[b][color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]NEW YORK (CNN)[/font][/color][/b][color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial] -- Actor Heath Ledger was found dead Tuesday of a possible drug overdose in a Lower Manhattan apartment, the New York Police Department said.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=#666666][font:8e6f=Arial]Heath Ledger was unresponsive when a housekeeper found him in a Manhattan apartment Tuesday.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]
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http://CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html');[/font][/color][color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]The Academy Award-nominated actor was 28.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]Ledger was found naked and unresponsive, facedown on the floor at the foot of his bed by a housekeeper trying to wake him for an appointment with a masseuse, said police spokesman Paul Browne. [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]"Pills were found in the vicinity of the bed," he told CNN.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]"This is being looked at as a possible overdose, but that is not confirmed yet." [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]Browne later told reporters some prescription medications were found in the room, including sleeping pills.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]But he stressed police have made no determination of the cause of Ledger's death -- that would be done by the medical examiner.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]He said the pills were not "scattered about." [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]No note was found and there was no indication of foul play, Browne said. Ledger was found at about 3 p.m., and was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency personnel about 3:30 p.m. [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]A crowd of onlookers, photographers and reporters gathered outside the apartment building after news of Ledger's death was reported. Police officers were guarding the doors. [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]Browne said he did not know how long Ledger had been renting the apartment, which he said took up the entire fourth floor.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]An autopsy would be conducted on Wednesday, said Ellen Borakove, spokeswoman for the New York City medical examiner's office. [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]Ledger's family called his death "very tragic, untimely and accidental." [/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]"Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life, but few had the pleasure of truly knowing him," his father said.[/font][/color]
[color:8e6f=black][font:8e6f=Arial]"He was a down-to-earth, generous, kindhearted, life-loving, unselfish individual extremely inspirational to many."[/font][/color]
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