Hollywood was shocked yesterday as the tragic news of the death of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman [46] broke. The actor apparently died of a drug overdose, police said, and envelopes containing what was believed to be heroin were found with him.
Hoffman had a heavy-set build and often looked dishevelled. He was equally at home with either comedy or drama and he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote oft mentioned in the classic podcast 2IGTV. Hoffman was nominated for three other movies, The Master [2012], Doubt [2008] and Charlie Wilson's War [2007] and received three Tony nominations for his work on Broadway, including the role of Willy Loman in Death Of A Salesman [2012].
Despite such accolades, the aforementioned movies and the majority of the movies Hoffman appeared in are in all honesty – boring drivel. If you’re not a beard-stroking pretentious twat however, you will better regard Hoffman for his supporting role in Twister [1996] while horror/thriller aficionados will be more familiar with his role as Freddy Lounds in Red Dragon [2002]. Nevertheless it’s almost certain he will be most regarded for his portrayal of the villainous Owen Davian in J.J. Abrams’ Mission: Impossible III [2006], easily the greatest villain Tom Cruise has ever sent to his death throughout his career. Hoffman brought an air of true villainy to the Mission: Impossible franchise that I have very little doubt will ever be matched and he even got to fight himself thanks to the series' signature mask-play. The hatred the audience eventually felt for Davian was so palpable that his on-screen death brought a cheer for all who observed.
While he may have portrayed many intelligent characters throughout his career, Hoffman himself wasn’t so mentally gifted as evident from the foolishness of his drug use. He revealed in a 2006 interview that he had suffered from substance abuse after graduating from college, and went to rehab. He relapsed over 20 years later, and checked into a program in May 2013 because of problems with prescription pills and heroin, the substance that apparently ultimately killed him.
Hoffman's body was discovered in a bathroom at his Greenwich Village apartment by his assistant and a friend who made the emergency services call. He is survived by his partner of 15 years, Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children.
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