NEW YORK — Heath Ledger was found dead yesterday in a Manhattan apartment, naked in bed with prescription sleeping pills nearby, police said. The Australian-born actor was 28.

There was no obvious indication of suicide, New York Police Department spokesman Paul Browne said.

Ledger had an appointment for a massage at the SoHo apartment, believed to be his home, Browne said. The massage therapist and a housekeeper found his naked body in the bed at about 3:30 p.m. They tried to revive him, but he was already dead.

"We are all deeply saddened and shocked by this accident," Ledger's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement last night. "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." An autopsy is planned for today.

While not a marquee movie star, Ledger was an award-winning actor who chose his roles carefully rather than cashing in on big-money parts. He was nominated for an Oscar for his performance as a gay cowboy in "Brokeback Mountain," where he met Michelle Williams, who played his wife in the film. The two have a daughter, now 2-year-old Matilda, and lived together in Brooklyn until they split up last year.

Though his leading man looks propelled him to early stardom in films like "10 Things I Hate About You" and "A Knight's Tale," his career took a notable turn toward dramatic and brooding roles with 2001's "Monster's Ball."

"I had such great hope for him," said Mel Gibson, who played the Ledger character's vengeful father in "The Patriot," in a statement. "He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."

"Brokeback" was Ledger's breakthrough role, establishing him as an actor of talent and one willing to take risks.

Ledger then began to gravitate more toward independent fare, including Lasse Hallstrom's "Casanova" and Terry Gilliam's "The Brothers Grimm," both released in 2005. In 2006's "Candy," Ledger played a poet wrestling with a heroin addiction.

Ledger's most recent choices were arguably the boldest: He co-starred in "I'm Not There," as one of the many incarnations of Bob Dylan. And in what may be his final finished performance, Ledger portrayed the iconic Joker.

Ledger's version of the Batman villain, glimpsed in early teaser trailers, is more depraved and darker than Jack Nicholson's.

Curiosity about Ledger's final performance will likely stoke further interest in the summer blockbuster. "Dark Knight" director Christopher Nolan said earlier this month that this Joker "was a very great challenge for Heath. He's extremely original, extremely frightening, tremendously edgy — a very young character, a very anarchic presence that taps into a lot of our basic fears and panic."

Ledger told the New York Times in November that he "stressed out a little too much" during the Dylan film, and had trouble sleeping while portraying the Joker, whom he called a "psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy."

"Last week I probably slept an average of two hours a night," Ledger told the newspaper. "I couldn't stop thinking. My body was exhausted, and my mind was still going." He told the paper he took two Ambien pills, which only worked for an hour.