vagalance
23rd Jan '08 Wed, 09:04
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/58/ledger4700gp8.jpg
Police stand in front of the Soho residence where the body of Heath Ledger was found.
Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger, 28, has died of a possible drug overdose involving sleeping pills in New York, police have confirmed.
Ledger was found dead in his bed at his apartment on Broome Street, Soho in Manhattan, by his housekeeper at 3.35pm local time, the TMZ website said.
Ledger's body has been removed from his New York apartment and wheeled into the back of a medical examiner's van.
A police spokesman told smh.com.au the cause of death was unknown, despite the presence of drugs.
"We don't have that [the cause of death] yet. The matter is still under investigation," the spokesman said.
He was pronounced dead at 3.45pm (7.45am AEDT) by a medical examiner who went to the apartment.
Naked and unconscious
Ledger was naked and unconscious, The New York Times reported.
New York police officer Martin Brown said investigators will most likely not know the cause of death until an autopsy was held on the body.
Asked if foul play had been ruled out, Officer Brown said it had not.
"That's what needs to be investigated,'' Brown told AAP.
"It takes a while."
"The medical examiner will do an autopsy and they will determine the cause of death.''
Pills found
US television network NBC reported his body was found surrounded by pills.
The New York Times reported Ledger was discovered by a masseuse who arrived at his apartment for an appointment.
The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Ledger's bedroom, The New York Times reported.
When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Ledger unconscious.
They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.
"It's all preliminary at this stage," Officer Brown said.
"We had a call for an unconscious male at 421 Broome Street.
"At 15.26 [New York time] we got to the scene and there was an unconscious male.
"We called EMS [ambulance] to the scene and EMS pronounced the unconscious male dead.
"Preliminarily, it is believed it is the actor Heath Ledger."
Police officers today stood guard at the Soho apartment building as a crowd of photographers gathered outside.
Asked about reports of the pills in Ledger's apartment, Brown said: "I can't confirm that but I've heard the same thing."
Ledger was an Oscar nominee for his role in Brokeback Mountain and had numerous other screen credits.
His breakthrough role was the Australian movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan and in another movie from the same year, 10 Things I Hate about You, he established himself as an up-and-coming star.
Ledger's other film credits included A Knight's Tale, The Patriot and Monster's Ball.
He starred in I'm Not There, one of several actors playing a role representing Bob Dylan, and was due to appear as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight.
Ledger's death comes during the making of his latest movie The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, directed by Terry Gilliam and in which he was to star alongside Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits.
Ledger had a difficult relationship with some sections of the media.
In 2004 he allegedly spat at and assaulted a photographer in Sydney. The retaliation was during the premier to Brokeback Mountain when photographers squirted him with water on the red carpet.
Incredibly sad: Armfield
The director of Ledger's last Australian movie, Candy, Neil Armfield, told ABC Radio he was "incredibly saddened" to hear of the 28-year-old's death.
"He was a young boy in many ways, still a boy when he left Perth and got into this whirlwind of his career," Armfield said.
"He handled his career incredibly well - he made a decision about four years ago to stop being led by producers and managers and to forge his own way. He started working with the most interesting directors. He was so successful at breaking out of the teen idol image.
"We saw with his relationship with the paparazzi that he was vulnerable and felt intensely invaded and got so unbelievably distressed. The photographers would try to push him into a reaction and he was a young man so he would react."
Stepmother in tears
Ledger's stepmother, Emma Brown, was in tears this morning.
Ms Brown, who married Kim Ledger last year, said the family was not ready to talk about her stepson's death.
"I'm sorry, we're not ready to talk," Ms Brown said, while crying.
Websites crash
Less than an hour after news of Ledger's death broke, fan sites including heathledger.net, heathbaby.com and heathledgercentral.com and heathledger.com had melted down and were inaccessible.
Messages of sorrow from fans are flooding unofficial Heath Ledger pages and fan groups on MySpace and Facebook. Already, at least two "R.I.P Heath Ledger'' Facebook groups have been created as memorials.
Perth boy
Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia.
He had a two-year-old daughter, Matilda, with former fiancee and Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams.
He was the son of Sally Ledger Bell, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing car driver and mining engineer.
