Actor Heath Ledger Found Dead In Apartment

Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday at approximately 3.26 p.m. at a downtown Manhattan apartment. The 28 year old Australian-born actor was found naked, in bed with sleeping pills nearby. Police at the scene said it was not immediately clear if Ledger had committed suicide.

Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the residence in SoHo, but when the housekeeper went to let him know that the massage therapist had arrived, she found him dead. The medical examiner’s office planned an autopsy Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

While not yet considered an A-list actor, Ledger was well on his way to International stardom. Starring roles in a string of successful films such as “10 Things I Hate About You,” “A Knights Tale,” and “The Patriot” as well as a high profile role in “Brokeback Mountain” which led to an Oscar nomination had positioned the actor to take advantage of his stardom. A role as The Joker in this summer’s sure-to-be-a-blockbuster film “The Dark Knight” was to be his highest profile role to date.

“Dark Knight” director Christopher Nolan said earlier this month that Ledger’s performance as the Joker would be wildly different than Jack Nicholson’s memorable turn in 1989′s “Batman.”

“It was a very great challenge for Heath,” Nolan said. “He’s extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy. A very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic.”

Ledger leaves behind a daughter, Matilda, that he had with actress Michelle Williams (who he met on the set of “Brokeback Mountain”) before the two split up last year.