Philip Seymour Hoffman (Fairport, New York, USA, July 23, 1967 - New York City, New York, USA, February 2, 2014)

Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American film and theatre actor, director and film producer. He studied acting at the Tisch School of the Arts at the New York University and upon graduation he started to work in theatre. Outside of the theatre, his first roles were on TV in the TV series Law & Order (1991) and TV film Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991). In the early days of his career he had other jobs to support his acting career, but after a smaller role in Martin Brest’s Scent of a Woman (1992) he devotes his entire professional career to acting. His other notable roles from that period include those in the romantic drama When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) and the drama Nobody's Fool (1994). He remained active in theatre and in 1995 joined the theatre group LAByrinth in New York. Afterwards, he acted in the adventure blockbuster Twister (1996), Paul Thomas Anderson’s feature debut Sydney (1996) as well as his next film Boogie Nights (1997), which was praised by audiences and critics alike. Thanks to that role he gained attention as an actor and continued his collaboration with Anderson in almost all of his future films. He acted in independent films, romantic comedy Next Stop Wonderland (1998) by Brad Anderson and in the drama Happiness (1998) by Todd Solondz. His next film was the Cohen brothers’ film The Big Lebowski (1998) and in that same year he acted with Robin Williams in the biographical drama Patch Adams (1998). He starred opposite Robert De Niro in the crime comedy by the director Joel Schumacher Flawless (1999). During his entire career, he continued to act in theatre and was nominated for the Tony award. In 1999, he made his debut as a theater director. He joined with Paul Thomas Anderson again to work on his film Magnolia (1999), which he often pointed out as one of his own favorite films. The end of 1990’s was marked with yet another great role in Anthony Minghella’s thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999). He worked with director Cameron Crowe on his film about the music industry Almost Famous (2000) and then starred in the low-budget film Love Liza (2002), for which his brother Gordy Hoffman wrote the screenplay. After Anderson’s romantic comedy Punch-Drunk Love (2002) he acted in several high-budget films such as Red Dragon (2002) by Brett Ratner, 25th Hour (2002) by Spike Lee and Cold Mountain (2003) by Anthony Minghella. His next leading role of a gambler was in the less popular film Owning Mahowny (2003) by Richard Kwietniowski. He got a chance of a lifetime and seized it completely when he was offered the leading role in the biographical drama Capote (2005) directed by Bennett Miller about the famous American writer Truman Capote. Besides many other awards, in 2006, he received an Oscar, Golden Globe and the BAFTA award for that role. Afterwards he was the main bad guy in the Mission: Impossible III (2006). In the following year he starred in the independent film The Savages (2007) by Tamara Jenkins, director Sydney Lumet’s last film Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007) and the historical biographical drama Charlie Wilson's War (2007) by Mike Nichols. He starred in the already established screenwriter Charlie Kaufman’s directing debut Synecdoche, New York (2008). After the drama Doubt (2008) in which he played a priest accused of pedophilia, he starred in the comedy The Boat That Rocked (2009). He directed the film adaptation of a play Jack Goes Boating (2010), in which he also acted, but the film was not very well received. He returned to acting in the sports drama Moneyball (2011) by Bennett Miller, George Clooney’s political drama The Ides of March (2011) and the drama about a religious cult The Master (2012) by Paul Thomas Anderson. In that same year he portrayed a musician in the drama A Late Quartet (2012) by Yaron Zilberman. His next roles were those in the high-budget and commercially successful The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) by Francis Lawrence and its sequel The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014). One of his last roles was in Anton Corbijn’s A Most Wanted Man (2014). He passed away due to an overdose with a combination of drugs at the age of 46. Even though he managed to quit drugs and alcohol when he was 22, according to his own confession, he started using heroin again in 2013 and voluntarily applied to rehab for ten days. His last role on film was in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (most of the scenes were shot before his death).


Filmography:
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015) (in postproduction)
Happyish (in postproduction) (TV series, 1 episode)
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)
A Most Wanted Man (2014)
God's Pocket (2014)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Back Beyond (2013) (V)
A Late Quartet (2012)
The Master (2012)
Moneyball (2011)
The Ides of March (2011)
A Child's Garden of Poetry (2011) (TV, voice)
Jack Goes Boating (2010)
Arthur (2009) (animated TV series, 1 episode, voice)
The Invention of Lying (2009)
The Boat That Rocked (2009)
Mary and Max (2009) (animated, voice)
Sumnja (Doubt, 2008)
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Charlie Wilson's War (2007)
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
The Savages (2007)
Mission: Impossible III (2006)
Capote (2005)
Empire Falls (2005) (TV)
Strangers with Candy (2005)
Along Came Polly (2004)
Cold Mountain (2003)
Mattress Man Commercial (2003) (V)
Owning Mahowny (2003)
25th Hour (2002)
Red Dragon (2002)
Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Love Liza (2002)
Almost Famous (2000)
State and Main (2000)
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Magnolia (1999)
Flawless (1999)
Patch Adams (1998)
Happiness (1998)
The Big Lebowski (1998)
Next Stop Wonderland (1998)
Montana (1998)
Liberty! The American Revolution (1997) (mini TV series, 4 episodes)
Culture (1997)
Boogie Nights (1997)
Twister (1996)
Sydney (1996)
The Fifteen Minute Hamlet (1995)
Nobody's Fool (1994)
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
The Yearling (1994) (TV)
Szuler (1994)
The Getaway (1994)
Money for Nothing (1993)
My Boyfriend's Back (1993)
Joey Breaker (1993)
Scent of a Woman (1992)
Leap of Faith (1992)
My New Gun (1992)
Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole (1991)
Law & Order (1991) (TV series, 1 episode)