Claim: Philip Seymour Hoffman is a thespian.

Philip Seymour Hoffman -LRB- July 23 , 1967 -- February 2 , 2014 -RRB- was an American actor , director , and producer of film and theater . Best known for his distinctive supporting and character roles -- typically lowlifes , bullies , and misfits -- Hoffman made many films from the early 1990s until his death at age 46 .   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 Boogie Nights -LRB- 1997 -RRB- , Happiness -LRB- 1998 -RRB- , Patch Adams -LRB- 1998 -RRB- , The Big Lebowski -LRB- 1998 -RRB- , Magnolia -LRB- 1999 -RRB- , The Talented Mr. Ripley -LRB- 1999 -RRB- , Almost Famous -LRB- 2000 -RRB- , Punch-Drunk Love -LRB- 2002 -RRB- , and Along Came Polly -LRB- 2004 -RRB- . He began to occasionally play leading roles , and for his portrayal of the author Truman Capote in Capote -LRB- 2005 -RRB- , 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 -LRB- 2007 -RRB- , a priest accused of pedophilia in Doubt -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , and the charismatic leader of a Scientology-type movement in The Master -LRB- 2012 -RRB- .   While he mainly worked in independent films , including The Savages -LRB- 2007 -RRB- and Synecdoche , New York -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , Hoffman also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters , such as Twister -LRB- 1996 -RRB- and Mission : Impossible III -LRB- 2006 -RRB- , and in one of his final roles , as Plutarch Heavensbee in the Hunger Games series -LRB- 2013 -- 15 -RRB- . The feature Jack Goes Boating -LRB- 2010 -RRB- 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 -LRB- 2000 -RRB- , Long Day 's Journey into Night -LRB- 2003 -RRB- , and Death of a Salesman -LRB- 2012 -RRB- -- all led to Tony Award nominations .   Hoffman struggled with drug addiction as a young adult , and relapsed in 2013 after many years of sobriety . In February 2014 , he was found dead with a syringe of heroin still in his arm , but the official cause of death was combined drug intoxication -- an unexpected event that was widely lamented in the film and theater industries . Remembered for his fearlessness in playing reprehensible characters , and for bringing depth and humanity to such roles , Hoffman was described in his New York Times obituary as `` perhaps the most ambitious and widely admired American actor of his generation '' .