Sadly, 28 year old Heath Ledger, who stars in the upcoming Batman movie, has been found dead:
HEATH Ledger has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose in a New York apartment reportedly belonging to fellow actor Mary-Kate Olsen.
Ledger, an Academy Award nominee, was found naked and unconscious in bed at the apartment in the trendy Manhattan area of SoHo by a housekeeper at 3.35pm (7.35am AEDT).
Law enforcement sources told celebrity website TMZ.com they did not believe it was a crime, saying prescription pills were found strewn near his body.
New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said: "We are investigating the possibility of an overdose."
"There were pills within the vicinity of the bed," Mr Browne said.
The 28-year-old Perth-born actor had a two-year-old daughter, Matilda, with former fiancee Michelle Williams, who played his wife in Brokeback Mountain.
They separated in September, 2007.
The New York Times reported that a masseuse arrived at the apartment and was let in the door by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of Ledger's bedroom.
When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom door and found Ledger unconscious.
They attempted to wake him, and when they couldn't they called 911.
When paramedics responded, the actor was in full cardiac arrest. They attempted to perform CPR on him but were unsuccessful.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said they did not suspect foul play.
Police said they believed Olsen, 21, was in California and said it was not clear why Ledger was in her apartment.
Calls by the NY Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actors agent, were not immediately returned.
Ledger plays the Joker in the upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight.
Ledger is best known for his groundbreaking role as Ennis in Brokeback Mountain, for which he was nominated as best lead actor for his role as a gay cowboy.
The award went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as Truman Capote.
Ledger played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in Monster's Ball and had starring roles in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot.
Ledger grew up in Perth and began doing amateur theater at age 10.
At 16, he moved to Sydney to pursue an acting career, quickly landing TV movie roles and guest spots on Australian television.
After several independent films and a starring role in the short-lived Fox TV series Roar, Ledger moved to Los Angeles and co-starred in 10 Things I Hate About You, a teen comedy reworking of The Taming of the Shrew.
Offers for other teen films came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he did not like.
"It wasn't a hard decision for me," Ledger told The Associated Press in 2001.
"It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, 'You're crazy,' my parents were like, 'Come on, you have to eat'."
His latest role was in I'm Not There, in which he played one of the many incarnations of singer Bob Dylan - as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
im hating the mixed reports from the media and the attempt to slander him
RIP to a great actor
RIP to a great actor
Was very much looking forward to seeing his Joker in Batman... he was really starting to get some good roles.
This one really surprised me. I never thought much of Ledger as a person (not in any way that is to say, as the media gave such mixed reports on him I preferred not to hold any opinion of him as a person), but to see such an obvious talent taken away at such a young age, particularly when he was really starting to come into his own, is really upsetting.
i am very very sad... i just want them to hurry up with the death report so that all this media hoo hah and be stopped...
I was so shocked to hear this. It's very sad to see this happen someone so young and so talented, and it's horrible his loved ones will have to put up with the media crying drug-abuse.
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