hollywood lost one of its greatest
talents when academy award-winning actor
phillip seymour hoffman died on february
2nd 2014. he made more than 50 films
during his career ranging from the 1970s
porn industry drama boogie nights to the
critically acclaimed 2005 biopic capote
hoffman was also a celebrated stage
actor with three tony award nominations
to his credit he played the lead in
revivals of such masterworks as death of
a salesman and long day's journey in
tonight
hoffman's body was discovered in the
bathroom in his new york city apartment
and he had a syringe in his left arm
according to cnn hoffman's autopsy
revealed the toxic combination of drugs
that contributed to the actor's death a
lethal mix of heroin amphetamines
cocaine
benzodiazepines and other drugs his
cause of death was officially listed as
acute mixed drug intoxication and was
declared accidental as cnn's dr sanjay
gupta explained users can build up a
tolerance to taking a combination of
drugs they're not feeling it but it's
still having an impact on their ability
to breathe and that's the real problem
before his death hoffman had a long
history of dealing with drug addiction
according to an interview hoffman gave
to 60 minutes in 2006
he consumed any drug he could before
getting sober i got sober uh
i was 22 years old
hoffman managed to stay clean until may
2013. that month he went into rehab
after a relapse that involved snorting
heroin even after going through drug
detox philip seymour hoffman continued
to experience addiction
before his untimely death hoffman was in
atlanta filming an installment of the
hunger games which he was almost
finished shooting unfortunately he fell
back into his old habits after returning
to new york city hoffman's partner mimi
o'donnell described the final days of
his life in an essay for vogue writing
he started using again and three days
later he was dead she had been afraid of
drugs taking his life when he got back
into heroin o'donnell wrote
every day was filled with worry every
night when he went out i wondered will i
see him again
the couple was living apart at the time
of hoffman's death and the scene at his
apartment clearly showed how much he had
fallen back into his addiction police
found five empty bags of heroin and
around 65 unused bags used syringes and
prescription medications
still all of this evidence only provides
clues into the final hours of hoffman's
life no one knows exactly what happened
in his last moments according to cnn
o'donnell spoke to him around 8 pm and
he sounded high she became very
concerned when hoffman failed to pick up
their three children at her apartment
the following day and asked a friend
playwright david katz to go and check on
him cats and another person were the
ones to discover hoffman's body
hoffman's family friends and fans were
devastated by his sudden unexpected
death
several arrests were made in the wake of
hoffman's overdose a musician and friend
of hoffman's robert aaron weinberg was
arrested on three counts of criminal
possession of heroin just two days after
the actor's death a raid of a manhattan
apartment associated with weinberg
uncovered 350 small plastic bags
allegedly filled with heroin these bags
had similar labeling as those found in
hoffman's home weinberg insisted that he
didn't sell heroin to hoffman and the
charges were later dropped when weinberg
pled guilty to a lesser felony according
to the new york times
the mystery of who sold hoffman the
fatal drugs may never be solved and
there was no way to make up for the loss
of this tremendous talent he was only 46
years old when he died in addition to
his film roles he left an impressive
legacy in the theater world as one of
the founders of the labyrinth theater
company since its creation in 1992
hoffman had performed in and directed
several plays for the company the
downtown new york organization released
a statement on hoffman's passing saying
his contributions to the labyrinth
family as an artist and mentor are
immeasurable we join everyone in
mourning the passing of one of the great
lights of our generation
in her vogue essay hoffman's partner
mimi o'donnell remembered hoffman as
quote a sweet and gentle and loving man
o'donnell went on to add phil was
endlessly generous with his time and
energy and money if you or anyone you
know is struggling with addiction issues
help is available visit the substance
abuse and mental health services
administration website or contact
samhsa's national helpline at
1-800-662-help 1-800-662-4357
[Music]