An actor nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 2005 film “Brokeback Mountain,” Heath Ledger, was found dead in a SoHo apartment yesterday afternoon, police officials said.

A spokesman for the police department, Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne, said a housekeeper found Ledger’s naked body lying face-down on a bed in an apartment at 421 Broome St. shortly before 3:30 p.m. The body was surrounded by an unknown quantity of pills that police officials said appeared to be a mix of prescription and nonprescription sleeping aids.

According to police, the 28-year-old Australian actor had scheduled a massage for that afternoon. When he did not appear for his appointment, the housekeeper and the masseuse went to his bedroom to wake him. They found him unresponsive, and police were called.
Ledger was pronounced dead at 3:45 p.m.

The darkened windows of the loft building were lit by camera spotlights as a horde of close to 300 reporters, fans, and onlookers gathered in SoHo yesterday evening. Detectives filed in and out of the building throughout the night, as did several building residents, some of whom shielded their faces.

Police had to erect metal barriers to push back the crowd in order to remove the body from the building at about 6:45 p.m. In a flash of cameras, the black body bag was rolled out on a stretcher and driven away in a medical examiner’s van. Most of the crowd then dispersed.

A group of New York University students said they had rushed from their dorm room to the scene when they heard the news.

“We were, like, screaming in our room,” Emily Yang, 20, of Maryland, said.

Police said the medical examiner would determine the cause of death, but said they did not have indications that it was a suicide.

“We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this accident,” a statement Ledger’s publicist, Mara Buxbaum, released to the Associated Press said. “This is an extremely difficult time for his loved ones and we are asking the media to please respect the family’s privacy and avoid speculation until the facts are known.”

Police said Ledger resided in the apartment where he was found. The apartment encompassed the entire fourth floor, and police could not confirm if he lived there with someone else besides the housekeeper.

Last year, Ledger went through a high-profile breakup with actress Michelle Williams, a co-star in “Brokeback Mountain.” The two met on the set of the movie and later had a daughter, Matilda, 2. Ledger had been living in Brooklyn until the break-up.

Celebrity press outlets have posted news items about Ledger walking through SoHo with his daughter.

In recent interviews, Ledger had talked about his stress and fatigue after playing several difficult roles. He had also talked about needing to take sleeping pills, which he said wore off after only a few hours.

In his Oscar-nominated role in “Brokeback Mountain,” he played a gay cowboy. Most recently, he portrayed Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There.” He plays the Joker in the sequel to “Batman Begins,” which is to be released.

Of his experience playing the Bob Dylan role, he told the New York Times in a November interview: “I stressed out a little too much.”

He also talked about his sleeping problems in the interview, describing a recent night in which a sleeping pill failed to help him relax: “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.”

Details on memorial and funeral arrangements were not available by press time last night.