Learn PEOPLE’s Cowl Story About His Dying 11 Years Later

Sunday marks 11 years because the sudden demise of Philip Seymour Hoffman at age 46 on Feb. 2, 2014. In honor of the late actor, under is PEOPLE’s cowl story from the archive about his surprising demise.

He was an Oscar-winning star with scene-stealing roles in additional than 50 movies, however within the downtown Manhattan neighborhood he had referred to as dwelling for years, Philip Seymour Hoffman was merely one of many locals: the rumpled bicycle owner pedaling by the West Village; the dad strolling his three youngsters to high school; the actor poring over scripts or having a drink at one among his favourite low-key bars.

Nonetheless, as knowledgeable as he was at mixing in, he did draw consideration when he turned up on the Barrow Avenue Alehouse after getting back from a 10-day detox for heroin dependancy final spring.

“I keep in mind he had simply gotten again from rehab, and he ordered ‘one half of a beer,’ ” remembers a neighborhood buddy. “The bartender mentioned, ‘Phil, a beer is three bucks. You’ll be able to’t splurge for an entire?’ Then it hit us that he was making an attempt to not drink by consuming solely ‘half.’ However that’s not the way it works, sadly. He simply couldn’t combat the demon.”

Sadly, the 46-year-old actor, who was revered by friends and followers alike for respiratory advanced life into indelible characters on stage and display screen, misplaced his decades-long combat with dependancy on Feb. 2. Discovered unconscious at 11:30 a.m. within the toilet of his rented fourth-floor residence by a buddy after he failed to indicate up on time that day to choose up his youngsters, Hoffman died of an obvious drug overdose, with police officers confirming he had a syringe nonetheless inserted in his left arm. Scattered across the residence had been greater than 50 envelopes of what gave the impression to be heroin — many marked with an ace of spades or ace of hearts. (Police sources say the markings signify brandings from drug sellers.) Whereas authorities proceed to analyze the supply of the heroin, Hoffman’s household and associates had been left reeling.

“It is a tragic and sudden loss,” his household mentioned in an announcement. “We’re devastated.”

Whereas his former costars, together with Nicole Kidman and George Clooney, paid tribute to the person Kidman referred to as “one of many best actor’s actors of all time,” condolences poured in for Hoffman’s longtime girlfriend and fellow Labyrinth Theater Firm member Mimi O’Donnell, 46, and the couple’s youngsters Cooper, 10, Tallulah, 7, and Willa, 5, who had been dwelling in a separate residence on the time. “My coronary heart is torn asunder for Mimi and their youngsters,” says Hoffman’s buddy Adam Nelson. “Phil was starlight. The gold commonplace.”

He was additionally troubled. Locals in his West Village neighborhood noticed the actor throughout each completely happy and seemingly darker non-public moments.

“He’d go over to Oliver’s restaurant along with his son Cooper. They’d have lunch, and also you’d see them speaking and laughing for hours at a time,” says the neighborhood supply. “Then, come dusk, you’d see Phil again at Oliver’s, hunched over the bar, alone, trying like a wholly completely different man. He seemed very darkish and depressed.” A second supply says he witnessed Hoffman stumble into his residence after late nights out, “needing to be helped into the constructing.”

However within the days main as much as his demise, associates and locals noticed little indicators of misery. Attending Sundance final month to advertise his movie A Most Needed Man, he was reluctant to do interviews, and a few trade insiders mentioned he appeared raveled. However others noticed solely a consummate professional.

“He appeared nice. He was only a common man, which is what I’ve at all times beloved about him,” says photographer Victoria Will, who shot what would grow to be one among his final portraits. “I noticed him final week, and he was clear and sober, his outdated self,” David Katz, the buddy who discovered Hoffman’s physique, instructed The New York Instances.

By no means miss a narrative — join PEOPLE’s free day by day e-newsletter to remain up-to-date on the very best of what PEOPLE has to supply​​, from movie star information to driving human-interest tales.

Simply the evening earlier than his physique was discovered, he was noticed at a neighborhood restaurant, Automated Slim’s, the place he and two associates dined on guacamole and burgers. His buddy had a beer; Hoffman drank solely a cranberry soda. In response to the bartender, “He appeared effective.”

Whereas his demise got here as a shock, Hoffman had lengthy been blunt about his wrestle with dependancy, acknowledging that he had first undergone rehab as a 22-year-old New York College grad.

“You get panicked … and I bought panicked for my life,” he instructed 60 Minutes in 2006. In 2011 he instructed The Guardian, “I had no real interest in consuming carefully. And I nonetheless don’t. Simply because all that point’s handed doesn’t imply possibly it was only a section. That’s who I’m.” Final Could he shocked many in Hollywood when he revealed that after 23 years of sobriety, he had fallen into heroin dependancy after first utilizing pharmaceuticals. He spent simply 10 days in a detox program earlier than resuming a busy taking pictures schedule that included roles in a now-defunct Showtime pilot, Happyish, and the ultimate two installments of the blockbuster Starvation Video games franchise.

Raised with three siblings within the suburbs of Rochester, N.Y., by his mom, Marilyn, a household courtroom choose who cut up from his father, businessman Gordon, when he was younger, Hoffman fell in love with the theater after seeing All My Sons at age 12.

By his 30s he was starting to rack up Tony, Emmy and Oscar nominations in a variety of performances (together with an Oscar win for 2005’s Capote), however he remained deeply self-critical. When folks praised his work, he mentioned in 2006, “I’ll be, like, ‘Thanks,’ however I received’t say the second half, which is, ‘You’re mistaken.’ It’s not at all times wholesome.” Provides Matthew Warchus, who directed his Tony-nominated flip in 2000’s True West: “I believe the tortured half comes from him not settling. The viewers advantages. However the artist himself, it’s a combined blessing to have these requirements. Nothing is simple.”

As arduous as he was on his personal work, he was supportive of others’. “He may do something he needed to do, and final spring he directed an Off-Broadway play in our 90-seat theater,” says Labyrinth director Danny Feldman. “He was at all times excited.” On the set of the 2007 dramedy The Savages, “he saved to himself, however he was heat,” says Jason Hayes, a hairstylist on the movie. “You undoubtedly knew he was a delicate soul.”

One fixed all through was his affection for his youngsters. “They’re all he ever talked about on set,” says Hayes.

Deeply dedicated to his youngsters — who inherited his well-known pink hair — Hoffman was a fixture on the Chelsea Piers athletic advanced in New York Metropolis, the place he turned up each Saturday for his son Cooper’s basketball practices. “He was not a drop-off dad or mum,” says Ryan Berger, a fellow dad who had seen him simply 24 hours earlier than his demise. “He was dedicated to what his son was doing.”

Now, as those that beloved Hoffman say goodbye and people who admired his work mourn what might need been, there may be solely disappointment on the lack of a “actually vivid particular person, a household man who made so many good selections,” says Warchus. “That’s the hideous half about dependancy.”

Provides Michael Ohoven, producer of Capote: “For any individual so clever and with monumental willpower to succumb to such a horrible illness, I can’t even grasp it. All I can take into consideration is that he’s sitting up there and giving one among his darkish, massive chuckles.”

For those who or somebody you already know is scuffling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.