SYDNEY (AFP) - - Australia's prime minister led tributes Wednesday to actor Heath Ledger, the boy from Perth who rose to become a Hollywood heartthrob, after he was found dead in his New York apartment.

Kevin Rudd said it was "tragic that we have lost one of our nation's finest actors in the prime of his life."

"Heath Ledger's diverse and challenging roles will be remembered as some of the great performances by an Australian actor," he said in a statement.

Members of the Australian film industry, which nurtured Ledger from his early days in television soaps until his recent performances in gritty drama, were coming to terms with the news that the 28-year-old had been found dead.

Neil Armfield, who directed Ledger in the Australian film "Candy" about a romance between two drug addicts, described Ledger as a powerful actor.

"He was always a complex and complicated man to work with but... just a master... just so passionately concerned to get it right," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Film critic Margaret Pomeranz said the death of the actor, who previously dated Hollywood stars Heather Graham and fellow Australian Naomi Watts, was shocking.

"I am so upset, I just can't tell you," she told ABC radio.

"I mean he is such a talented boy and really, I think a beautiful soul.

"I think to choose the roles he's chosen showed just such intelligence."

Ledger, who was nominated for an Oscar for his role in "Brokeback Mountain" and who will appear as The Joker in the next Batman film "The Dark Knight", was also praised by fellow Australian actor Samuel Johnson.

"His portrayal of The Joker in the new Batman was going to rival Jack Nicholson's in the original," he said.

"I'm distraught about this... I think we've lost one of the best young actors Australia's produced -- if not the best."

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