Ledger's ex flies to New York with daughter

Heath Ledger's ex-fiancée Michelle Williams is travelling from Sweden to New York with their two-year-old daughter after learning of his death.

The actress, who split with Ledger last September after three years, had just stepped off a plane in the country to start filming new movie Mammoth when she heard the news.

Her father Larry said in a statement: "I think Tennyson got it right in the poem when he described someone as having died at a young age but burning the candles at both ends - and oh, what a beautiful flame he made. That was Heath - what a beautiful flame he made and a great talent."

Williams, who starred in TV show Dawson's Creek, met the actor on the set of 2005 film Brokeback Mountain and gave birth to Matilda Rose in October that year.

Ledger's father Kim read a statement from outside the family home in Perth, saying: "We would like to thank our friends and everyone around the world for their well wishes and kind thoughts at this time. Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him.

"He was a down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and selfless individual who was extremely inspirational to many. Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately."

Hollywood stars have also paid tribute to Ledger, who was found unconscious in his New York apartment.