IT'S OFFICIAL ... LEDGER DIED OF OVERDOSE

"The Dark Knight" actor Heath Ledger died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, the New York City medical examiner's office has ruled.

In January, the 28 year-old thespian was found dead at an apartment he had been renting for several months in Manhattan.

A spokeswoman for the medical examiner said Ledger died "as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects" of six different drugs.

They include painkiller Oxycontin and anti-anxiety drugs Valium and Xanax.

Last week, his former partner Michelle Williams spoke publicly for the first time since the star's death, saying: "My heart is broken."

The pair met on the set of their film Brokeback Mountain.

The couple, who had a daughter Matilda, now two, split up last September.

He'll portray The Joker in "The Dark Knight" film, to be released this summer.

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SHADES OF ABUSE OR HARMLESS SLEEP AIDS?

The tragic death of actor Heath Ledger has rocked Hollywood and already there's all sorts of speculation running rampant about the nature of why he used sleeping pills.

First, there's this recent article in The New York Times published just two months ago...

“I stressed out a little too much,” Mr. Ledger said.

He tends to do that. He is here in London filming the latest episode of the “Batman”franchise, “The Dark Knight.” (Mr. Bale, as it happens, plays Batman; Mr. Ledger plays the Joker.) It is a physically and mentally draining role — his Joker is a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy” he said cheerfully — and, as often happens when he throws himself into a part, he is not sleeping much.

“Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night,” he said. “I couldn’t stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going.” One night he took an Ambien, which failed to work. He took a second one and fell into a stupor, only to wake up an hour later, his mind still racing.

Even as he spoke, Mr. Ledger was hard-pressed to keep still. He got up and poured more coffee. He stepped outside into the courtyard and smoked a cigarette. He shook his hair out from under its hood, put a rubber band around it, took out the rubber band, put on a hat, took off the hat, put the hood back up. He went outside and had another cigarette. Polite and charming, he nonetheless gave off the sense that the last thing he wanted to do was delve deep into himself for public consumption. “It can be a little distressing to have to overintellectualize yourself,” is how he put it, a little apologetically.

There's also this disturbing interview video that shows Ledger either simply uncomfortable or possibly under the influence of something. I've seen my fair share of video interviews from press junkets and making-of documentaries and I've never seen anyone twitch about like this.

Whatever the case, it's certainly sad... He'll be missed.

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