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It will take at least 10 days to pinpoint what killed the 28-year-old, found dead in Manhattan on Tuesday.

It will be at least 10 days and perhaps two weeks before officials can determine what killed actor Heath Ledger, found in a Manhattan apartment on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the New York medical examiner’s office said today.

An autopsy of the 28-year-old Australian actor was inconclusive, Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said in a telephone interview. The additional time is needed to perform toxicology and other tests, she said.

The body is likely to be released sometime today, she said.

Ledger, nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of a cowboy’s tragic homosexual affair in “Brokeback Mountain,” was found lying naked at the foot of his bed in a SoHo apartment that he was renting. Prescription sleeping pills were nearby, police said.

Authorities said they have ruled out force. The tests will determine if Ledger died from a drug overdose.

Ledger’s death prompted the White House to postpone an event to promote an advertising campaign aimed at preventing prescription drug abuse.

President Bush had been scheduled today to make a statement in the Roosevelt Room on the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s television advertisement about preventing prescription drug abuse.

But White House press secretary Dana Perino said it would be put off.

“We thought it would be better to postpone the event rather than run the risk of anyone thinking that we were being opportunistic in highlighting the issue,” she said.

Outside the building where Ledger’s body was found, a memorial to Ledger was growing. Flowers were left on the sidewalk and a cowboy hat, emblematic of his breakthrough role, was placed on the ground, according to televised images.

Born in Perth, the actor made his name in television series and teen movies until he moved to Los Angeles and launched a film career based on character studies. Blessed with classic good looks, Ledger often chose to play against the cliched, romantic type as when he portrayed a heroin addict in “Candy,” or one of a series of Bob Dylans in the film “I’m Not There.”

He will next be seen as the Joker in the upcoming Batman film “The Dark Knight.”

Ledger split last year with Michelle Williams, who played his wife in “Brokeback Mountain.” The two had a daughter, the now 2-year-old Matilda, and had lived together in Brooklyn.

Early today, Williams and Matilda left Trollhattan, Sweden, where the 27-year-old actress had been shooting scenes for the upcoming film “Mammoth,” Martin Stromberg, a spokesman for film production company Memfis Film told the Associated Press.

“She received the news at her hotel late last night,” Stromberg said, adding that he had not spoken to the actress since she had learned of Ledger’s death.

In an interview in November about filming “Dark Knight,” Ledger said that he had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”

“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 sleeping pills, which only worked for an hour.

Speaking in Perth, Ledger’s father called the actor’s death “tragic, untimely and accidental.”

“Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life,” he said in an interview broadcast around the world. “Please now respect our family’s need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately.”

Updated, 6:06 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide or an accidental overdose, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.

The police said they did not suspect foul play. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Police officials initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen. They said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said this afternoon that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” said Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the 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.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006.

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

Mr. Ledger was also cast as The Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” said in the interview.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Thomas J. Lueck and John Sullivan contributed reporting.

HEATH Ledger’s shocking demise is not only a terrible loss for his daughter Matilda, his Perth-based family and his many fans, it also throws into disarray two movies.

Ledger was in production with the next instalment in the Batman series, The Dark Knight, in which he was starring opposite Christian Bale as a macabre joker.

Early photos from the set suggest Ledger was taking the series into a new darker chapter.

Also on Ledger’s slate was the new Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, about a travelling theatre company. It was due to start filming in London shortly.

Ledger was one of Australia’s true international acting stars. His American breakthrough role came with the teen hit 10 Things I Hate About You, but real global respect came with his Oscar nominated turn in the moving gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain.

He met his now ex-partner Michelle Williams on the set of the film. The pair had a baby, Matilda, but broke of their engagement and split recently.

Gossip has since linked him with troubled young actor and party girl Lindsay Lohan.

Ledger had a troubled relationship with the media in his home town of Sydney. Paparazzi photographers squirted Ledger and Williams with water pistols at the premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

He later angrily denied reports he had spat on the photographers.

