pills were found near his body.
An investigation is now underway to determine whether the Australian actor died of a drugs overdose. Suicide has not been ruled out.
Police confirmed that Ledger’s body was found dead in the flat at around 1530 (8.30pm GMT) and that foul play was not suspected.
According to reports, the actor was due to have had a massage at the address but was found by the housekeeper on Tuesday afternoon (January 22, 2008) when she went to inform him that the masseuse had arrived.
Spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters news agency: “We are investigating the possibility of an overdose. There were pills within the vicinity of the bed.”
Fans have begun to congregate outside the Broome Street apartment in Manhattan’s SoHo district to pay their respects as news of the film star’s death has been met with shock and diseblief.
Ledger shot to prominence as the star of A Knight’s Tale and quickly became one of Hollywood’s most sought after stars.
He next appeared alongside Mel Gibson in The Patriot, before appearing as a suicidal son in Oscar winner Monster’s Ball.
Most recently, he had earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a gay cowboy in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain, giving the type of performance that led the director to hail it as “a miracle of acting”.
Ledger followed that up by joining the ensemble cast of Todd Haynes’ critically acclaimed Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There and is set to wow fans with his portrayal of The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman sequel The Dark Knight, which is currently in post production.
However, while certainly successful professionally, he split from his girlfriend, Michelle Williams, in September last year.
The two met on the set of Brokeback Mountain, where she played his wife, and they have a two-year-old daughter together.
An autopsy is due to be carried out on Wednesday (January 23) by the medical examiner’s office.