Actor Heath Ledger Dead

Breaking, as Matt Drudge would say:

NEW YORK — Oscar-nominated actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a downtown Manhattan residence, police said Tuesday, in what might be a drug-related death.

NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the SoHo apartment that is believed to be his home. A housekeeper went to let Ledger know the masseuse was there, and found him dead at 3:26 p.m, Browne said.

Ledger was found with a bottle of pills next to him, according to an NYPD spokesman.

The Brokeback Mountain star was 28; his next role was scheduled to be as the Joker in the next Batman movie, where presumably (and somewhat reminiscent of Brandon Lee in The Crow), principle photography had already concluded before his death.