Heath Ledger. - Photo: Focus Features image:36855:2::0

Do to the early nature of this breaking news story, little details are currently available regarding the nature of Mr. Ledger's sudden death.

According to TMZ.com Ledger's housekeeper discovered the actor dead in his Manhattan apartment in SoHo.

Ledger was set to play the Joker in the upcoming Batman film "The Dark Knight."

He received an Academy Award nomination for his work in "Brokeback Mountain."

Ledger starred in The Patriot, Monster's Ball, A Knight's Tale, Ned Kelly, The Order, and The Brothers Grimm.

In 2001, he won a ShoWest Award for the Male Star of Tomorrow based on his performance in The Patriot, and worldwide release of A Knight's Tale. In 2003, he was named one of Australian GQ's Men of the Year for acting.

In 2005, Ledger received a "Best Actor in a Drama" Golden Globe nomination for his acclaimed performance in Brokeback Mountain, in which he plays Wyoming ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, who has a love affair with aspiring rodeo rider Jack Twist, played by Jake Gyllenhaal. In the New York Times review of the film, critic Stephen Holden wrote:

"Both Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhaal make this anguished love story physically palpable. Mr. Ledger magically and mysteriously disappears beneath the skin of his lean, sinewy character. It is a screen performance, as good as the best of Marlon Brando and Sean Penn."

According to information just recently added to Heath Ledger's Wiki page his body was discovered as follows:

Sewell Chan of The New York Times writes: "At 3:31 p.m., a masseuse arrived at Apartment 5A in the building 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 Mr. Ledger’s bedroom. When no one answered, the housekeeper and the masseuse opened the bedroom and found Mr. Ledger unconscious. They shook him, but he did not respond. They immediately called the authorities. The police said they did not suspect foul play and said they found pills near body."

I'm sure more details will be arriving as the day progresses.

How sad. Another young man in the prime of his life gone at such an early age, and from what has been indicated above, his death may have likely been due to a drug overdose or possible suicide.

Tragic doesn't begin to cover it.