Heath Ledger's NYC apartment was a shrine to the 'Joker'

Australian actor Heath Ledger, who was found dead in his property in Manhattan from an accidental intoxication from prescription drugs, was said to be obsessed with his role in the Batman movie 'The Dark Knight'.

Ledger had filled the apartment with research materials including Batman comic books, research on the origin of the Joker and clowns, small clown statues and recordings of Ledger practicing his own version of the Joker voice that would haunt a new generation of DC Comics fans, reports Daily Mail.

A source that happened to witness the actor's work before his death said, "He was studying up on the origins of clowns and all of the previous Jokers like Jack Nicholson's character and Cesar Romero's, who was the first Joker on TV."

"He was a perfectionist who clearly had a lot of respect for the character. All of that stuff was very tidy. He cared a lot about it," the source added.

The 28-year-old actor reportedly kept a red-and-blue journal which was filled with comic strips and drawings, and with 'The Joker' emblazoned on the front.

He also bizarrely scrawled the words 'bye bye' on the back of one of the pages.

Ledger was found dead in his apartment on January 22, 2008. His career span in Hollywood comprised of nineteen films, including '10 Things I Hate About You' in 1999, 'The Patriot' in 2000,' A Knight's Tale' in 2001, 'Brokeback Mountain' in 2005, 'The Dark Knight' 2008 among many others.

For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in 'Brokeback Mountain', Ledger won the 'New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor' and 'Best International Actor from the Australian Film Institute', and was nominated for the 'BAFTA Award for Best Actor' in a leading role.