It would seem that January and February are cursed months for the Hollywood industry, whether we're talking movies or otherwise, and if you thought tragedy doesn't strike the talented, promising generation of young actors, you were woefully wrong. Sadly, the latest proof of this is an even that's not only tragic, but also completely unexpected and therefore even more painful: Heath Ledger, the young, Australian actor who achieved fame with such movies as "A Knight's Tale", "Casanova" and "Brokeback Mountain" was found dead yesterday afternoon at his New York City apartment. There are few details available about the exact cause of his death, but it is widely rumored that it may have been an overdose of sleeping pills, as the police is said to have found two bottles of sleeping aids, one over the counter, the other one prescription, next to his bed.

This is, to the best of our information, how things went down. Heath apparently had an appointment with a masseuse at 3.30 yesterday afternoon. When she arrived at his SoHo apartment, she was let inside by the housekeeper, and they both knocked on the bedroom door. When there was no answer, they opened the door, got inside and tried to wake Heath up. He was apparently lying face down on the bed, naked. When there was no answer, they called 911, and the masseuse apparently also called a bodyguard for the Olsen twins with whom she was friends and who was a trained EMT. The bodyguard arrived about the same time as the police and the paramedics, who found Heath in full cardiac arrest and attempted to resuscitate him - but to no avail. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

This is where fact ends and speculation begins - and we're going to have plenty of that over the next few weeks, that's for sure. There were rumors that the actor had a well-concealed drug habit, that he had pneumonia at the time of his death, and that he tried to kill himself. Heath's family expressed their outrage at the latter theory, and stated that the actor's death was purely accidental. It would seem that the part about Heath having trouble sleeping is true though. This is an article published in the New York Times two months ago, in which Heath talked to the press about his part as the Joker in the latest installment of the Batman franchise - and about how playing such a deeply dark character, devoid of any empathy or conscience had been a haunting affair that had left him unable to rest properly. Stay tuned and we'll keep you up to speed with all the news in this tragic affair. Until then, our condolences go to Heath's family and his two year-old daughter Matilda. May he rest in peace.