File photo of 2006 shows actor PhilipSeymour Hoffman who was awarded a best actor Oscar for his role in the 2005 film Capote. Photo: PAOscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has died from an 'apparent drug overdose' in his New York City apartment, an NYPD spokesman said yesterday.
The 46-year-old was found dead in his bathroom in the city's Greenwich Village area at 11.30am local time.
Awarded a best actor Oscar for his role in the 2005 film Capote, Seymour Hoffman checked into rehab in May for heroin use.
“He was found dead in his bathroom of an apparent drug overdose,” an NYPD spokesman said, adding that police were called by a friend of the actor.
Speaking at the London Critics' Circle Film Awards in central London, John Hurt - who starred with Seymour Hoffman in 2003 film Owning Mahowny - said: 'It's a devastating loss. His contribution was massive.'
Celebrities paid tribute to the actor on Twitter. Actress Mia Farrow wrote: “OH NO!!!!! Philip Seymour Hoffman has died. A truly kind, wonderful man and one of our greatest actors - ever.”
The news came after claims his representatives had denied a death hoax spread earlier in the week. The actor was working on the last instalment of teen franchise The Hunger Games, in which he played head gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee.
Born in Fairport, New York, in 1967, Seymour Hoffman played memorable characters in The Big Lebowski, Boogie Nights and Magnolia and also had a distinguished career in the theatre.