Ledger's Death Caused By Accidental Overdose

Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription medications including painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills, the New York City medical examiner's office said Wednesday.

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a short statement.

"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

Hydrocodone and oxycodone are painkillers. Diazepam is an anti-anxiety drug commonly sold under the brand name Valium; alprazolam is also an anti-anxiety drug sold under such names as Xanax. Temazepam, sold under such names as Restoril and Euhypnos, is a sleeping agent. Doxylamine, an antihistamine, can be obtained over the counter as a sleep aid.

Ledger died January 22 at an apartment in Lower Manhattan. The Oscar-nominated Australian actor, best known for his role as a stoic, closeted cowboy in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," was 28.


Police reported finding several prescription medications in the room but no illegal drugs.

CNN has learned the Drug Enforcement Administration has requested the toxicology and prescription records related to Ledger's death. The DEA requested the records Wednesday from the New York Police Department and the medical examiner's office after the release of the report detailing the cause of death, according to a law enforcement source who asked not to be identified by name or agency because the request concerns an active investigation.

The DEA confirmed it will look into anything suspicious concerning Ledger's death. "We will investigate any leads in respect to this," DEA spokesman Garrison Courtney said while declining to provide any specifics. "In any case, we look to see whether prescription drugs were illegally obtained or whether it was through proper channels."

An autopsy done on the actor January 23 was inconclusive

In a statement released through Ledger's publicist, Ledger's father, Kim, said Wednesday: "While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy. Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage."

The family added, "Families rarely experience the uplifting, warm and massive outpouring of grief and support as have we, from every corner of the planet. This has deeply and profoundly touched our hearts and lives. We are eternally grateful."

Ledger had talked about his difficulty sleeping after back-to-back roles as a Bob Dylan figure in "I'm Not There" and the Joker in "The Dark Knight," part of the "Batman" series that is due out this summer.

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told The New York Times in November. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going."

In the hours leading up to Ledger's death two weeks ago, a housekeeper, identified as Teresa Solomon, arrived at the apartment about 12:30 p.m., a police source with knowledge of the investigation said.

She saw Ledger lying on a bed face down with a sheet pulled up around his shoulders and heard him snoring, the source said.

Masseuse Diana Wolozin arrived at the apartment about 2:45 p.m. to give Ledger a massage, according to the police source. About 15 minutes later, when he had not come out of the bedroom and the door remained closed, she went in, saw him lying in bed and set up a massage table.

She shook Ledger, but he did not respond, so she used his cell phone to call actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's, in California, the source said.

Wolozin told Olsen that Ledger was unconscious, according to the police source.

Olsen reportedly told her that she would call private security people in New York.

At 3:26 p.m., Wolozin called 911 and told authorities Ledger was not breathing. While on the phone with dispatchers, Wolozin tried to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Ledger, but he was unresponsive.

Emergency personnel arrived seven minutes later, according to the police source, at about the same time as a private security person summoned by Olsen.

The medical technicians performed CPR on Ledger and used a cardiac defibrillator, but their efforts were in vain and he was pronounced dead at 3:36 p.m. By then, two other private security people summoned by Olsen had arrived as well as police.

His former fiancée, actress Michelle Williams, has asked the public to respect the need for her, the couple's 2-year-old daughter, Matilda, and others "to grieve privately."

"My heart is broken," Williams said in a statement issued last week via her publicist. "I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day. His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up in the best memories of him."

Condolences poured in from Ledger's friends and co-stars.

"He was a wonderful guy, he was a wonderful actor, he had a wonderful future ahead of him, and I liked him," said actor Eric Roberts, who worked with Ledger in "The Dark Knight."

Colleagues on Terry Gilliam's film "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which Ledger had been shooting in England, said the actor apparently had been suffering from a respiratory ailment in the days before he died.

Christopher Plummer told Entertainment Weekly that Ledger had a "terrible, lingering bug in London, and he couldn't sleep at all. We all -- I thought he'd probably got walking pneumonia."

Ledger's first American film was the teen comedy "10 Things I Hate About You" in 1999. He passed up several scripts before taking a role in the Revolutionary War drama "The Patriot" in 2000 and "A Knight's Tale" in 2001. He also played a supporting role in "Monster's Ball."

But Ledger was perhaps best known for his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain," Ang Lee's film about two cowboys who had a secret romantic relationship. The role earned Ledger a best actor Oscar nomination.

Ledger's ex-fiancee 'heartbroken'

Actor Heath Ledger's former partner Michelle Williams has spoken publicly for the first time since the star's death, saying: "My heart is broken."
In a short statement, she said: "Please respect our need to grieve privately."

Williams, an actress, met Ledger on the set of their film Brokeback Mountain and the couple had a daughter, Matilda, who is now two.

But the pair split up last September. Australian star Ledger died in New York in January at the age of 28.

Results of the toxicology tests, which will determine the cause of his death, are expected in the coming days.

His body has been flown home to Australia for a private burial. A public memorial service has been planned in Los Angeles.

The statement from Williams comes after a video of Ledger at a Hollywood party, in which he said he used to smoke cannabis, was pulled from US TV "out of respect" for the late actor's family.

Movie Star Heath Ledger Is Dead

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a residence in Manhattan.

"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," the New York Police Department said, adding that pills were found near the body.

Police are reportedly investigating if the Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain, died of a drug overdose.

Father Kim Ledger said that the death of his 28-year-old "dearly loved son" had been "tragic" and "accidental".

Speaking in the actor's home town of Perth, in Western Australia, Mr Ledger said that his son had been a "down to earth, generous, kind hearted, life-loving, unselfish individual".

"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life that few had the pleasure of truly knowing him."

The 28-year-old was found dead in the flat at 1526 (2026 GMT) on Tuesday.



Split

New York police said they did not suspect foul play and that his body had been discovered surrounded by pills.

"We are investigating the possibility of an overdose," police spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters news agency. "There were pills within the vicinity of the bed."

The BBC's Matthew Price in New York says the exact cause of death was still being investigated, but suicide has not been ruled out.

Police, journalists and crowds of fans are outside the Broome Street apartment in the fashionable SoHo area.

Investigators said Ledger had been due to have a massage at the flat.

The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon.

The medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be carried out on Wednesday.

In September the Perth-born actor split from his girlfriend Michelle Williams, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

Williams played his wife in the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.



Hollywood mourning

Hollywood's hierarchy were quick to offer their tributes and mourn Ledger's death.

I had such great hope for him," said Oscar-winning actor-director Mel Gibson. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."

In 2001, Mr Gibson had cast Ledger to play his son in the American war of independence epic, The Patriot.

"What a terrible tragedy. My heart goes out to his family," said fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

American actor John Travolta, who was in Australia at the time of Ledger's death, said the young actor had been one of his favourite performers.

"His abilities are rare...it's a tremendous loss," said Mr Travolta.



Brokeback breakthrough

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee said Ledger's performance had been a "miracle" of acting, echoing a young Marlon Brando.

He won an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in the film but the award went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as Truman Capote.

Ledger starred in I'm Not There, as one of several actors in a role representing singer Bob Dylan.

He also plays the Joker in yet-to-be-released Batman film, The Dark Knight.

Ledger also starred in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot, and played a suicidal son in Monster's Ball.