Hollywood actor Heath Ledger has been found dead at a residence in downtown Manhattan.
"He was found unconscious at the apartment and pronounced dead," the New York Police Department said, adding that pills were found near the body.
Police are reportedly investigating if the Australian actor, who earned an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain, died of a drug overdose.
The 28-year-old was found dead in the flat at around 1530 (2030 GMT).
Police said they did not suspect foul play and that his body had been discovered surrounded by pills.
'Pills'
"We are investigating the possibility of an overdose," police spokesman Paul Browne told Reuters news agency. "There were pills within the vicinity of the bed."
The BBC's Matthew Price in New York says the exact cause of death was still being investigated, but suicide has not been ruled out.
Police, journalists and crowds of fans are outside the Broome Street apartment in the fashionable SoHo area.
Investigators said Ledger had been due to have a massage at the flat.
The housekeeper went to tell him the masseuse had arrived and found him dead on Tuesday afternoon.
The medical examiner's office said an autopsy would be carried out on Wednesday.
In September the Perth-born actor split from his girlfriend Michelle Williams, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter, Matilda.
She played his wife in 2005 film Brokeback Mountain.
The film's director Ang Lee said Ledger's performance had been a "miracle" of acting, echoing a young Marlon Brando.
He won an Oscar nomination for his role as a gay cowboy in the film but the award went to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as Truman Capote.
Ledger starred in I'm Not There, as one of several actors in a role representing singer Bob Dylan.
He also plays the Joker in yet-to-be-released Batman film, The Dark Knight.
Ledger also starred in A Knight's Tale and The Patriot, and played a suicidal son in Monster's Ball.
又少個好演員
