Top actor Hoffman dies of suspected drugs overdose
Print Edition
Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of the leading actors of his generation and winner of an Academy Award for his title role in the film “Capote,” has been found dead in his Manhattan apartment in what a New York police source described as an apparent drug overdose.
Hoffman, 46, was discovered unresponsive on Sunday on the bathroom floor of his Greenwich Village apartment by police responding to a 911 call, and Emergency Medical Service workers declared him dead at the scene, New York City police said. An investigation was under way.
A police spokesman said investigators found Hoffman with a syringe in his arm and recovered two small plastic bags in the apartment containing a substance suspected of being heroin. A police department source said that Hoffman had died of an apparent drug overdose.
Hoffman is survived by three children with his partner Mimi O’Donnell.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone,” Hoffman’s family said in a statement.
“This is a tragic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our privacy during this time of grieving. Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers,” it added.
Onlookers gathered on Sunday afternoon near Hoffman’s apartment in a fashionable neighborhood of the West Village.
CNN, citing a law enforcement official, reported that Hoffman was last seen alive at 8pm on Saturday. He had been expected to pick up his children on Sunday but failed to show up, prompting playwright David Katz and another person to go to his apartment, CNN said.
Hoffman spoke in the past of struggles with drugs. In a 2006 interview he told CBS he had at times abused “anything I could get my hands on. I liked it all.”
Born in upstate New York near Rochester, Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for the 2005 biographical film “Capote,” in which he played writer Truman Capote. He also received three Academy Award nominations as best supporting actor, for “The Master” in 2013, “Doubt” in 2009 and “Charlie Wilson’s War” in 2008.
After more than a dozen earlier roles, Hoffman burst onto the film scene in 1997’s “Boogie Nights,” in which he played a lovelorn gay man.
Hoffman brought an intensity to his roles, often playing characters with innate intelligence and logical minds riven by passion.
He appeared in blockbusters such as “Twister” and “The Hunger Games” series. But he was more often associated with the independent film world in such films as “Happiness” and “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”
Lionsgate, the studio behind “The Hunger Games,” called Hoffman “one of the most gifted actors of our generation.”
“We’re very fortunate that he graced our ‘Hunger Games’ family. Losing him in his prime is a tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Philip’s family,” the studio said.
Hoffman frequently appeared on Broadway, earning Tony award nominations, including for his role as Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.”
“If you missed him as Willy Loman, you missed a Willy Loman for all time,” actor Steve Martin said on Twitter on Sunday.
“This is a horrible day for those who worked with Philip,” Tom Hanks, who co-starred with him in “Charlie Wilson’s War,” said in a statement.
“He was a giant talent. Our hearts are open for his family.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
