Actor Heath Ledger found dead

Actor Heath Ledger was found dead at his downtown Manhattan residence
Australian-born actor Heath Ledger was found dead on Tuesday at a downtown Manhattan residence in what authorities called a possible drug-related death, the New York Police Department said. He was 28.

A police spokesman said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the apartment that is believed to be his home. The housekeeper went to tell Ledger the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon, Paul Browne said.

The medical examiner's office planned an autopsy on Wednesday, spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said.

A crowd of paparazzi and onlookers began gathering Tuesday evening outside the building, where several police officers guarded the door.

Ledger was an Oscar nominee for his role in Brokeback Mountain , where he met actress Michelle Williams, in 2005. The couple lived in Brooklyn and had a daughter, Matilda, but split up last year.

Ledger played the suicidal son of Billy Bob Thornton in Monster's Ball and had starring roles in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot . He was to appear as the Joker this year in The Dark Knight , a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins .

Ledger grew up in Perth and began doing amateur theatre 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 at age 19 and co-starred in 10 Things I Hate About You , a teen comedy reworking of The Taming of the Shrew.

Offers for other teen films came his way, but Ledger turned them down, preferring to remain idle than sign on for projects he did not like.

“It wasn't a hard decision for me,'' Ledger told an agency in 2001. “It was hard for everyone else around me to understand. Agents were like, `You're crazy,' my parents were like, `Come on, you have to eat.'''

His latest role was in I'm Not There , in which he played one of the many incarnations of singer Bob Dylan - as did Cate Blanchett, whose performance in that film earned her an Oscar nomination on Tuesday for best supporting actress.