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Australian born actor Heath Ledger, 28, has been found dead in his Greenwich Village apartment in Manhattan, New York this afternoon at 3.30pm when a masseuse called at his home for an appointment.

The police say that foul play is not suspected but pills were found by his bed side.

Ledger was the star of Brokeback Mountain in which he starred with Jake Gyllenhaal and the movie which gained him great notoriety in Hollywood and glowing reviews among them The New York Times critic Stephen Holden wrote, “Mr. 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.”

Heath has been involved with actress Michelle Williams with whom he has a 2 year old daughter and was due to begin filming on the new Batman movie this year in which he had landed the role of The Joker.

ABB