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Heath Ledger found dead in NYC apartment
Authorities say Oscar-nominated actor's death possibly drug related
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services
updated 4:32 p.m. CT, Tues., Jan. 22, 2008
NEW YORK - Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday in a Manhattan apartment in a possible drug-related death, police said. He was 28.
According to the New York Times, Ledger was found naked and unconscious with pills strewn all around him in an apartment owned by actress Mary-Kate Olsen.
NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the apartment. The housekeeper, who went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there, found him unconscious at approximately 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the New York Times. After receiving no response from the actor after shaking him, they called authorities.
We are investigating the possibility of an overdose, Browne said. There were pills within the vicinity of the bed.
The Australian-born actor was nominated for an Oscar for Brokeback Mountain, where he met his wife, actress Michelle Williams, in 2005. Ledger and Williams had lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, until they split up last year.
Ledger was to appear as the Joker this year in The Dark Knight, a sequel to 2005s Batman Begins. Hes had starring roles in A Knights Tale and The Patriot, and played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in Monsters Ball.
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 costarred in 10 Things I Hate About You, a teen comedy reworking of The Taming of the Shrew.
Offers for other teen flicks came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he didnt like.
It wasnt 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, Youre crazy, my parents were like, Come on, you have to eat.
His latest role was in Im Not There, in which he played one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned an Oscar nomination Tuesday for best supporting actress.
? 2008 MSNBC Interactive
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