The DailySkew

In Perth, his home town, Ledger's father Kim read out a statement in which he insisted the death was an accident.

Surrounded by his ex-wife Sally and their sobbing daughter Kate, he said: "We confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda."

He went on to describe his son as "a down-to-earth, generous, kind-hearted, life-loving and selfless individual who was extremely inspirational to many."
Kim continued: "Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life that few had the pleasure of truly knowing him."

"I last spoke to him the night before he died. He said he could not see me that night but really wanted to meet me the next day. He made me promise that I would call him in the morning and wake him up. I tried. Little did I know that his soul had already left his body," Film director Shekhar Kapur said.

He added: "He was one of the most gentle, most honest, most caring, and most compassionate persons I had met."

There are claims the strain of playing the Joker in the new Batman film may have proved too much for the star – in a recent interview, he told how the role of a "murderous psychopath" had left him "sleepless and exhausted". He is also said to have recently suffered pneumonia.

Ledger's ex-fiancée Michelle Williams and their two year old daughter Matilda flew from a film set in Sweden to their home in Brooklyn following tragedy.

"You can't begin to imagine the state she's in," an executive on the film told the Mail Online.

Her father Larry Williams said: "It has just broken everybody's heart in my family. I think Tennyson got it right in the poem he described someone as having died at a young age but burning the candles at both ends. And oh what a beautiful flame he made. That was Heath."

He said Ledger was devoted to the couple's daughter.

"The saddest thing is his daughter whom he just loved dearly. The Tennyson poem is just so true. His years were few but he left a beautiful legacy."

"Heath was shattered by his split from Michelle," the source told Mail Online, adding: "He became a recluse. He barely slept he was dealing with terrible mood swings."

Ledger spent the past several months mourning the loss of his relationship with Williams and friends say he had become an introvert, who was headed in a downward spiral.

"Heath totally wanted to be on his own these past few months since he and Michelle split in September," says a source. "She was very much in love with him, but the fact he continued to dabble in drugs kept their relationship from being one she could rely on.

"Heath was shattered by his split from Michelle," the source told Mail Online, adding: "He became a recluse. He barely slept he was dealing with terrible mood swings."

Ledger spent the past several months mourning the loss of his relationship with Williams and friends say he had become an introvert, who was headed in a downward spiral.

"Heath totally wanted to be on his own these past few months since he and Michelle split in September," says a source. "She was very much in love with him, but the fact he continued to dabble in drugs kept their relationship from being one she could rely on.

"Now poor little Matty is left without a father, and Heath has died a senseless death.

"He had so much to live for and he was so talented. He was working on a new film, and he had everything in life to live for. Now, tragically, he has thrown it all away at just 28."