CANBERRA (Reuters) - The death of Heath Ledger was a tragic accident, his Australian family said on Wednesday after the actor was found dead at his New York apartment.



"We, Heath's family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda," his father Kim said, reading from a statement outside the family home in Perth, in Western Australia.

Ledger, the gifted leading man acclaimed for his role as a gay cowboy in the film "Brokeback Mountain", was found face down and naked at the foot of the bed after what police said was a possible drug overdose. A autopsy is to be conducted.

Ledger's mother Sally and sister Kate gathered with Kim Ledger at the family's suburban home and said they wanted to be left to grieve in private.

"We would like to thank our friends and everyone around the world for their well wishes and kind thoughts at this time," Kim Ledger said. "Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life that few had the pleasure of truly knowing him."

People and neighbours left flowers and cards outside the house where Ledger spent much of December and January on holiday, visiting friends in his birth city.

The masseuse who found actor Heath Ledger dead in his New York apartment made two calls to actress Mary-Kate Olsen before calling the emergency services, authorities have said.

Diana Wolozin told police she first called Olsen, a friend of Ledger's whose number was in his mobile phone, for advice when she thought the 28-year-old actor was unconscious.

But when she realised he may be dead she called Olsen again, and then called for an ambulance.

Ledger had six different types of drugs, including sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication, inside his apartment but post-mortem results have so far proved inconclusive, authorities said.

Police believe the Australian actor probably died between 1pm and 2.45pm (local time) on Tuesday.

At 1pm, his housekeeper Teresa Solomon went into his bedroom to change a light bulb, saw him sleeping and heard him snoring.

At 2.45pm, massage therapist Ms Wolozin arrived for Ledger's appointment, knocked on his door and got no answer so tried to call his mobile phone but again got no response.

She reportedly went into the bedroom, set up her massage table and again tried to wake Ledger.

Ms Wolozin told police Ledger was cold to the touch, but that she assumed he was just unconscious.

She used his mobile phone to call Olsen, whose number was programmed into the phone, because she knew they were friends.

Olsen, who also lives in Manhattan but was in California at the time, said she would send over her private security.

In the moments that followed, Ms Wolozin realised Ledger might be dead and called Olsen again before then phoning for an ambulance.

The emergency operator provided Ms Wolozin with directions on how to do resuscitation, but it was too late.

Paramedics arrived minutes later - at about the same time as Olsen's security team.

New York Police Department commissioner Ray Kelly said a rolled-up 20 dollar (£10) note was also found near Ledger's body, but no illegal drugs were discovered in the apartment.

Ledger was filming in London last weekend and police sources said three of the six drugs, which included sleeping pills, anti-anxiety tablets and an anti-histamine, were prescribed in Europe.

The pills were found near his body and Ledger recently admitted taking the prescription drug Ambien to combat insomnia.

According to unconfirmed reports in the US, the actor had also been suffering from pneumonia.

The US medical examiner's office said further tests were needed to establish the cause of death, and could take around 10 days.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The family of Heath Ledger was due to hold a private memorial in New York on Friday to mourn the 28-year-old Australian actor who died under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday, Australia's foreign minister said.

A public remembrance has also been proposed for Los Angeles in the coming days, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told reporters in New York where he was visiting the United Nations.

"I understand there's a private memorial service today for family members. I also understand it's proposed there will be a public memorial service in Los Angeles later this week," Smith said, adding that Australian consular officials have offered to help the family repatriate the body.

He provided no details of a Los Angeles memorial, and said any tributes in Australia would be up to the family.

"Certainly in Australia, in my own home town of Perth (where Ledger was from), there's been public expressions of grief and sadness at the passing of Heath," Smith said.

Ledger's father Kim was expected to claim the body on Friday, the New York Daily News said, citing a funeral director.

"He wants to be with his son," Dominic Carella, director of New York City's Frank E. Campbell funeral home where Ledger's body was taken, told the Daily News.

'OLD SOUL'

Kim Ledger and actress Michelle Williams, the mother of Ledger's 2-year-old daughter Matilda, were among those expected at a private viewing on Friday, the paper said.

Williams starred with Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain," the 2005 film for which the actor received an Oscar nomination for his powerful portrayal of a gay cowboy.

The couple split up last September and Ledger moved to an apartment in the SoHo area of Manhattan where his naked body was found on Tuesday, face down under the covers of his bed with sleeping pills and other prescription medication nearby.

Police said there was no suicide note, no illegal drugs and no evidence of foul play. An autopsy conducted on Wednesday proved inconclusive and further test results were expected within two weeks.

In a newspaper death notice published in Australia, Ledger's family called him an "old soul in a young man's body." Kim Ledger said "We were one, in soul and commitment, just ... father and son," and sister Kate said: "We were the ultimate soul mates."

Ledger's body was discovered by a masseuse who went to his apartment for an appointment. The masseuse called Hollywood actress Mary-Kate Olsen, a friend of Ledger's. She summoned private security guards, who arrived at the same time as emergency services.

"Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time," Olsen said in a statement released to People magazine.

Ledger told The New York Times in November he had trouble sleeping due to the stress of his work on two recent films and was taking sleeping pills.

Close friend and model Sophie Ward, whose supermodel sister Gemma Ward was romantically linked by the media to Ledger, told Australian media that Ledger was edgy and anxious during his Christmas holidays in Perth about not seeing his daughter.

"He was clean and wasn't drinking any alcohol or taking drugs," Ward told The West Australian newspaper on Thursday.

Hollywood actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of six different types of prescription drugs, New York authorities have revealed.
The Brokeback Mountain actor, 28, was found dead in January in an apartment he had been renting in Manhattan.

The city medical examiner's spokeswoman said Ledger died "as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects" of the different drugs.

They include painkiller Oxycontin and anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax.

Spokeswoman Ellen Borakove said: "What you're looking at here is the cumulative effects of these medications together."

Traces of painkiller ibuprofen and sleeping pills, Restoril and Unisom, were also found in Ledger's blood.

Ledger's father Kim said: "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."

Some of the prescription drugs were found near his body when it was discovered by his masseuse after she arrived for an appointment.

Ledger's body has been flown home to Australia for a private burial - expected to take place in his home town of Perth this weekend. A public memorial service is also planned in Los Angeles.

Film suspended

Last week, his former partner Michelle Williams spoke publicly for the first time since the star's death, saying: "My heart is broken."

The pair met on the set of Brokeback Mountain, in which Williams played Ledger's wife.


Ledger's performance in Brokeback Mountain earned him an Oscar nod

The couple, who had a daughter Matilda, now two, split up last September.

The makers of Ledger's most recent film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - directed by Terry Gilliam - have suspended production.

Ledger had completed filming in London just before his death.

The star also plays The Joker in yet-to-be-released Batman film The Dark Knight.

Also last week, US TV shows Entertainment Tonight and The Insider pulled a video they had planned to show of Ledger at a Hollywood party saying he used to smoke cannabis.

The star is apparently heard saying he "used to smoke five joints a day for 20 years".

The shows released a statement saying the footage, believed to be have been recorded in January 2006, would not be shown.