Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment on Sunday.
He was 46.
Law enforcement officials said Hoffman died at his apartment in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
via Philip Seymour Hoffman Dead: Actor Dies in New York | Variety.
I’m so saddened and shocked by this. He was such a talented man and one I greatly admired for his talent as an actor and theater director. Unpretentious and dedicated to his craft.
When I started out writing independent movie reviews for a local newspaper, my first ever interview (face to face) was with his friend Dan Futterman, who would later direct Hoffman in Capote, one of my favorite movies which Futterman also wrote. Hoffman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Truman Capote and if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s an amazing movie.
Hoffman was widely considered to be one of the best — if not the best — actors of his generation. His screen-acting career began in the early nineties, and he played a wide range of memorable characters in movies such as Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski, Happiness, Magnolia, The Talented Mr. Ripley, Magnolia, Almost Famous, Cold Mountain, and Punch-Drunk Love before finally earning a Best Actor Oscar in 2005 for his starring role in Capote. He went on to earn three Best Supporting Actor nominations for his work in Charlie Wilson’s War, Doubt, and The Master. Additionally, he was nominated for five Golden Globes and five BAFTAs (he received one of each, also for Capote.) Hoffman was also a well-respected stage actor: He was nominated for three Tony Awards for his work in 2000’s True West, 2003’s Death of a Salesman, and 2012’s Long Day’s Journey into Night.
Hoffman had three young children with costume designer Mimi O’Donnell.
At the moment my Twitter timeline is abuzz about his passing, and it makes me so sad. Rest in peace, gentle soul. You left us too soon….
The Film Stage features clips of Hoffman’s career below:
No, no. Oh my God, no!
That’s what I said, too, when I first learned about it. I so wish it weren’t true.
I have some scary thoughts about this. I don’t even want to say them out loud.
😦
Prayers go out to his family and his kids. I hate all the talk surrounding his death right now. I hope his family has been notified at least.
If his family was truly not told first before this broke, I’m going to be sick. I hope the person who released it before the family was informed comes to know just how painful doing something so insensitive is. He’ll have to live with that!
The family issued a statement 40 minutes ago, so here’s hoping they heard it first from the right people, and not from the media.
I really, really pray that it happened in the most delicate of ways, considering the circumstances. I would hate for them to even remotely get the shock I did – something that could put a parent or loved one into the hospital.
Reblogged this on Morrighan's Muse and commented:
Such a sad sad day…
Reblogged this on crystalchandlyre and commented:
I really loved this man’s work. This breaks my heart more than I can express here.
I’m going to chime in here, too, even though I have my own post up on it. I can’t describe my shock and sadness over this.I feel so fortunate to have seen him in Salesman. Some said he was too young for the part, but not true. He was the best Willie Loman I ever saw. ( I missed Brian Dennehy, but did see Dustin Hoffman) PSH’s posture, his weariness, his power at times. It was a tour de force. He was one of those actors who, it seems, could play almost anybody. the last thing i saw him in was Synecdoche, NY. It makes you think, doesn’t it, that we on the other side never really know what demons people carry. And in this case, it sounds like an accidental death.
As much as it can be an accident when you’re found with an syringe in your arm 😦
I think you know what I meant, that he didn’t intend to kill himself today.
I know what you meant. I was just thinking of the words of Jim Morrison about drugs and alcohol, that the choice (for addicts) is always between “suicide and slow capitulation”.
Hoffman was clean for almost 23 years. It’s tragic and terrifying that he would fail now.
He was just an amazing actor, and one of the best actors ever. I missed seeing him onstage as he did most of his theater work in NYC. But I’ve always enjoyed his roles. Sometimes, it’s the demons that power those performances though. Unfortunately it’s a constant battle probably for them on who is going to win each day…
I saw him in True West on Broadway. Amazing actor! So sad. I was so happy he was cast in The Hunger Games.
Reblogged this on Obsessive Behavior and commented:
I saw him in True West on Broadway. Amazing actor!! Very very sad loss.
My most vivid memory of Hoffman is in one of all-time favourite movies: Almost Famous where he plays the protagonist’s mentor, Lester Bangs. I like to remember him as he was in that role: a rock’n’roll Yoda, confident, all-knowing and always slightly smiling at some joke only he knew.
An incredible talent. I’ll miss him.
I still can’t believe it.