Private memorial services for actor Heath Ledger took place at the G’Day USA Australia Day Ball in Manhattan and at the Beverly Hills Hotel in California Saturday night.

The New York event was attended by some 1000 people and began with a minute's silence. Australia's consul-general in New York, John Olsen, read a letter from Ledger's father, Kim. "Heath did not become an actor for the fame or fortune. He loved his craft and he loved helping his friends. He loved chess and skateboarding too," the letter said.

The Los Angeles event was a small gathering of close friends and family. “Even though it was a sad occasion, everyone was smiling, hugging each other and holding hands. It was a really positive group,” said one of those who attended to Us Weekly.

Meanwhile, Heath Ledger's body was taken to a celebrity mortuary in Los Angeles, the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary, where family members and friends paid their respects, the New York Daily News reported.

The 28-year old actor was found dead in his apartment in Manhattan around 3:26 p.m. on Tuesday by his maid, probably caused by drugs. The precise cause of death will be determined over the next days, after toxicology tests are performed. Ledger will eventually be laid to rest in his hometown of Perth, Australia.

He was an Academy Award-nominated actor for his controversial role as cowboy Ennis Del Mar in 2005 “Brokeback Mountain.”

Production on Terry Gilliam's indie film, which Ledger started shooting in London before he died, has been halted indefinitely, Greg Chambers, business manager for the craft union ACFC West (Association of Canadian Film Craftspeople), told People. About 100 crew members have been dismissed until producers discuss their options, whether to recast the film or scrap it entirely.

Ledger, who previously worked with Gilliam on 2005's "The Brothers Grimm," was the film's biggest star, and a key factor in the British-Canadian production's financing. "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," which follows a traveling impresario's efforts to save his daughter from the devil, was more or less counting on Ledger’s appearance in the movie in raising the finance.

In 2007 he was one of the six actors who portrayed Bob Dylan in the movie “I’m Not There.” He has just finished working in the sequel of “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Night” in which he portrayed the Joker. The movie is set to debut on July 18, 2008.