Philip Seymour Hoffman dead of suspected heroin overdose at 46: Body of Oscar-winning actor found with 'needle in his arm' at home

Oscar winning actor, 46, found dead in his Manhattan apartment according to law enforcement officials

A drug overdose is believed to be the cause of death

According to police sources Mr Hoffman was discovered on the bathroom floor wearing shorts and t-shirt with a needle sticking out of his arm



He leaves behind his partner of 14 years Mimi O'Donnell, son Cooper, 10 and daughters Tallulah, 7 and Willa, 5

However, he reportedly split from Miss O'Donnell recently

The actor was discovered by his friend and screenwriter David Katz along with another female friend - who went to check on the actor when he failed to pick his children up



His family paid tribute to the 'outpouring of love and support' shown around the world

Neighbors reported that the actor looked ill and disheveled last week



Medical examiner finally removed the actor's body from the apartment just before 7 p.m.



Won the Oscar for 2005 movie, Capote - also appeared in Moneyball, Ides of March, Almost Famous and The Hunger Games



Oscar winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead in his Manhattan apartment after an apparent drug overdose.

According to law enforcement, the American actor and father of three was found on the bathroom floor of apartment 4D in his $10,000 a month West Village apartment Sunday morning wearing only shorts and t-shirt with a hypodermic needle sticking out of his left arm surrounded by empty bags of heroin.

Just before 7 p.m., medical examiners finally removed Mr Hoffman's body from the apartment where it had remained all day. Crime scene unit investigators spent the entire afternoon and early evening collecting evidence from the home.



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Dead at 46: Philip Seymour Hoffman with his Oscar for Capote at the 78th Academy Awards press room, Los Angeles, in 2006

Tragic: The body of Philip Seymour Hoffman was removed from his apartment after being discovered by his friend David Bar Katz and his personal assistant Isabella Wing-Davey at 11am on Sunday morning

Body: The body, covered in a black body bag, was taken from the apartment hours after the actor's death was first reported

Authorities confirmed that the last time the stage and film actor was seen was at 8 p.m. on Saturday.

'That was not like him,' one police official said of his failure to collect his children.



The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is yet to determine his exact cause of death - but law enforcement sources speaking to the New York Post said a drug overdose was to blame.

Cops found a charred spoon in the kitchen sink, police sources told the New York Post.

Witnesses said Miss O'Donnell arrived at the Bethune Street apartment in tears but wasn't allowed into the bathroom to see the father of her three children.



A relative told The Post: 'We're just really devastated that this could happen.'



'There had always been a concern with the business he was in,' said Doris Barr, 76, whose son is married to Hoffman's sister.



Speculation is rife the actor was killed by a deadly new variant of the opiate known as white heroin.

Talented star: Phillip Seymour Hoffman poses for a portrait at The Collective and Gibson Lounge Powered by CEG, during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah in January and the actor (right) in the Hunger Games: Catching Fire



Happier times for the family: Philip Seymour Hoffman with his son Cooper and his partner Mimi O'Donnell

The lethal combination of heroin and fentanyl, an opiate used to soothe the pain of cancer patients, is blamed for about 100 deaths from coast to coast - it has killed 22 in Pittsburgh in the past two weeks, 37 more in Maryland since September and 22 in Rhode Island this month.



Authorities say the easiest way to spot the more lethal heroin cocktail is because it is white. Heroin usually has a yellow tint to it.



After Mr Katz called 911, emergency workers rushed to the scene where Mr Hoffman was discovered to be unconscious and unresponsive - and was declared dead on arrival.

Just before 7 p.m., after CSU investigators, wearing white plastic suits, spent the afternoon and early evening going in and out of Mr Hoffman's apartment, the crime scene van moved to make way for the medical examiners wagon to pull up to the building.

Police flanked both sides of the van all the way to the buildings entrance to block photographers from taking pictures. After 10 somber minutes, a stretcher was wheeled out carrying a figure covered in black plastic and was loaded into the wagon before being quickly whisked away with blaring horns and blinding blue and red lights.



Neighbors earlier said the actor looked ill when they last saw him.



Father and son: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cooper Alexander Hoffman and John Leguizamo attend the Portland Trail Blazers vs New York Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on January 1, 2013 in New York City

Family: (from left)Tallulah Hoffman, Willa Hoffman, Philip Seymour Hoffman and his partner Mimi O'Donnell walk around New York City in April of 2013, while (right) Seymour Hoffman and Mimi O'Donnell with their son Cooper in December 2013 in New York Talented at a young age: Philip Seymour Hoffman seen here in his yearbook photograph from Fairport High School in Fairport, NY



Friends: Philip Seymour Hoffman sent a text message to his friend David Bar Katz (center) asking him to come around to his house and watch basketball the night before he died - Katz failed to respond to the message in time and found Hoffman the next day dead on his bathroom floor

'Just the other day I saw him getting out of his mini cooper with his kids and his wife I guess. He was in sweatpants and a beanie and he looked disheveled,' said Olivia De Santis as more than 100 people gathered outside the actor's home.