Police stand in front of the Soho residence where the body of Heath Ledger was found.
Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger, 28, has died of a possible drug overdose involving sleeping pills in New York, police have confirmed.
Ledger was found dead in his bed at his apartment on Broome Street, Soho in Manhattan, by his housekeeper at 3.35pm local time, the TMZ website said.
Ledger's body has been removed from his New York apartment and wheeled into the back of a medical examiner's van.
A police spokesman told smh.com.au the cause of death was unknown, despite the presence of drugs.
"We don't have that [the cause of death] yet. The matter is still under investigation," the spokesman said.
He was pronounced dead at 3.45pm (7.45am AEDT) by a medical examiner who went to the apartment.
Naked and unconscious
Ledger was naked and unconscious, The New York Times reported.
New York police officer Martin Brown said investigators will most likely not know the cause of death until an autopsy was held on the body.
Asked if foul play had been ruled out, Officer Brown said it had not.
"That's what needs to be investigated,'' Brown told AAP.
"It takes a while."
"The medical examiner will do an autopsy and they will determine the cause of death.''
Pills found
US television network NBC reported his body was found surrounded by pills.
The New York Times reported Ledger was discovered by a masseuse who arrived at his apartment for an appointment.
The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Ledger's bedroom, The New York Times reported.
When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Ledger unconscious.
They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.
"It's all preliminary at this stage," Officer Brown said.
"We had a call for an unconscious male at 421 Broome Street.
"At 15.26 [New York time] we got to the scene and there was an unconscious male.
"We called EMS [ambulance] to the scene and EMS pronounced the unconscious male dead.
"Preliminarily, it is believed it is the actor Heath Ledger."
Police officers today stood guard at the Soho apartment building as a crowd of photographers gathered outside.
Asked about reports of the pills in Ledger's apartment, Brown said: "I can't confirm that but I've heard the same thing."
Ledger was an Oscar nominee for his role in Brokeback Mountain and had numerous other screen credits.
His breakthrough role was the Australian movie Two Hands, directed by Gregor Jordan and in another movie from the same year, 10 Things I Hate about You, he established himself as an up-and-coming star.
Ledger's other film credits included A Knight's Tale, The Patriot and Monster's Ball.
He starred in I'm Not There, one of several actors playing a role representing Bob Dylan, and was due to appear as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight.
Ledger's death comes during the making of his latest movie The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, directed by Terry Gilliam and in which he was to star alongside Christopher Plummer and Tom Waits.
Ledger had a difficult relationship with some sections of the media.
In 2004 he allegedly spat at and assaulted a photographer in Sydney. The retaliation was during the premier to Brokeback Mountain when photographers squirted him with water on the red carpet.
Incredibly sad: Armfield
The director of Ledger's last Australian movie, Candy, Neil Armfield, told ABC Radio he was "incredibly saddened" to hear of the 28-year-old's death.
"He was a young boy in many ways, still a boy when he left Perth and got into this whirlwind of his career," Armfield said.
"He handled his career incredibly well - he made a decision about four years ago to stop being led by producers and managers and to forge his own way. He started working with the most interesting directors. He was so successful at breaking out of the teen idol image.
"We saw with his relationship with the paparazzi that he was vulnerable and felt intensely invaded and got so unbelievably distressed. The photographers would try to push him into a reaction and he was a young man so he would react."
Stepmother in tears
Ledger's stepmother, Emma Brown, was in tears this morning.
Ms Brown, who married Kim Ledger last year, said the family was not ready to talk about her stepson's death.
"I'm sorry, we're not ready to talk," Ms Brown said, while crying.
Websites crash
Less than an hour after news of Ledger's death broke, fan sites including heathledger.net, heathbaby.com and heathledgercentral.com and heathledger.com had melted down and were inaccessible.
Messages of sorrow from fans are flooding unofficial Heath Ledger pages and fan groups on MySpace and Facebook. Already, at least two "R.I.P Heath Ledger'' Facebook groups have been created as memorials.
Perth boy
Ledger was born in Perth, Western Australia.
He had a two-year-old daughter, Matilda, with former fiancee and Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams.
He was the son of Sally Ledger Bell, a French teacher, and Kim Ledger, a racing car driver and mining engineer.