Late Actor Heath Ledger Also Had Music Ties

Heath Ledger was obviously best known as an actor, but the 28-year-old Australian — whose dead body was found in his Manhattan, New York apartment on Tuesday afternoon — also had music connections. And one of them is now pretty eerie.

Ledger was a big fan of melancholy British singer/songwriter Nick Drake, who committed suicide by overdosing on antidepressants in 1974 at age 26. Ledger had shot and edited a video for Drake's "Black Dog," which was apparently the last song that the "Pink Moon" composer recorded before his death. Ledger turned the camera on himself through most of the stark black-and-white clip, which ends with the Brokeback Mountain star drowning himself in a bathtub.

An autopsy was conducted on Ledger on Wednesday, but it proved inconclusive. It's expected to take another 10 days to complete the investigation. He was found lying face-down and naked at the foot of his bed, and bottles of prescription sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication were found in both the bedroom and bathroom. There's speculation that he could have fallen victim to an accidental overdose or committed suicide.

The "Black Dog" video has only been shown at Seattle, Washington's Bumbershoot Festival last September and at an event called "A Place To Be" that honoured Drake in Los Angeles in October. It's the property of the Drake estate, which is deciding if it will be more widely released.

Ledger also directed Ben Harper's "Morning Yearning" video and the two men announced last year that they were forming a record label called Masses Music Co. Their first signing was Australian singer Grace Woodroofe, for whom Ledger directed a video of her covering David Bowie's "Quicksand." He also directed two videos for Australian hip-hop artist N'fa.

Ledger was one of six actors to portray Bob Dylan in last year's Todd Haynes-directed biopic, I'm Not There.

More tenuous music connections come from Michelle Williams, Ledger's former fiancee and mother of his two-year-old daughter, Matilda Rose, and another former girlfriend, actress Heather Graham. Williams used to date Comas frontman Andy Herod, while Graham once had a relationship with Adam Ant.