“It was just silly and unnecessary. It really hurt our feelings and it hurt my feelings to suddenly have a quick title above my name now, that we’re a gang of spitters,” he told the Herald Sun later.

But he said he regretted flicking the finger at photographers.

“Pulling finger signs at photographers, it’s not representing who I am, it’s representing the panic that occurs when you turn around and there’s a camera staring in at you. You see red, or I do.

“I’m a young guy and I’ve grown up with this in the younger years when you’re more passionate and protective and you’re more explosive during that time of your life and it felt like a natural reaction for me.

“I didn’t feel that I was rebelling against anything. Obviously it’s not the most polite way of dealing with things, but I didn’t feel they were being polite. I forget that when I do that I’m not pulling a finger sign at a guy holding a camera, I’m pulling a finger sign in a newspaper that everyone reads.”

Ledger later sold his Sydney dream house, claiming the paparazzi had driven him out, and moved to Brooklyn in New York where he lived with Williams and Matilda before the split.

Ledger can be seen in cinemas now in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There.

Updated, 6:06 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide or an accidental overdose, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.

The police said they did not suspect foul play. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Police officials initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen. They said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said this afternoon that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” said Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the 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.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006.

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

Mr. Ledger was also cast as The Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” said in the interview.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Thomas J. Lueck and John Sullivan contributed reporting.

HEATH Ledger’s shocking demise is not only a terrible loss for his daughter Matilda, his Perth-based family and his many fans, it also throws into disarray two movies.

Ledger was in production with the next instalment in the Batman series, The Dark Knight, in which he was starring opposite Christian Bale as a macabre joker.

Early photos from the set suggest Ledger was taking the series into a new darker chapter.

Also on Ledger’s slate was the new Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, about a travelling theatre company. It was due to start filming in London shortly.

Ledger was one of Australia’s true international acting stars. His American breakthrough role came with the teen hit 10 Things I Hate About You, but real global respect came with his Oscar nominated turn in the moving gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain.

He met his now ex-partner Michelle Williams on the set of the film. The pair had a baby, Matilda, but broke of their engagement and split recently.

Gossip has since linked him with troubled young actor and party girl Lindsay Lohan.

Ledger had a troubled relationship with the media in his home town of Sydney. Paparazzi photographers squirted Ledger and Williams with water pistols at the premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

He later angrily denied reports he had spat on the photographers.

“It was just silly and unnecessary. It really hurt our feelings and it hurt my feelings to suddenly have a quick title above my name now, that we’re a gang of spitters,” he told the Herald Sun later.

But he said he regretted flicking the finger at photographers.

“Pulling finger signs at photographers, it’s not representing who I am, it’s representing the panic that occurs when you turn around and there’s a camera staring in at you. You see red, or I do.

“I’m a young guy and I’ve grown up with this in the younger years when you’re more passionate and protective and you’re more explosive during that time of your life and it felt like a natural reaction for me.

“I didn’t feel that I was rebelling against anything. Obviously it’s not the most polite way of dealing with things, but I didn’t feel they were being polite. I forget that when I do that I’m not pulling a finger sign at a guy holding a camera, I’m pulling a finger sign in a newspaper that everyone reads.”

Ledger later sold his Sydney dream house, claiming the paparazzi had driven him out, and moved to Brooklyn in New York where he lived with Williams and Matilda before the split.

Ledger can be seen in cinemas now in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There.

Updated, 6:06 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide or an accidental overdose, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.

The police said they did not suspect foul play. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Police officials initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen. They said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said this afternoon that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” said Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the 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.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006.

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

Mr. Ledger was also cast as The Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” said in the interview.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Thomas J. Lueck and John Sullivan contributed reporting.

HEATH Ledger’s shocking demise is not only a terrible loss for his daughter Matilda, his Perth-based family and his many fans, it also throws into disarray two movies.

