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Philip Seymour Hoffman Philip Seymour Hoffman Memorial

Born: July 23, 1967 in Fairport, New York, USA
Died: February 02, 2014 in New York City, New York, USA

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Talented Actor, Dies Tragically at 46

Philip Seymour Hoffman, widely known for his dramatic roles in films such as “Capote”, died on Sunday, February 2, 2014 of an apparent drug overdose. His death at 46 cuts short a promising film career, an accomplished theater career and an unfortunately tragic personal life marked with drug and alcohol addiction.

Hoffman is best known for an award-winning film career. He began acting in high school, and at 17 he was selected to attend the Theater School at New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs. He went on to attend the Circle in the Square Theatre’s summer program, and earned a BFA in drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Hoffman began acting in a “Law & Order” episode in 1991, where he began a successful and respected film career playing a diverse range of eccentric characters in supporting roles.

The actor’s career was steady, but Hoffman rarely had the opportunity to play a lead role in his early career. In 2002, however, he starred in “Love Liza,” and in 2003 he played the lead role in “Owning Mahowny.” He continued to play supporting roles, but was nominated for two Emmy Awards for his work. Finally, in 2005, Hoffman received widespread acclaim for his work playing the lead in “Capote” - including numerous awards, such as the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Glove Award for Best Actor, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. The role of Truman Capote was Hoffman’s opportunity to prove once and for all that he was a talented dramatic actor capable of supporting a deep and meaty lead role.

Hoffman has been nominated for awards for many of his roles since then, including his role as Gust Avrakotos in “Charlie Wilson’s War,” his role as Caden Cotard in “Synecdoche, New York” and his role of Father Brendan Flynn in “Doubt.” He has continued to receive acclaim for recent roles, including “The Master.” He was filming for “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2” when he passed.

His career spans more than film, though; one of the things that marks Hoffman as a superb actor is his work in theater. He began receiving nominations for his work in theater in 2000, starting with the the Off-Broadway play “The Author’s Voice.” He received Tony Award nominations for his starring role in the 2000 revival of “True West” and the 2003 revival of “Long Day’s Journey into Night.” He received a third Tony Award nomination for starring as Willy Loman in the Broadway revival of “Death of a Salesman” in 2012 - a role in which “The New York Times” theater critic Ben Brantley concluded: “Mr. Hoffman is one of the finest actors of his generation [...] beyond dispute.”

Hoffman led a troubled personal life, in which he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse after college, and went to rehab again in May 2013 for problems with prescription pills and heroin. In spite of these addiction problems, though, he maintained a long-term relationship with his partner, Mimi O’Donnell, and is survived by her and their three children; Cooper, Tallulah and Willa, as well as his brother Gordy Hoffman.

While the manner of his passing is tragic, and sure to spawn discussion of the troubled aspects of his life, Hoffman will long be remembered as one of the greatest character actors of his generation. His legacy will live on in the films and TV shows in which he’s appeared, and hopefully his talent will inspire a new generation of actors to follow in his theatrical and film footsteps.

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MEMORIAL CREATED BY:
Dachary Carey on February 04, 2014