Academy Award-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman passed away yesterday at the age of 46. A remarkably gifted actor, Hoffman’s death is a tragic loss the film community. Hoffman gave some of the most memorable performances of the past two decades, including the enigmatic Lancaster Dodd in The Master, Brandt in The Big Lebowski and rock icon Lester Bangs in the Almost Famous.
Hoffman was born in Fairpoint, New York and graduated from the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 1989. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2005 for Capote, but was also an accomplished theatre actor, earning two Tony nominations for Sam Shepard’s True West for Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night.
Early sources say Hoffman was found with heroin paraphernalia, although this has yet to be confirmed. Hoffman was a substance abuser during early adulthood, but had been clean 23 years until checking into a 10-day detox program last May after relapsing.
Hoffman was in the process of reprising his role of Plutarch Heavensbee in the upcoming The Hunger Games sequels. Hoffman had reportedly completed the majority of his work for Mockingjay Part 1 and had just seven days to go on Mockingjay Part 2. His death will not affect the release dates of those movies.
ReelGood’s thoughts go out to Hoffman’s family, especially his three childen.