Philip Seymour Hoffman

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Philip Seymour Hoffman

American actor

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Oct 28, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Born:: July 23, 1967, Fairport, New York, U.S.

Died:: February 2, 2014, New York City

Awards And Honors:: Golden Globe Award; Academy Award (2006); Academy Award (2006): Actor in a Leading Role; Golden Globe Award (2006): Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Notable Works:: “Jack Goes Boating”

Movies/Tv Shows (Acted In):: "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2" (2015); "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1" (2014); "A Most Wanted Man" (2014); "God's Pocket" (2014); "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire" (2013); "A Late Quartet" (2012); "The Master" (2012); "Moneyball" (2011); "The Ides of March" (2011); "Jack Goes Boating" (2010); "Arthur" (2009); "The Invention of Lying" (2009); "The Boat That Rocked" (2009); "Mary and Max" (2009); "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); "Strangers with Candy" (2005); "Along Came Polly" (2004); "Cold Mountain" (2003); "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); "Boogie Nights" (1997); "Twister" (1996); "Sydney" (1996); "Nobody's Fool" (1994); "When a Man Loves a Woman" (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); "Szuler" (1992); "My New Gun" (1992); "Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole" (1991); "Law & Order" (1991)

Philip Seymour Hoffman (born July 23, 1967, Fairport, New York, U.S.—died February 2, 2014, New York City) was an American actor known for scene-stealing work in supporting roles and for his Academy Award-winning portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote (2005).

Early life and breakthrough roles

Hoffman became interested in theater when he was in high school. Following studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts (B.F.A., 1989), he began working in the theater in New York City and Chicago and on tour in Europe. His first notable movie role was as a prep school student in Scent of a Woman (1992). Subsequent films, including Twister (1996), gained him further audience recognition.

His big breakthrough came with his painfully emotional performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights (1997), which was set in the world of adult entertainment. Hoffman went on to add a number of noteworthy credits, among them The Big Lebowski (1998), Anderson’s Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), and Almost Famous (2000); in the latter film he played real-life music journalist Lester Bangs. In 2002 he continued his collaboration with Anderson in Punch Drunk Love and drew praise for his work in Spike Lee’s 25th Hour.

Empty movie theater and blank screen (theatre, motion pictures, cinema).

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Capote, Charlie Wilson’s War, and Doubt

In 2005 Hoffman appeared as Truman Capote in Capote. The film depicted Capote during the time he was researching what became his best-known book, In Cold Blood (1965). Already well known for his ability to immerse himself completely in his roles, Hoffman delivered a complex, honest performance that captured Capote’s essence and mannerisms without caricaturing him. In addition to an Oscar for best actor, Hoffman earned several other awards, including Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Independent Spirit, and Golden Globe awards.

Following Capote, Hoffman turned in another change-of-pace performance, this time as the villain in Mission: Impossible III (2006). In 2007 he appeared in a series of movies, including Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, directed by Sidney Lumet; The Savages; and Charlie Wilson’s War, in which he portrayed a real-life CIA agent who joins forces with a senator (played by Tom Hanks) to aid rebels fighting Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He was nominated for an Oscar for that role. Hoffman subsequently starred in Charlie Kaufman’s abstruse drama Synecdoche, New York (2008), playing an insecure theater director who moves to New York City and spends years attempting to stage a massive production. In Doubt (2008) he portrayed a Roman Catholic priest suspected by a nun (played by Meryl Streep) of abusing children. The performance earned him a second Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

The Master and The Hunger Games

In 2009 Hoffman appeared in Pirate Radio, a comedy about an illegal radio station operating on a tanker in the North Sea in the 1960s. He made his cinematic directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating (2010), in which he starred as a lonely limo driver who finds love on a blind date. Hoffman later took supporting roles in the baseball drama Moneyball (2011) and the political thriller The Ides of March (2011) before appearing in A Late Quartet (2012), an ensemble drama about classical musicians. His performance in Anderson’s The Master (2012), as a charismatic self-made guru in the years after World War II, won much acclaim and another Oscar nomination.

Hoffman then appeared as Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014), based on books in the dystopian series by Suzanne Collins. He played a small-time criminal whose stepson has been killed in an accident in God’s Pocket (2014) and a jaded German intelligence officer in the John le Carré adaptation A Most Wanted Man (2014).

Theater and TV

In addition to his screen work, Hoffman continued to act in the theater, garnering Tony Award nominations for revivals of Sam Shepard’s True West (2000), in which he and costar John C. Reilly alternated roles; Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night (2003); and Death of a Salesman (2012), in which he starred as Willy Loman. Hoffman also produced and directed for the stage, especially for the LAByrinth Theater Company in New York City, for which he served as co-artistic director. Television credits included the HBO miniseries Empire Falls (2005).

Death

Hoffman, who had a history of drug addiction, died of a heroin overdose in 2014. At the time of his death, he was filming The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2, which was released in 2015.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.