Ledger was in production with the next instalment in the Batman series, The Dark Knight, in which he was starring opposite Christian Bale as a macabre joker.

Early photos from the set suggest Ledger was taking the series into a new darker chapter.

Also on Ledger’s slate was the new Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, about a travelling theatre company. It was due to start filming in London shortly.

Ledger was one of Australia’s true international acting stars. His American breakthrough role came with the teen hit 10 Things I Hate About You, but real global respect came with his Oscar nominated turn in the moving gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain.

He met his now ex-partner Michelle Williams on the set of the film. The pair had a baby, Matilda, but broke of their engagement and split recently.

Gossip has since linked him with troubled young actor and party girl Lindsay Lohan.

Ledger had a troubled relationship with the media in his home town of Sydney. Paparazzi photographers squirted Ledger and Williams with water pistols at the premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

He later angrily denied reports he had spat on the photographers.

“It was just silly and unnecessary. It really hurt our feelings and it hurt my feelings to suddenly have a quick title above my name now, that we’re a gang of spitters,” he told the Herald Sun later.

But he said he regretted flicking the finger at photographers.

“Pulling finger signs at photographers, it’s not representing who I am, it’s representing the panic that occurs when you turn around and there’s a camera staring in at you. You see red, or I do.

“I’m a young guy and I’ve grown up with this in the younger years when you’re more passionate and protective and you’re more explosive during that time of your life and it felt like a natural reaction for me.

“I didn’t feel that I was rebelling against anything. Obviously it’s not the most polite way of dealing with things, but I didn’t feel they were being polite. I forget that when I do that I’m not pulling a finger sign at a guy holding a camera, I’m pulling a finger sign in a newspaper that everyone reads.”

Ledger later sold his Sydney dream house, claiming the paparazzi had driven him out, and moved to Brooklyn in New York where he lived with Williams and Matilda before the split.

Ledger can be seen in cinemas now in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There.

Updated, 6:06 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide or an accidental overdose, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.

The police said they did not suspect foul play. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Police officials initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen. They said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said this afternoon that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” said Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the 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.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006.

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

Mr. Ledger was also cast as The Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” said in the interview.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Thomas J. Lueck and John Sullivan contributed reporting.

HEATH Ledger’s shocking demise is not only a terrible loss for his daughter Matilda, his Perth-based family and his many fans, it also throws into disarray two movies.

Ledger was in production with the next instalment in the Batman series, The Dark Knight, in which he was starring opposite Christian Bale as a macabre joker.

Early photos from the set suggest Ledger was taking the series into a new darker chapter.

Also on Ledger’s slate was the new Terry Gilliam film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, about a travelling theatre company. It was due to start filming in London shortly.

Ledger was one of Australia’s true international acting stars. His American breakthrough role came with the teen hit 10 Things I Hate About You, but real global respect came with his Oscar nominated turn in the moving gay cowboy drama Brokeback Mountain.

He met his now ex-partner Michelle Williams on the set of the film. The pair had a baby, Matilda, but broke of their engagement and split recently.

Gossip has since linked him with troubled young actor and party girl Lindsay Lohan.

Ledger had a troubled relationship with the media in his home town of Sydney. Paparazzi photographers squirted Ledger and Williams with water pistols at the premiere of Brokeback Mountain.

He later angrily denied reports he had spat on the photographers.

“It was just silly and unnecessary. It really hurt our feelings and it hurt my feelings to suddenly have a quick title above my name now, that we’re a gang of spitters,” he told the Herald Sun later.

But he said he regretted flicking the finger at photographers.

“Pulling finger signs at photographers, it’s not representing who I am, it’s representing the panic that occurs when you turn around and there’s a camera staring in at you. You see red, or I do.

“I’m a young guy and I’ve grown up with this in the younger years when you’re more passionate and protective and you’re more explosive during that time of your life and it felt like a natural reaction for me.

