Heath's Private Funeral

Family and friends have paid their last respects to Aussie actor Heath Ledger at a private service in his home town.

The 28-year-old died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs in his New York apartment on 22 January.

Among the mourners at Ledger's memorial service in Perth was his former partner and Brokeback Mountain co-star Michelle Williams, who arrived without the couple's two-year-old daughter, Matilda.

His sudden death prompted warnings about mixing prescription drugs, particularly pain killers, tranquillisers and sleeping pills.

A large media pack had camped outside the family home, prompting the actor's father, Kim Ledger, to tell reporters the service would be followed by a "very, very private" funeral, and to ask that they be allowed to grieve in private.

He said: "It's a pretty sad time and we are finding it difficult to cope by ourselves."

Heath met 27-year-old Michelle on the set of Brokeback Mountain but the pair split last September and he moved from their Brooklyn home and into an apartment in Manhattan's Soho area.