Six different
types of prescription drugs were found in Heath Ledger's
apartment -- including anti-anxiety medications and sleeping
pills -- though the cause of his death will not be
known for several days after a preliminary autopsy was
inconclusive, authorities said.
A rolled-up $20
bill was also found on the floor near the Australian
actor's bed, but lab tests detected no traces of drug
residue, officials said Wednesday. Police also said no
illegal drugs were found in the apartment.
Among the
prescription medications found were pills to treat insomnia
and anxiety, and an antihistamine, according to two
law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of
anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Three
of the drugs were prescribed in Europe, the sources said.
Ledger had recently been filming in London.
The $20 bill was
found on the floor near Ledger's bed, and New York
police department spokesman Paul Browne said lab tests found
nothing to indicate it had been used to snort drugs.
Ledger was found
dead Tuesday by his housekeeper and a massage therapist
-- lying naked and facedown on his bed, police said. The
pills were found in bottles in Ledger's bedroom and
bathroom, and police said the death was caused by a
possible drug overdose and appeared to be accidental.
Ellen Borakove, a
spokeswoman for the medical examiner's office, said the
autopsy on the 28-year-old actor was inconclusive and that
more would be known in about 10 days, when more tests
were completed.
Police said
Ledger probably died Tuesday between 1 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.
Eastern. At 1 p.m. the housekeeper went into his bedroom to
change a lightbulb, then saw him sleeping and heard
him snoring.
At 2:45 p.m. the
massage therapist showed up for Ledger's appointment,
knocked on his door, and got no answer. She later noticed
Ledger was unconscious and called Mary-Kate Olsen,
whose number was programmed into Ledger's cell phone,
to seek advice.
Olsen said she
would send over her private security. In the ensuing
moments, the massage therapist realized that Ledger might be
dead, and called Olsen again, and then called an
ambulance. Paramedics -- and Olsen's security people
-- arrived minutes later.
News of the death
stunned family, fans, and colleagues.
''Working with
Heath was one of the purest joys of my life,'' said Ang
Lee, who directed Ledger in Brokeback Mountain.
''He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could
have imagined -- a thirst for life, for love and for truth,
and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him
love him. His death is heartbreaking.''
Lee Daniels, who
produced the critically acclaimed Monster's Ball in
which Ledger starred, strongly disputed any notion
that Ledger had a drug problem.
''The definition
of substance abuse is really up to one's perspective,''
Daniels said. ''I didn't see him as a drug addict. I saw him
as someone who enjoyed life. I know drug addicts; he
was not a drug addict.''
He said he saw
Ledger a couple months ago and that he was in great
spirits. ''He was in a good mood, he was in a great
place...he was excited about living in New York.''
Before moving to
Manhattan, Ledger lived in Brooklyn with then-girlfriend
Michelle Williams.
Speaking in
Australia, Ledger's father called the death ''tragic,
untimely, and accidental.''
''Heath has
touched so many people on so many different levels during
his short life,'' Kim Ledger said. ''Please now
respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms
with our loss privately.''
Fans left flowers
and candles Wednesday outside Ledger's apartment in the
upscale SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan on Wednesday. Khaled
Ali, 41, a stage manager for a Broadway show, dropped
off a candle on his way to work, saying he and fellow
cast members were devastated.
''I felt a
connection with him as an actor, as a fellow in the theater
community,'' he said. ''With Brokeback Mountain
he touched me personally in telling the story of my
community. It was very touching.''
Ledger was known
for grueling, intense roles that became his trademark
after he got his start in teen movies like 10
Things I Hate About You. Thereafter, he avoided the
easy path in favor of roles that forced him to bury
his Australian accent and downplay his leading-man
looks: the tormented gay cowboy Ennis Del Mar in
Brokeback Mountain; a drug addict in
Candy; an incarnation of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.
Playing the Joker
in the upcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight may be
his final finished performance.
Ledger split last
year with Williams, who played his wife in Brokeback.
The two had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda.
Williams has now returned to their Brooklyn home
from Trollhattan, Sweden. The 27-year-old actress had been
there shooting scenes for the upcoming film
Mammoth, said Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for
film production company Memfis Film.
''She received
the news at her hotel late last night,'' Stromberg said,
adding he had not spoken to the actress after she learned of
Ledger's death.
The actor's
personal strife was accompanied by professional anxiety. He
said in a November interview that Dark Knight
and I'm Not There took a toll.
''Last week I
probably slept an average of two hours a night,'' Ledger
told The New York Times. ''I couldn't stop
thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still
going.'' He said he took two Ambien pills, which only
worked for an hour.
A day after
Ledger's death, at least six TV satellite trucks were parked
on the block or around the corner from his Manhattan
apartment, with a stream of TV reporters doing their
stand-ups. There were bouquets, letters, and candles
piled in front of the building. (Tom Hays, AP)
