Heath Ledger was found naked and unconscious in his bed by his maid

Aussie actor Heath Ledger was found naked and unconscious in his bed by his maid, it has been revealed.

The shocked maid, who went into his bedroom after a masseuse arrived for a scheduled appointment, immediately called 911 services and paramedics rushed to the Manhattan apartment.

Once there medics moved his body, which was surrounded by prescription pills, onto the floor where they desperately tried to revive him.

But they were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A police official confirmed there were pill bottles strewn around the apartment but at this stage refused to say if the death was accidental or suicidal.

Ledger's autopsy is due to be performed on Wednesday but last night his family insisted his death was accidental.

A rep for the family contacted US website TMZ.com and said the cops told the family Ledger's death was accidental and there is no evidence to support the buzz that he may have committed suicide.

The family are reportedly 'particularly distraught' over media reports that he may have taken his own life.

The family insists he was not that kind of person and other reports circulating in the US suggested the Batman start was also ill with pneumonia when he died.

Last night as Ledger's body was carried out of the New York apartment in a black body bag and placed in the back of the City of New York Medical Examiner's truck, his former fiance? Michelle Williams was said to be on a plane heading to New York.

Williams, who split from Ledger in September 2007, is 'devastated' over the death of Ledger, who was also the father of her daughter, two year old Matilda Rose.

A source close to the actress said: "Michelle is devastated by the death of her former fiance, Heath Ledger.

"Words cannot describe the pain she is in over the news about the father of her child."

Hollywood celebrities were already paying tribute to Ledger just hours after his death.

Actress Nicole Kidman was the first to pay tribute, calling his death: "A tragedy."

Kidman and Ledger became friends after the actor began dating Kidman's best friend Naomi Watts back in 2002.

The trio, all Australian, began hanging out together after Ledger and Watts met and fell in love on the set of the movie Ned Kelly.

Despite their ten year age difference, the couple were together for nearly two years before they split amid reports Watts was upset by Ledger's wandering eye.

But he stayed in contact with fellow Aussie Kidman who released a statement just two hours after his death.

Kidman said: "What a tragedy. My heart goes out to his family."

And John Travolta also paid tribute to Heath Ledger as he appeared at an event in Australia.

Hairspray star Travolta revealed that Ledger was one of his favourites actors as he attended the Walk on the Wildside: Benefit Dinner for Wildlife Warriors and Australia Plays Broadway event.

Travolta said: ",He is one of my favorite actors. His abilities are rare...it's a tremendous loss.

"It's hard to be here celebrating Australia under these circumstances."

Warner Bros, the movie studio behind the Batman movie set for release this summer in which Ledger is playing The Joker also released a statement.

It read: " The studio is stunned and devastated by this tragic news. The entertainment community has lost an enormous talent.

"Heath was a brilliant actor and an exceptional person. Our hearts go out to his family and friends."_

Hollywood hunk Heath Ledger began acting in his native Australia when he was given a choice at school between cooking or drama classes.

Born in Perth in 1979, the blonde haired star had to choose one of the two compulsory classes - either cooking or drama and as Ledger could honestly not see himself in a cooking class, he tried his hand at drama.

He fell in love with acting and when he was 17, he and a friend, decided to pack up, leave school, take a car and drive across the country to Sydney.

However, upon arriving in Sydney with a reported 69 cents to his name, Heath tried everything to get a break.

His first real acting job came in a low budget movie called Blackrock (1997), a largely unimpressive clich?; a teen angst film about one boy's struggle when he learns his best mate raped a girl.

A succession of small roles followed, including a tiny part in the popular soap Home and Away before he got his big break in a 1999 movie called Two Hands.

Following the acclaim he got for that movie, he was cast in his first US movie - 10 Things I Hate About You opposite Julia Stiles.

After that, it seemed Ledger was being typecast as a teen hunk, which he did not like, so he accepted a role in a very serious war drama The Patriot in 2000 as Mel Gibson's son.

What followed was a stark inconsistency of roles with Ledger accepting virtually every single character role, anything to avoid being typecast.

Some met with praise, like his short role in Monster's Ball (2001), but his version of Ned Kelly with Orlando Bloom in 2003 was an absolute flop.

But it was on this movie set that he met Naomi Watts and even though there was nearly a ten year ag e gap the couple began dating.

Ledger's status as a teen hunk was cemented with his role in A Knight's Tale alongside a huge British cast including James Purefoy, Rufus Sewell and Paul Bettany.

Roles in The Order, Lords of Dogtown and The Brother's Grimm alongside Matt Damon followed but it was his Oscar nominated role as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain that really cemented his success in Hollywood.

That pivotal role also saw him fall in love with co-star Michelle Williams and the couple went on to have a daughter together, Mathilda, whose godfather is his Brokeback Mountain co-star Jake Gyllenhaal, before they split last year.

Since then Ledger has starred opposite Sienna Miller in Casanova and Abbie Cornish in Candy.

But it is the role he just finished filming as The Joker in the latest Batman film opposite Christian Bale that had fans really buzzing as he was the first non American to ever play the role.

Despite his career going from strength to strength Ledger always remained a very private actor.

He rarely gave interviews unless they were connected to the latest movie he was promoting and hated speaking about his private life.

So it would surprise many to know that he is one of seven godparents to Elizabeth Hurley's son Damien or that his parents named him after the main character in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.

He is also of Irish and Scottish ancestry while most of his wardrobe is designed by his best friend Shem.

He also stayed very close to his roots, living with and constantly staying in touch with another friend and mentor, the Aussie actor Martin Henderson, who appeared in Britney Spears video Toxic.

Ledger was also named by Empire Magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Movie Stars in the world in 2007.