Actor Heath Ledger found dead in NYC
28-year-old earned Academy Award nod for leading role in 'Brokeback
Mountain'

Posted: January 22, 2008
© 2008 WorldNetDaily.com

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal portray cowboys who fall in love with each
other in 'Brokeback Mountain'
Australian-born actor Heath Ledger was found dead today in a Manhattan
apartment, according to the New York Police Department.

The 28-year-old, who won an Academy Award for his performance in the
controversial film "Brokeback Mountain," had an appointment for a massage
at the apartment, according to an NYPD spokesman. The housekeeper went to
inform him the masseuse had arrived and found him unconscious at 3:30 p.m.
Eastern Time, the New York Times reported.

After shaking him and getting no response, they called authorities.

Ledger appears as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film "The Dark Knight,"
expected to be a blockbuster this summer. He also had starring roles in "A
Knight's Tale" and "The Patriot," with Mel Gibson.

Police sources say the death could have been drug related.

"Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed," police spokesman Paul Browne
told CNN.

Heath Ledger portrayed minuteman son of Mel Gibson in 'The Patriot'
(Columbia Pictures)

"This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed
yet."

The pills appeared to be over-the-counter sleeping medication, said police
spokeswoman Barbara Chen.

The actor had a two-year-old daughter, Matilda, with former fiancee
Michelle Williams. The couple, who had lived in Brooklyn, split up last
year.

Ledger played the eldest son in "The Patriot," the innocent but brave
fair-haired boy-man who struggles for justice among his fellow southern
colonialists.

Brokeback Mountain," the story of two homosexual cowboys, was called
"groundbreaking" by homosexual activists for the amount of "gay" sex shown
on screen.

Ledger was born in 1979 in Perth, Australia. His acting career began at age
10 when he played Peter Pan at a local theater company. At 16 he began
acting in independent films in Sydney. He move to Los Angeles at age 19 and
co-starred in a teen comedy, "10 Things I Hate About You."