Actor Heath Ledger, 28, who won acclaim for his role as a co-star in 2005's gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain, has been found dead in his New York City apartment, the NYPD confirms. Heath Ledger The New York Times reports that a masseuse arrived at Ledger's apartment for a scheduled appointment and was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom, finding Ledger unconscious - they shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. New York Police say they found sleeping medication near Ledger's body and do not suspect foul play. Ledger played a gay cyclist in the Australian TV series Sweat, but won global critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for his role as Ennis del Mar in the film Brokeback Mountain, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the critic Stephen Holden wrote, " Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a great screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn."
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 23rd January 2008 - 11:11am