Philip Seymour Hoffman Dies of Apparent Drug Overdose

Academy Award winning American actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead Sunday in his New York apartment of a suspected drug overdose. He was 46 years old.

Police say they went to the actor's home in Manhattan's Greenwich Village after receiving a call from one of his friends. The Associated Press and The New York Times, citing law enforcement officials, said investigators found a syringe in Hoffman's arm and an envelope containing what was believed to be heroin. There was no official confirmation of the reports.

Hoffman spoke candidly over the years about past struggles with drug addiction. After 23 years of being sober, he acknowledged in interviews last year that he had relapsed and developed a heroin problem that led to a stint at a rehabilitation facility.

A native of New York state, Hoffman won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role in the 2005 biographical film Capote, in which he played author Truman Capote. He also received three Academy Award nominations as best supporting actor. And he won Tony Award nominations for his acting on the Broadway stage.


Last month, Hoffman appeared at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah for the premiere of the thriller A Most Wanted Man.

He spoke to Reuters about playing Gunther Bachmann - a German spy.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, said, "I connected a lot of it, you know, I think it would be hard for anyone not to kind of connect with the loneliness, he is pretty lonely, he's a very driven, obsessive guy, you know, he's not unforgiving, of himself in a lot of ways, and there's a lot of people carry in one way or another."

Hoffman is survived by his partner of 15 years, costume designer Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children.

Some information for this report provided by Reuters.