**I wrote this for http://www.film-addict.com on Sunday night after he passed, and I thought it was worth sharing here.**

Philip Seymour Hoffman has died at the age of 46.   He was found dead in his Greenwich Village apartment of an apparent drug overdose.   Dan Buffa takes a brief look at his acting career.

Since we get so caught up in their ability to create, perform and dazzle us with their ability, moviegoers forget that the men and women who have the ability to transform are not invincible.   Sports fans fall under the same spell, forgetting the larger than life athletes can fall prey to the same addictions and hazards that befall many people every year.  Philip Seymour Hoffman had a serious drug and alcohol addiction over 23 years ago in college, and was able to kick the habit before he entered the world of film.  Today, he fell prey to the deadly habit of heroin use and was found dead, hypodermic needle in his arm and fully clothed, in his Manhattan apartment.  He was 46 years old.

Recent film fans remember him guiding young Katniss Everdeen in November’s Catching Fire.   He had finished filming the next installment, Mockingjay: Part 1, but was in the midst of filming Part 2.   Hoffman won an Oscar for Capote in 2005 and was nominated for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master last year.  More than the awards though, Hoffman was a chameleon.   He slipped into comedy roles early on in his career before becoming a tour de force dramatic actor.   In Sidney Lumet’s Before The Devil Knows You Are Dead, he was the older brother of Ethan Hawke who had to wrangle out of the most deadliest web of deceit and murder.  When I think of his acting prowness, I think of Hoffman’s conniving brother plotting an escape from hell and vocally slapping around Hawke’s inept brother.

Hoffman convinced you he was a gambler, a cheat, a murderer, a Tornado chaser, a bad basketball player, a musician and a famous writer.  That’s what the greatest actors do.  They convince you they can be completely different people and do it sometimes up to 3 times a year.    In The Master(admittedly a hard film to love), Hoffman played a man condemned by his own religious beliefs and seemed to hit a high that the rest of the film could never reach.   Hoffman could dominate a troubled film, elevate a bad movie and brighten up an already strong film.  He was part of an all star cast including Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener in 2012’s A Late Quartet and gave a heartbreaking performance as a musician stuck in a career trap.  It was another great performance and something we came to expect from the actor.

Look at his small yet pivotal role in Almost Famous as Lester Bangs.   Playing the old rock journalist guiding our young William along his path to not being “uncool”.   Speaking the majority of his part over the phone with Patrick Fugit, Hoffman conveyed a soulful yet preachy older poet, making a last minute attempt to tutor a young mad soul about the depths of which music will drag you down.

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