Philip Seymour Hoffman

DOB: 1967-07-23

DOD: 2014-02-02

Philip Seymour Hoffman (July 23, 1967 – February 2, 2014) was an American actor, director, and producer. Best known for his distinctive supporting and character roles–typically lowlifes, eccentrics, bullies, and misfits—Hoffman acted in many films, including leading roles, from the early 1990s until his death in 2014. Drawn to theater as a teenager, Hoffman studied acting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He began his screen career in a 1991 episode of Law & Order and started to appear in films in 1992. He gained recognition for his supporting work, notably in Scent of a Woman (1992), Boogie Nights (1997), Happiness (1998), Patch Adams (1998), The Big Lebowski (1998), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Almost Famous (2000), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), and Along Came Polly (2004). He began to occasionally play leading roles, and for his portrayal of the author Truman Capote in Capote (2005), won multiple accolades, including the Academy Award for Best Actor. Hoffman's profile continued to grow and he received three more Oscar nominations for his supporting work as a brutally frank CIA officer in Charlie Wilson's War (2007), a priest accused of pedophilia in Doubt (2008), and the charismatic leader of a Scientology-type movement in The Master (2012). While he mainly worked in independent films, including The Savages (2007) and Synecdoche, New York (2008), Hoffman also appeared in Flawless (1999), and Hollywood blockbusters such as Twister (1996) and Mission: Impossible III (2006), and in one of his final roles, as Plutarch Heavensbee in the Hunger Games series (2013–15). The feature Jack Goes Boating (2010) marked his debut as a filmmaker. Hoffman was also an accomplished theater actor and director. He joined the off-Broadway LAByrinth Theater Company in 1995, where he directed, produced, and appeared in numerous stage productions. His performances in three Broadway plays—True West in 2000, Long Day's Journey into Night in 2003, and Death of a Salesman in 2012—all led to Tony Award nominations.

Starred In

1998
Movie

The Big Lebowski

1999
Movie

Magnolia

2005
Movie

Capote

2002
Movie

25th Hour

1994
Movie

The Getaway

1996
Movie

Twister

2000
Movie

Almost Famous

2003
Movie

Cold Mountain

1998
Movie

Patch Adams

2011
Movie

The Ides of March

1998
Movie

Happiness

1997
Movie

Boogie Nights

2000
Movie

State and Main

2004
Movie

Along Came Polly

1994
Movie

Nobody's Fool

1998
Movie

Montana

1999
Movie

Flawless

2009
Movie

Mary and Max

2002
Movie

Punch-Drunk Love

1996
Movie

Hard Eight

2007
Movie

The Savages

1992
Movie

Scent of a Woman

1992
Movie

Leap of Faith

2002
Movie

Red Dragon

2008
Movie

Doubt

2011
Movie

Moneyball

2002
Movie

Love Liza

2003
Movie

Owning Mahowny

2010
Movie

Jack Goes Boating

2012
Movie

The Master

1993
Movie

Money for Nothing

1992
Movie

My New Gun

2001
Movie

Last Party 2000

2012
Movie

A Late Quartet

2014
Movie

A Most Wanted Man

2014
Movie

God's Pocket

1997
Movie

Culture

1997
Movie

Anita Liberty

1994
Movie

The Yearling

1993
Movie

Joey Breaker

1994
Movie

Szuler

2013
Movie

Salinger

1990
Tv

Law & Order

2002
Tv

Icons

2002
Tv

HypaSpace

2005
Tv

Empire Falls

1999
Tv

The Directors

1953
Tv

The Oscars

1956
Tv

Tony Awards

1997
Tv

Liberty!

1996
Tv

Arthur

2013
Tv

The Frame