Heath Ledger found dead

Actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at an apartment in Manhattan. He was 28.

According to the New York Police Department, Ledger was found shortly after 3:30pm Eastern time by his housekeeper, who had gone to inform him that a masseuse had arrived for a previously scheduled appointment. Paramedics attended the apartment but were unable to revive him, and Ledger was pronounced dead at the scene.

A spokesperson for the NYPD said: "Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed. This is being looked at as a possible overdose."

The NYPD is understood not to be treating the matter as suspicious, and an autopsy has been scheduled for Wednesday.

Ledger was born in Perth in 1979 and became an actor at the age of 16. He made his film acting debut in the 1997 film Blackrock, and went on to take leading roles in productions such as The Patriot, A Knight's Tale, and Brokeback Mountain. It was on the set of Brokeback that he met actress Michelle Williams, with whom he had a daughter, Matilda Rose, in 2005. The couple split last year.

Ledger was recently filming for his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight, this year's sequel to Batman Begins.