The apartment Mr Hoffman was living in is three blocks from the three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom apartment on Jane Street he and Miss O'Donnell bought for $4.4 million in 2008.

The news of Mr Hoffman's death came just one day after representatives for the actor issued a statement denying he was dead after an internet hoax claimed the star had passed away on Saturday.

Mr Hoffman admitted struggling with drug addiction in the past, and reportedly checked himself into rehab in May last year for heroin abuse after 23 years of being clean.

The family of the actor issued a statement to the media in the aftermath of his death to thank everyone for their support.



'We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone.



'This is a tagic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our provacy during this time of grieving.



'Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers.'

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Media scrum: Philip Seymour Hoffman tried to contact his friend David Bar Katz twice the night before he was discovered dead at his Bethune Street apartment (pictured). Katz failed to respond to these messages at the time and he discovered his friend dead in the morning at around 11am Interest: Members of the media stand outside the apartment of movie actor Philip Seymour Hoffman after he was found dead in New York February 2, 2014

Crowd: Police cars seen outside the building where actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died in his apparent suffering from drug overdose in the West Village

Grief: A woman who declined to give her name and said she was friends and working on a project with movie actor Philip Seymour Hoffman wipes away tears as she stands across the street from the apartment where they found the celebrity dead in New York as two men (right) embrace

Busy street: Detectives, reporters and later fans of the actor crowded the Manhattan street

Assistant: Philip Seymour Hoffman's personal assistant is shown talking to detectives outside his apartment Presence: Police stand guard outside the home of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who was found dead in his Greenwich village apartment, Sunday, in New York. He was 46

Passed away: Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, (pictured with his partner Mimi) was found dead in his New York City apartment on Sunday as well-wishers leave flower at the door of the actor



The Capote star was also nominated for three Best Supporting Actor Oscars - for The Master, Doubt, and Charlie Wilson's War.

He most recently appeared in Hunger Games: Catching Fire alongside Jennifer Lawrence and sources at Lionsgate say his work as Plutarch Heavensbee was 'substantially complete' on Mockingjay: Part I.

Producers Lionsgate issues a statement to say, 'Philip Seymour Hoffman was a singular talent and one of the most gifted actors of our generation.



'We're very fortunate that he graced our Hunger Games family. Losing him in his prime is a tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Philip's family.'



He had seven days left of shooting and his death won't affect release date of the final two films.



The Fairport, New York, native reportedly told TMZ in May that he began taking heroin again after progressing from prescription pills and then ultimately snorting heroin.

He claimed that he only used heroin for a week before he realized he needed help and checked himself into a detox facility on the East Coast.



He spent 10 days receiving treatment and credited a 'great group of friends and family' for helping



Mr Hoffman was seen in public at the Sundance Film Festival last month promoting his movie, 'God's Pocket' and 'A Most Wanted Man.'



He appeared 'slightly disheveled and pasty' according to the New York Post and declined interviews.

Revealing interview from 2006: The actor said that he sought help for substance abuse when he was 23-years-old and had just graduated from NYU

Career highs: Philip Seympur Hoffman and Reese Witherspoon pose with the Oscar's they won in 2006 for their work in Capote and Walk the Line respectively

Smiles: Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Los Angeles premiere of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire at Nokia Theatre in November

Superstars and friends: George Clooney (right) with Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who has been found dead after suffering an apparent drug overdose

Talented: This is Philip Seymour Hoffman in the 1999 movie Magnolia - for which he garnered significant early praise in his career

At the time his representative said he 'needed a minute and didn't feel like coming down yet.'

In A Most Wanted Man, an espionage thriller based on the John le Carre novel, he played German spy Gunther Bachmann.

At the premiere, Hoffman told Reuters that he connected to Gunther's personality, a man driven by the shame of previous failure into an obsessive pursuit of capturing terrorists by any means necessary.

'I think it'd be hard for anyone not to connect with the loneliness. He's pretty lonely, driven, obsessive guy, unforgiving of himself in a lot of ways. A lot of traits that a lot of people carry in one grade or another,' Hoffman said.



The film's director, Anton Corbijn, said the actor's passing came as a huge 'shock' and he seemed fine just weeks ago.

'We spent some time together only [two] weeks ago and he seemed in a good place despite some issues he had to deal with,' Mr Corbijn told the Post.

'He was not only the most gifted actor I ever worked with (and judging by the legacy he leaves behind I am certain I share this with most if not all directors who were fortunate enough to work with him), he had also become an incredibly inspiring and supportive friend.



'I am so terribly sad as I find it impossible to comprehend what happened today and to collect my thoughts properly.'



One of his last public appearances: Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman attends the premiere of the film A Most Wanted Man at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in this January 19, 2014 Film promotion: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Willem Dafoe, Rachel McAdams, Grigoriy Dobrygin pose for a picture to promote A Most Wanted Man at its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival 2014, Park City, Utah, America just two weeks ago On the mend: Philip Seymour Hoffman enjoyed an afternoon stroll with his partner Mimi O'Donnell in New York, in June after he returned from his stint in rehab

He added: 'I have to think about Mimi and the children and I wish them much strength coping with the loss of this truly great man as a father and partner.'



