Heath Ledger's death 'was totally his fault,' father says

Actor Heath Ledger from the film 'Candy' poses for portraits in the Chanel Celebrity Suite at the Four Season hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2006 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)

Actor Heath Ledger from the film 'Candy' poses for portraits in the Chanel Celebrity Suite at the Four Season hotel during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 8, 2006 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)

Kim Ledger, the father of "Batman" actor Heath Ledger, said his son's death eight years ago "was totally his fault."

Ledger was found unresponsive in his New York City apartment in 2008 and was later pronounced dead from an apparent overdose. He was 28.

"It was no one else's (fault) – he reached for them, he put them in his system," Kim Ledger told The Daily Mail Australia. "You can't blame anyone else in that situation."

Kim Ledger also revealed what it was like to come to this realization.

"(It's) hard to accept because I loved him so much and was so proud of him," he told the news outlet.

Kim Ledger said his family tried to help Ledger fight drug addiction just days before his sudden death.

"His sister was on the phone to him the night before telling him not to take the prescription medications with the sleeping tablets," he told The Daily Mail Australia. "He said: 'Katie, Katie, I'm fine. I know what I'm doing.' He would have had no idea."

The autopsy report for the "Brokeback Mountain" star revealed that he had traces of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine in his body at the time of death.

Kim Ledger attributed that to Ledger's many doctors.

"Because he was traveling a lot, he would pop in to a doctor," Kim Ledger said. "In the case of someone with a higher profile, it's often a case of 'what do you want' instead of 'what do you need.'"

Kim Ledger said stress from his acting career caused great anxiety in his son's life.

"There's so much pressure on them to perform so even though your body is telling you that it's not good and needs time, it's like 'just take these painkillers and keep going'," Kim Ledger said. "That was the case with Heath."