"We, Heath's family, can confirm the very tragic, untimely and accidental passing of our dearly loved son, brother and doting father of Matilda," Heath Ledger's father Kim Ledger, seen here Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, said. "Heath has touched so many people on so many different levels during his short life. Please now respect our family's need to grieve and come to terms with our loss privately."
Ang Lee - Director
"Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life," Lee, center, who directed Ledger, left, in "Brokeback Mountain," said. "He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined -- a thirst for life, for love and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking."
Mel Gibson - Actor
Actor Mel Gibson played Heath Ledger's father in "The Patriot." In a statement, Gibson said he "had such great hope for him. He was just taking off and to lose his life at such a young age is a tragic loss."
Daniel Day-Lewis - Actor
"I didn't know him," an emotional Day-Lewis said during a taped appearance on Oprah Winfrey's talk show. "I have an impression, a strong impression, I would have liked him very much as a man if I had. I'd already marveled at some of his work, and had looked forward so much to seeing the work that he would do in the future."
Colin Hanks - Actor
"Heath was a very talented guy and he was a very brave actor and I don't really know what happened, but something really bad happened and it makes me sad because I think about his family and his little baby girl and it's a difficult thing."
Billy Burke - Actor
"I heard one time that somebody compared the life of a actor to being an astronaut. Now I would never make that comparison but I see what they mean. There's huge amounts of pressure in little pockets and then there's a whole bunch of time when you are left to yourself and your own devices and if you don't have something in your heart that's telling you to keep on an even keel it can be very tough."
Neil Armfield - Director
"He did smoke a bit of marijuana and the last time I saw him -- he admitted that he smoked too much -- the last time I saw him he was so proud of the fact that he'd stopped, he was clean. It was very important to him and that was part of his new role as a father with his daughter." Neil Armfield, center, with Ledger and actress Abbie Cornish during a photo-call for their movie "Candy" in Berlin on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006.
Leonard Maltin - Film Critic
"I hope people remember what a good actor he was."
Morgan Freeman - Actor
"I worked on the Dark Knight, but Heath and I never met, we were never on the same set, so this is as much news to me as it is to anybody and it affects me in the same way."
Rob Reiner - Director
"It's really tragic when somebody who was as gifted and talented is cut down in the early part of their career because we always think about what more they could have offered the world in terms of the of talents, so I mean it's sad and ... It's just very, very sad."