In 2006, Mr Hoffman admitted his history of substance abuse after he graduated from NYU's drama school.



'It was all that drugs and alcohol, yeah. It was anything I could get my hands on…I liked it all,' he told 60 Minutes at the time.

Mr Hoffman, who was no matinee idol figure with his tubby build and scruffy blond hair, made his career mostly as a character actor.



He brought a workmanlike intensity to his roles, often played characters with innate intelligence and logical minds riven by underlying passion. His on-screen persona could range from professorial to unkempt, from the aloof intellectual to the everyman.



In one of his earliest films, he played a spoiled prep school student in 'Scent of a Woman' in 1992.

However, perhaps his breakthrough role came as a gay member of a porno film crew in 'Boogie Nights,' one of several movies directed by Paul Thomas Anderson that he would eventually appear in. His character in the 1997 hit helped make Mark Wahlberg a star.



He often played comic, slightly off-kilter roles in movies like 'Along Came Polly,' ''The Big Lebowski' and 'Almost Famous.'

Though he appeared in blockbusters such as 'Twister' and 'The Hunger Games' series, he was more often associated with the independent film world for his portrayals of often disturbing and complex characters in such films as 'Happiness,' in which he played an obscene phone caller, and 'Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.'

All-time great: The actor, shown in 2005's Capote, has been praised by his peers as one of his generation's best actors

Award winning: Philip Seymour Hoffman seen here with actress Catherine Keener won the Oscar for his 2005 portrayal of Truman Capote

Character actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, (left), and Ryan Gosling are shown in a scene from Ides of March - released in 2011 Police say Phillip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York City apartment on Sunday Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in a scene from The Master - for which Hoffman was Oscar nominated. Police say Phillip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York City apartment on Sunday

Method acting: Philip Seymour Hoffman won huge critical acclaim for his portrayal of Truman Capote in 2005

Lonely: Philip Seymour Hoffman pictured as Truman Capote, in a scene from the film set during Capote's research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family

In the latter, he played a son who schemes to rob his parents' jewelry store, resulting in their deaths. Mr Hoffman could also play nice, as in his portrayal of an angelic nurse in 'Magnolia.'



And in 'Moneyball,' he played Art Howe, the grumpy manager of the Oakland Athletics who resisted new thinking about baseball talent.



Just weeks ago, Showtime announced Mr Hoffman would star in 'Happyish,' a new comedy series about a middle-aged man's pursuit of happiness.

In 'The Master,' he was nominated for the 2013 Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role as the charismatic leader of a religious movement.



The film, partly inspired by the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, reunited the actor with Anderson.

He also received a 2009 supporting nomination for 'Doubt,' in which he played as a priest who comes under suspicion because of his relationship with a boy, and a best supporting actor nomination for 'Charlie Wilson's War,' as a convincing CIA officer.



Born in 1967 in Fairport, New York, Mr Hoffman was interested in acting from an early age, mesmerized at 12 by a local production of Arthur Miller's 'All My Sons.'



He studied theater as a teenager with the New York State Summer School of the Arts and the Circle in the Square Theatre. He then majored in drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.



Trained in the theater, with a versatility and discipline more common among British performers than Americans, he was a character actor who could take on any role, large or small, loathsome or sympathetic.

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On the stage, he performed in revivals of 'True West,' 'Long Day's Journey Into Night' and 'The Seagull,' a summer production that also featured Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline.



In 2012, he was more than equal to one of the great roles in American theater — Willy Loman in 'Death of a Salesman,' a performance praised as 'heartbreaking' by Associated Press theater critic Mark Kennedy.



'Hoffman is only 44, but he nevertheless sags in his brokenness like a man closer to retirement age, lugging about his sample cases filled with his self-denial and disillusionment,' Mr Kennedy wrote. 'His fraying connection to reality is pronounced in this production, with Hoffman quick to anger and a hard edge emerging from his babbling.'

Actor Steve Martin agreed, tweeting Sunday: 'If you missed him as Willy Loman, you missed a Willy Loman for all time.'

He and Tom Hanks, who co-starred with him in 'Charlie Wilson's War,' were among dozens of actors who poured their hearts out, and praised Mr Hoffman as an all-time great, after hearing the news.

'This is a horrible day for those who worked ‎with Philip,' he said in a statement. 'He was a giant talent. Our hearts are open for his family.'



The actor was known for the enormous respect he commanded from his peers says director Shane Salerno who produced his documentary, Salinger, with the help of Mr Hoffman.



'To be honest, we were having trouble getting big names to participate,' said Mr Salerno.



'But when he agreed to do it, other people began getting on board. Once Phil signed up, it was like we had a seal of authenticity,' Salerno said to USA Today.

