Heath Ledger's drug use spiralled out of control before his death because he feared losing access to his two-year-old daughter, it was revealed.
In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, a member of the star's inner circle, Rebecca White, said Ledger believed his former fiancee Michelle Williams was about to serve legal papers demanding sole custody of their child, Matilda.
Michelle ordered Ledger, 28, out of their New York mansion last autumn because of his drug problem --which is said to have included addiction to heroin and cocaine.But Ms White claims his dependence on drugs only intensified and he was unable to sleep without pills.
As his fears of losing Matilda intensified, Ledger - found dead last Tuesday - set up a room in his Manhattan loft which was a shrine to the little girl.
He told friends that Michelle, 27, planned to go to court claiming he was a bad influence on Matilda.
By the time he started work last December in London on his final film, the £15million fantasy The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus, he appeared so ill that his co-star Christopher Plummer said he assumed he had "walking pneumonia". But Ms White, 34, who worked as a personal assistant to celebrities who knew Ledger, including Naomi Campbell and Anna Friel, said friends ultimately blamed his demise on the tension over Matilda between him and ' straitlaced' Williams. She said: "Heath believed Michelle was going for sole custody.
"She wanted nothing to do with him and many of his friends believed that in the last couple of weeks that really pushed him over the edge. He was getting more reckless than ever with cocaine and heroin.
"His use of downers - sleeping pills and anti-anxiety pills and antidepressants- was also getting heavier because he needed them to sleep.
Daily Mail.....Celebs and Bubs
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