NEW YORK:

Heath Ledger, the charismatic actor whose charming smile and edgy talent made him a top Hollywood heartthrob, was found dead in a Manhattan apartment from an apparent suicide.

He was found dead on January 23. Australia-born Ledger, 28, had reportedly been in bad spirits since his October split from actress Michelle Williams, with whom he fathered a baby girl, Matilda, in 2005. He had reportedly been battling a heroin addiction.

“This is terrible, and I’m in shock,” a close friend of Ledger’s told Us magazine. “But to tell you the truth, ... we saw it coming. Heath has gone though a rough road of trying to get sober. His one joy was Matilda. Everything else was misery for him.” Police said that Ledger’s body was found by a housekeeper on the afternoon of January 23, after a masseuse arrived to give him a massage. Police said that foul play was not suspected, and that they found a bottle of pills near his body.

Born in Perth, Australia, he first came to international attention in 1999 in 10 Things I Hate About You. The high point of his career was in Brokeback Mountain, the hit movie for which got Ledger an Oscar nomination. His latest project was in the forthcoming Batman movie The Dark Knight, in which his performance as The Joker has generated considerable buzz. — DPA