The picture comes from a film Ledger made about Nick Drake, the cult singer-songwriter whose death bore disturbing similarities to his own.
('Drowning': Heath Ledger in his 'death' scene he made for the tribute to Nick Drake)
Ledger made the dark, brooding film to accompany one of the last songs Drake recorded before killing himself with antidepressants in 1974, at the age of 26. Like Drake, Ledger, 28, was found dead in his bed after taking prescription antidepressants.
In stills taken from Ledger's video for the song Black Eyed Dog – an allusion to Sir Winston Churchill's description of depression as the "black dog" – the actor can be seen singing of his misery before apparently drowning in a bath.
Other grainy black-and-white shots from the film show Ledger looking remarkably like the handsome but bedraggled singer.
(Obsessed: Heath's 'death' scene was a bizarre tribute to cult singer-songwriter Nick Drake)
Ledger devised and shot the video on a hand-held camera last summer. The images were part of a multi-media exhibition celebrating the work of Drake, with whom Ledger – star of the film Brokeback Mountain – said he was "obsessed".
The film was shown during an arts festival in Seattle in September. It has been seen just once more, in Los Angeles the following month.
Ledger was said to be also planning to make a film biography of Drake, who embodies the myth of the doomed and tortured genius.
(Strikingly similar: Heath's death was disturbingly similar to that of tortured genius Nick Drake)
Drake recorded three albums of melancholy folk-rock but failed to find a wide audience until long after his death.
He suffered from depression throughout his life, a subject that was often reflected in his music.
The mystery that has surrounded him is heightened by the fact that he never gave an interview and there is no footage of him performing or speaking.
(Michelle Williams, Heath's ex-fiancée and mother of his 2-year-old daughter has said she is heartbroken over his death)
His popularity was given a boost in 2000, when Volkswagen used the title track from his album Pink Moon in a television advertisement and within a month, Drake had sold more albums than in the previous 30 years.
Drake has always had a cult following but is now regarded as among the most influential British singer-songwriters.
(Ledger with his and Michelle's daughter Matilda)
Speaking about Drake at the Venice film festival last September, Ledger said: "Nick Drake is a very mysterious figure. I was obsessed with his story and music and I still have great hopes to tell his story one day."
Instead, he was found dead in his rented Manhattan flat on January 22.
