Brokeback Mountain Star Heath Ledger Found Dead

Heath Ledger, the Australian actor nominated for an Oscar in 2006 for his depiction of a brooding gay cowboy, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment yesterday. He was 28.

He was discovered in his bedroom in the apartment in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan at 3.30pm by a housekeeper and a masseuse who he had called for an appointment. They found him unconscious on the floor and called emergency services when he failed to respond.

According to the entertainment news website TMZ, paramedics tried to resuscitate him but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Prescription medicines were found in the room and police confirmed to Associated Press they were investigating a possible overdose, though there was no indication his death had been accidental or otherwise.

The actor's parents, Kim and Sally, and sister Kate talked to reporters in the Perth suburb of Applecross, insisting that his death was accidental, before making arrangements to fly to New York.

They had earlier contacted an American news website to deny its report that the 28-year-old had committed suicide.

"We, Heath's family can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda," his father said.

"He was found peacefully asleep in his New York apartment by his housekeeper. He was a down to earth, generous, kind hearted, life loving, unselfish individual, extremely inspirational to many."

Australia's prime minister, Kevin Rudd, led the official tributes.

"It is tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life," he said. "Heath Ledger's diverse and challenging roles will be remembered as some of the great performances by an Australian actor."

The actress Cate Blanchett, who heard yesterday that she was nominated for two Oscars, said the news of Ledger's death overshadowed the announcement.

"I deeply respected his work and always admired his continuing development as an artist," she said. "My thoughts are with his family and close friends."

Nciole Kidman and Mel Gibson were among a host of other film industry people who expressed their shock and sadness at the news.

Ledger's death cut off at its prime an acting career that saw a young man emerge from Perth, Western Australia and rise to become one of the most sought after and accomplished actors of his generation. He started out in small roles in little known Australian independent movies, but reached wider attention in 1999 when he played a school heart-throb in 10 Things I Hate About You.

Lead roles in The Patriot and A Knight's Tale followed, and he played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in Monster's Ball. But it was Brokeback Mountain, the 2005 Ang Lee movie based on an E Annie Proulx short story about two teenage cowboys who fall in love one heady summer, that propelled him to stardom.

Ledger played Ennis Del Mar, the initially reluctant partner, alongside Jake Gyllenhall's more extrovert and sexually confident Jack Twist.

The film received ecstatic reviews and Ledger was nominated for the best actor category at the 2006 Oscars. The award eventually went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his characterization of Truman Capote, but Ledger claimed the best actor title from both the New York and San Francisco film critics' circles.

New York magazine opined that "great joy can be taken in witnessing the small-miracle performances of Ledger (so eloquent in his mute despair)".

Rolling Stone was even more effusive, saying: "Ledger's magnificent performance is an acting miracle. He seems to tear it from his insides," it said.

It was during the filming of Brokeback Mountain that Ledger began a relationship with the actor Michelle Williams. They set up home together in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who is now two. At the time, Ledger spoke of the happiness they found in Brooklyn, away from the glare of Manhattan media attention. "I walk my laundry down to the laundromat, I get my groceries and carry them back; photographers don't live out there, and local people don't care," he said.

But the happiness did not last for long. The couple split up last year and Ledger moved back to Manhattan.

He rarely alluded to his private life, but there was clearly a troubled streak. He regularly complained about the attention of paparazzi, and he was hypercritical of his own acting performances.

In November he told the New York Times he was not proud of his role in I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' film in which Ledger plays one of six versions of Bob Dylan. He said: "I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, 'It's good' is the day I should start doing something else." The interviewer found Ledger complaining he had been unable to sleep. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going," Ledger said. He confided to the reporter that he took a prescription sleeping pill and, when that failed, took another.

The actor had been traveling between New York and London where he was filming, as recently as last weekend, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus directed by Terry Gilliam. He was also scheduled to appear this year as the Joker in the next Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

Ledger had last been home to Australia over the Christmas period, which he spent with his family in Perth.

He had had a difficult relationship with the local paparazzi, but he left a long and rambling phone message for West Australian newspaper's film editor, Mark Naglazas, to thank the media for leaving him alone during his stay.

"I don't know whether it's a conscious thing or an unconscious thing, giving me space and respecting my privacy," he said. "It's just been awesome. It's really enabled me to be a boy again from home and feel like I'd never left.

"It's truly been an incredibly therapeutic and a much-needed trip home and just that little touch has made it all that more special to me."

Websites dedicated to the actor crashed today as fans inundated the sites to leave messages of sympathy.