“I didn’t feel that I was rebelling against anything. Obviously it’s not the most polite way of dealing with things, but I didn’t feel they were being polite. I forget that when I do that I’m not pulling a finger sign at a guy holding a camera, I’m pulling a finger sign in a newspaper that everyone reads.”

Ledger later sold his Sydney dream house, claiming the paparazzi had driven him out, and moved to Brooklyn in New York where he lived with Williams and Matilda before the split.

Ledger can be seen in cinemas now in the Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There.

Updated, 6:06 p.m. | The actor Heath Ledger was found dead this afternoon in an apartment in Manhattan, according to the New York City police. Signs pointed to a suicide or an accidental overdose, police sources said. Mr. Ledger was 28.

At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived the fourth-floor apartment of the building, at 421 Broome Street in SoHo, for an appointment with Mr. Ledger, the police said. The masseuse was let in to the home by a housekeeper, who then knocked on the door of the bedroom Mr. Ledger was in. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger naked and unconscious on a bed, with sleeping pills — both prescription medication and nonprescription — on a night table. They moved his body to the floor and attempted to revive him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities.

The police said they did not suspect foul play. Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the office of the city’s chief medical examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, said that employees of the office were at the apartment and that an autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday.

Police officials initially said that the apartment was owned by the actress Mary-Kate Olsen. They said they believed Ms. Olsen, 21, was in California and that Mr. Ledger had been living in her apartment. Ms. Olsen attended the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, for the premiere of “The Wackness,” a film in which she stars with the actor Ben Kingsley. It was not clear where she went after the film screening.

A representative of Ms. Olsen said this afternoon that the apartment did not belong to the actress. “It is not her apartment,” said Annette Wolf, a publicist for Ms. Olsen. “She does not own the apartment. She has never owned the apartment. She and her sister have an apartment in New York City but they are not in this building.”

Mr. Ledger, a native of Perth, Australia, won acclaim for his role as a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain” (2005). The film, based on a short story by Annie Proulx about two cowboys who fall in love, won critical acclaim. Reviewing the film in The New York Times, the 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.” Mr. Ledger was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor in January 2006.

Mr. Ledger met the actress Michelle Williams while filming ‘’Brokeback Mountain.” The two actors fell into a romance and moved to Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, where their comings and goings were widely noted by the celebrity press. They had a daughter, Matilda Rose, who was born on Oct. 28, 2005. The couple separated last year.

Mr. Ledger’s first Hollywood film was the teenage romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You” (1999). He later appeared in romantic-hero roles in films like “A Knight’s Tale” (2001) and “Casanova” (2005).

Mr. Ledger was also cast as The Joker in the latest Batman installment, “The Dark Knight,” set to be released this summer.

In an interview in London for an article published in November, Mr. Ledger told The New York Times, ‘’I feel like I’m wasting time if I repeat myself.” He said in the interview that he was not proud of his latest role, in Todd Haynes’s “I’m Not There,” in which Mr. Ledger was one of a half-dozen actors depicting the musician Bob Dylan. ‘’I feel the same way about everything I do. The day I say, ‘It’s good’ is the day I should start doing something else,” said in the interview.

As news of Mr. Ledger’s death made its way across the Internet, the Police Department issued a fairly terse summary of the death: “ON TUESDAY, 01/22/08, AT APPROXIMATELY 1530 HOURS, IN THE CONFINES OF THE 5 PRECINCT, POLICE RESPONDED TO 421 BROOME STREET AND FOUND A M/W/28 UNCONSCIOUS. THE VICTIM WAS PRONOUNCED DOA AT THE SCENE. M.E.’S OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. INVESTIGATION CONTINUES.”

Calls by The Times to Mara Buxbaum, a publicist for Mr. Ledger, and Steve Alexander, the actor’s agent, were not immediately returned this afternoon.

Thomas J. Lueck and John Sullivan contributed reporting.