Funeral
Preparations in Heath Ledger's Home Town

Heath Ledger's father said his son's death by accidental overdose would be an enduring agony for the family and should serve as a warning to others not to mix prescription drugs.

The New York City medical examiner announced Wednesday that the 28-year-old ''Brokeback Mountain'' star died from the effects of taking six types of painkillers and sedatives. His body was found Jan. 22 in his Manhattan apartment.

Ledger's premature death promoted outpourings of grief from New York to Hollywood to his hometown of Perth, a small and remote city on the verge of the Outback in Australia's southwest.

Family members returned home from the United States this week and were reportedly planning a private service to lay Ledger to rest. His former girlfriend Michelle Williams and the couple's two-year-old daughter, Matilda, arrived Wednesday to attend the ceremony, News Ltd. newspapers reported.

The West Australian newspaper reported Thursday that the family was hoping to hold a wake Saturday at Cottesloe Beach, a resort village south of Perth that was a favorite spot of the actor's.

Kim Ledger, the actor's father, said in a statement released Wednesday the family was humbled to be ''among millions of people worldwide who may have suffered the tragic loss of a child.''

''Few can understand the hollow, wrenching, and enduring agony parents silently suffer when a child predeceases them,'' he said.

He said the toxicology results should ''put an end to speculation'' about the cause of death.

''While no medications were taken in excess, we learned today the combination of doctor-prescribed drugs proved lethal for our boy,'' Kim Ledger's statement said. ''Heath's accidental death serves as a caution to the hidden dangers of combining prescription medication, even at low dosage.''

Family members attended a memorial ceremony in Los Angeles last weekend, but the funeral arrangements have been kept a closely guarded secret.

Among those reportedly due to attend are Ledger's ''Brokeback Mountain'' co-star Jake Gylenhaal and a former girlfriend, Australian model Gemma Ward.

Kim Ledger's statement asked that the family be allowed to grieve without media intrusion.

Williams, 27, and Ledger became a couple during the filming of the gay romance ''Brokeback Mountain'' in which the two costarred as husband and wife and for which Ledger was nominated for an Oscar. They later moved to New York, where their daughter Matilda was born in October 2005.

''To most of the world Heath was an actor of immeasurable talent and promise,'' the actor's father said. ''To those who knew him personally, Heath was a consummate artist whose passions also included photography, music, chess and directing.

''We knew Heath as a loving father, as our devoted son, and as a loyal and generous brother and friend,'' the statement said.

The family was profoundly touched and eternally grateful for the expressions of support that have come from all over the world, he said. (Min Lee, AP)