Philip Seymour Hoffman found dead aged 46

Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead in New York at the age of 46, it has been reported.

Hoffman's body was found at his apartment at 35 Bethune Street in the West Village area of Manhattan. The cause of death was a suspected drug overdose.

He had previously struggled with drug addiction and last year checked himself into rehab after staying clean for over 20 years.

As well as his myriad screen credits including The Talented Mr Ripley, The Big Lebowski and Capote, Hoffman was the star and director of countless stage productions.

One of Hoffman’s earliest stage appearances was in Food and Shelter by Jane Anderson (1991). After a variety of roles, including Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice and Mark in the New York production of Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and Fucking, he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Actor in a Play in 2000 for a Broadway revival of Sam Shephard’s True West opposite John C Reilly.

He also played Konstantin in the Mike Nichols-directed production of The Seagull at the 2001 New York Shakespeare Festival, alongside Meryl Streep, Christopher Walken, Kevin Kline and John Goodman, and won another Tony nomination in 2003 for his work in a Broadway revival of Long Day's Journey into Night, co-starring Brian Dennehy and Vanessa Redgrave.

He received widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman on Broadway in 2012, for which he received a third Tony nomination.

Hoffman was co-artistic director (with fellow actor John Ortiz) of the innovative LAByrinth Theater Company, which was founded in New York in 1992 by a multicultural ensemble of actors. His 2000 New York production of Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train by Stephen Adly Guirgis transferred to the Donmar Warehouse before moving to the West End’s Arts Theatre, while his less critically-successful staging of Riflemind came to the West End in 2008.

But it is for his screen work that he was most widely recognised. Known as a character actor with a seemingly unending ability for reinvention, his roles ranged from the shy, effeminate Scotty J in Boogie Nights to a gruff American football coach in Moneyball.

He was thrice nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar, and won Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote.

Hoffman is survived by his partner, costume designer Mimi O'Donnell, as well as their three children.

See Also: Michael Coveney: Philip Seymour Hoffman, a troubled and unforgettable star of stage and screen