Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman dies at 46
Hollywood stars today paid tribute to Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead in his apartment with what officials said was a needle in his arm.
The 46-year-old actor apparently died of a drug overdose, police said, and envelopes containing what was believed to be heroin were found with him.
Hoffman – with his lumpy, heavy-set build, dishevelled look and limp, receding blond hair – was a character actor who could play comic or dramatic, loathsome or sympathetic, trembling or diabolical, dissipated or tightly controlled, slovenly or immaculate.
The stage-trained actor's rumpled naturalism brought him four Academy Award nominations - for Capote, The Master, Doubt and Charlie Wilson's War - and three Tony nominations for his work on Broadway, including Death Of A Salesman.
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.
Hoffman's family called the news "tragic and sudden". He is survived by his partner of 15 years, Mimi O'Donnell, and their three children.
"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone," the family said in a statement.
Tributes poured in from Hollywood figures.
Spike Lee, who directed him in 25th Hour, said on Twitter:
Kevin Costner said: "Philip was a very important actor and really takes his place among the real great actors. It's a shame. Who knows what he would have been able to do? But we're left with the legacy of the work he's done and it all speaks for itself."
Steve Coogan was among the celebrities left shocked by the news on the red carpet at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards in central London.
"He did some tremendous work. Everything he was in he raised the quality of his film just by his presence," he said.
"People have different opinions about actors but you wouldn't find anybody who would have a bad word to say about any of his performances, they were all incredibly nuanced."
He added: "There are actors and there are movie stars and sometimes they're both but he was an actor first and a movie star second."
Skyfall actress Naomie Harris said: "That's a huge loss for everyone.
"He was an extraordinary and intelligent man, so it's incredibly sad, and it makes the evening all a bit more sombre now, having heard."
Actress Mia Farrow wrote on Twitter:
