Name
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1967-07-23
Deathday
2014-02-02 (47 years old)
Place of Birth
Fairport, New York, USA
Biography
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.
Known For
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After surviving the Quarter Quell, Katniss finds herself in the hidden stronghold of Distr...
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As the war between the Capitol and the districts reaches its peak, Katniss Everdeen embark...
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After surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss and Peeta struggle with the consequences of thei...
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Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Et...
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Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White ...
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Charlie Simms is a student at a private preparatory school who comes from a poor family. T...
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Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than ...
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In 1977, an idealistic porn producer and his promising protege try to catch up with the en...
- 1998 The Big Lebowski as Brandt
- 1999 Magnolia as Phil Parma
- 2009 Doubt: Stage to Screen as Self
- 2005 Capote as Truman Capote
- 2006 Mission: Impossible III as Owen Davian
- 1999 The Talented Mr. Ripley as Freddie Miles
- 2002 25th Hour as Jacob Elinsky
- 1994 The Getaway as Frank Hansen
- 1996 Twister as Dusty
- 2000 Almost Famous as Lester Bangs
- 2003 Cold Mountain as Reverend Veasey
- 1998 Patch Adams as Mitch
- 2011 The Ides of March as Paul Zara
- 1998 Happiness as Allen
- 1994 When a Man Loves a Woman as Gary
- 2008 Synecdoche, New York as Caden Cotard
- 1997 Boogie Nights as Scotty J.
- 2000 State and Main as Joseph Turner White
- 2004 Along Came Polly as Sandy Lyle
- 2007 Charlie Wilson's War as Gust Avrakotos
- 2009 The Invention of Lying as Jim the Bartender
- 1994 Nobody's Fool as Officer Raymer
- 1998 Montana as Duncan
- 1993 My Boyfriend's Back as Chuck Bronski
- 2007 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead as Andy Hanson
- 1999 Flawless as Rusty
- 2009 Mary and Max as Max (voice)
- 2002 Punch-Drunk Love as Dean Trumbell
- 1997 Hard Eight as Young Craps Player
- 2007 The Savages as Jon Savage
- 1994 It Is Now Our Time: Peter Sellars’ The Merchant of Venice as Launcelot Gobbo
- 1992 Scent of a Woman as George Willis, Jr.
- 1992 Leap of Faith as Matt
- 2002 Red Dragon as Freddy Lounds
- 2006 Strangers with Candy as Henry
- 1998 Next Stop Wonderland as Sean
- 2008 Doubt as Father Brendan Flynn
- 2011 Moneyball as Art Howe
- 2002 Love Liza as Wilson Joel
- 2003 Owning Mahowny as Dan Mahowny
- 2010 Jack Goes Boating as Jack
- 2012 The Master as Lancaster Dodd
- 2009 The Boat That Rocked as The Count
- 1993 Money for Nothing as Cochran
- 1992 My New Gun as Chris
- 2001 Last Party 2000 as Self
- 2013 The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as Plutarch Heavensbee
- 2012 A Late Quartet as Robert Gelbart
- 2000 Reflections on 'the Talented Mr. Ripley' as Self
- 2000 Inside 'The Talented Mr. Ripley' as Self
- 2015 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 as Plutarch Heavensbee
- 2014 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 as Plutarch Heavensbee
- 2014 A Most Wanted Man as Günther Bachmann
- 2003 Mattress Man Commercial as Dean Trumbull
- 2006 Making Capote: Concept to Script as Self
- 2003 The Evolution of an American Filmmaker as Self
- 2006 Truman Capote: Answered Prayers as Self
- 1992 Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole as Klutch
- 2014 God's Pocket as Mickey Scarpato
- 1997 Culture as Bill
- 1997 Anita Liberty as Man at Party #3
- 2003 A Director's Journey: The Making of 'Red Dragon' as Self
- 2011 A Child's Garden of Poetry as Self (voice)
- 1994 The Yearling as Buck
- 1995 The Fifteen Minute Hamlet as Bernardo, Horatio & Laertes
- 2015 Straight from the Heart: A Tribute to Philip Seymour Hoffman as Self (Archive Footage)
- 2015 The Making of A Most Wanted Man as Self
- 1993 Joey Breaker as Wiley McCall
- 2009 I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale as Self
- 1994 Cheat as Martin
- 2000 That Moment: Magnolia Diary as Self
- 2016 Starring Austin Pendleton as Self
- 2010 Restoring a Masterpiece: The Renovation of Eastman Theatre as Narrator (voice)
- 2008 Directed by Sidney Lumet: How the Devil Was Made as Self
- 2013 Salinger as Self - Actor
- 2013 The Master: Unguided Message
- 1994 Inside the Actors Studio ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1990 Law & Order ( 1 episode ) as Steven Hanauer
- 1996 The Daily Show ( 5 episodes ) as Self
- 1988 LIVE with Kelly and Mark ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 2002 Icons ( 1 episode )
- 2002 HypaSpace ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1992 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno ( 1 episode )
- 1999 The Early Show ( 1 episode ) as Self - Guest
- 1993 Late Night with Conan O'Brien ( 3 episodes ) as Self - Guest
- 2005 Empire Falls ( 2 episodes ) as Charlie Mayne
- 1999 The Directors ( 1 episode ) as Self
- 1953 The Oscars ( 2 episodes ) as Self
- 1997 Liberty! ( 6 episodes ) as Joseph Plumb Martin
- 1996 Arthur ( 1 episode ) as William Fillmore Toffman (voice)
- 2012 Too Young to Die ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 2013 The Frame ( 1 episode ) as Plutarch Heavensbee
- 1944 Golden Globe Awards ( 1 episode ) as Self - Nominee
- 2007 Chelsea Lately ( 1 episode ) as Self (archive footage)
- 1956 Tony Awards ( 3 episodes ) as Self - Nominee
- 1997 Storyville ( 1 episode )
