Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor and director. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote, and received three Academy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actor. He also received three Tony Award nominations for his work in the theater.
Hoffman began his acting career in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films. He gradually gained recognition for his supporting work in a series of notable films, including Scent of a Woman (1992), Twister (1996), Boogie Nights (1997), The Big Lebowski (1998), Patch Adams (1998), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Almost Famous (2000), 25th Hour (2002), Punch-Drunk Love (2002) and Cold Mountain (2003).
In 2005, Hoffman played the title role in Capote, for which he won multiple acting awards including an Academy Award for Best Actor. He received another three Academy Award nominations for his supporting work in Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), Doubt (2008) and The Master (2012). Other critically acclaimed films in recent years have included Owning Mahowny (2003), Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007), The Savages (2007), Synecdoche, New York (2008), Moneyball (2011) and The Ides of March (2011). In 2010, Hoffman made his feature film directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating.
Hoffman was also an accomplished theater actor and director. He joined the LAByrinth Theater Company in 1995, and has directed and performed in numerous stage productions. His performances in three Broadway plays led to three Tony Award nominations: two for Best Leading Actor in True West (2000) and Death of a Salesman (2012); one for Best Featured Actor in Long Day’s Journey into Night (2003).
He died February 2, 2014 (aged 46) Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Philip Seymour Hoffman died from a “speedball,” a concoction that has killed several other celebrities, the city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner said Friday.
Hoffman’s death in his Village apartment earlier this month was an accident and due to an “acute mixed drug intoxication,” including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamine, the office said.
A speedball is the intravenous injection of cocaine with heroin or morphine in the same syringe.
Benzodiazepine is best known as an anti-anxiety medication and is commercially marketed as Valium.
The deaths of comedians John Belushi and Chris Farley, baseball player Eric Show and several rock performers has been blamed on speedballs.
A deadly mixture of drugs was suspected in Hoffman’s death at age 46 after police found dozens of bags of heroin and prescription drugs inside his apartment. A needle was stuck in the arm of the Oscar-winning star of the 2006 film “Capote.”
The exact composition of the fatal injection was not known until tests led to Friday’s announcement.
Hoffman had overcome the drug addiction he developed as a college student but relapsed after a period of more than 20 years when he began taking heroin and prescription drugs in 2012.
He spent 10 days in a drug rehab center in 2013 and claimed he had kicked the habit again.
Goodnight sweet prince…I know I am not the only one praying for them at this time. I his was one of the privileged to have known him. We met when I was an actor in 1979, under my maiden name Mimi Hartford. He was hoping to land a role on Law and Order.
He was known, not just in the industry but the world, for his addition to his skills as an actor. He will be missed by all.
Respectfully,
Mimi Hartford-Witherspoon
Goodnight sweet prince…I know I am not the only one praying for them at this time. I his was one of the privileged to have known him. We met when I was an actor in 1979, under my maiden name Mimi Hartford. He was hoping to land a role on Law and Order.
He was known, not just in the industry but the world, for his addition to his skills as an actor. He will be missed by all.
Respectfully,
Mimi Hartford-Witherspoon