RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

image of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman looking into the distance with a wry smile

Yesterday, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead of an apparent drug overdose. He was 46.

His Times obituary is here.

Hoffman was a beautiful actor, who was once described by Meryl Streep as "just the most fun to work with and the most—he sets such a great example to all of us of how to live your work with integrity and imagination every time, every time out." He was in some of my most beloved films, including The Big Lebowski and Magnolia, in the latter of which he played a home hospice nurse named Phil Parma, who is one of my favorite film characters of all time. He played many vulnerable characters, and imbued them with such lovable humanity.

Hoffman always struck me as being, in real life, the sort of grumpy, mercurial fuck I tend to adore. He was someone I would not have been afraid to meet for fear of disappointment.

I am sorry he is gone.

My sincerest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

[Note: If there are less flattering things to be said about Hoffman, they have been excluded because I am unaware of them, not as the result of any deliberate intent to whitewash his life. Please feel welcome to comment on the entirety of his work and life in this thread, though please note, as always, that speculation and judgment about addiction are not welcome in this space.]

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