This is sad. He is a pretty good actor.
January 22, 2008 --
Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger was found naked and dead in his SoHo apartment yesterday after he apparently overdosed on anti-anxiety pills.
Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger was found naked and dead in his SoHo apartment yesterday after he apparently overdosed on anti-anxiety pills.
The 28-year-old star's ex-fiancée, actress Michelle Williams, was flying to New York from Sweden with their 2-year-old daughter Matilda, her father said. Larry Williams told the Daily Telegraph in Australia. "My heart goes out to everyone, his family, my family, we are just very saddened. The saddest thing is his daughter who he just loved dearly."
While some sources said Ledger was depressed, the actor's father, Kim, later released a statement declaring his son's death "accidental."
One cop at the scene said it did not appear to be suicide, but police were still investigating, and an autopsy is scheduled for today.
Ledger was found by his maid and the masseuse with whom he had a scheduled 3 p.m. appointment at his $23,000-a-month, three-bedroom loft at 421 Broome St. When the two women entered his bedroom at about 3:20 p.m., Ledger was nude, lying face down and unresponsive, police sources said.
Pills were strewn around the bed, and there was a bottle next by the actor's body, police sources said. The maid and therapist called 911 at about 3:26 p.m. Emergency workers were unable to revive the star, and he was pronounced dead at 3:35 p.m.
Bottles of the generic forms of Xanax and Valium, both anti-anxiety drugs prescribed in his name, were found in the house, according to law-enforcement sources. The sleeping drug Ambien was also found near his body, sources said. The maid said she last heard the star snoring around noon.
"We are investigating the possibility of an overdose," NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said.
"There were pills within the vicinity of the bed."
One police source said "it does not appear to be a suicide." Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, had lived in Brooklyn with Williams and Matilda, but the couple split last year. He has since been romantically linked to a slew of women, from Aussie supermodel Gemma Ward to Long Island bad girl Lindsay Lohan.
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