# Philip Seymour Hoffman has died. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 2, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364 "2014-02-02T18:34:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/41 "2014-02-02T20:01:23Z")
I’m genuinely upset by this, such a talented and versatile actor. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/42 "2014-02-02T20:06:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Fucking drugs and the fuckers who supply them. Success is never enough for an addict This is why I stick to alcohol. Booze (for me anyways) is something I can control. From what I read and heard of hard drugs you cant control them, they control you ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/43 "2014-02-02T20:06:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > BTW, whenever an addict is found dead with a needle in their arm, they probably didn’t die from an overdose. They probably died from an anaphylactic reaction to something the drug was cut with. I don’t know why you think that’s probable, but I’ve known two people that were declared overdoses that both had a needle in their arm. Here’s an article with a quote from a coroner. [http://www.katu.com/news/local/Cowtliz-County-reports-seven-heroin-overdose-deaths-146200595.html](http://www.katu.com/news/local/Cowtliz-County-reports-seven-heroin-overdose-deaths-146200595.html) ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/44 "2014-02-02T20:07:28Z")
Damn. And damn shame. A waste. But > [@Sampiro](#): > > … Heroin is such an unexpected drug of choice for a non-musician/college-educated/middle-aged guy… [Maybe not really.](http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20100617/drug-abuse-on-the-rise-in-baby-boomers) > [@](#): > > Drug Abuse on the Rise in Baby Boomers … > > … Drug abuse among Americans aged 50 and older has risen sharply in recent years, with admissions for treatment nearly doubling between 1992 and 2008, new research indicates. > > Although alcohol is still the leading substance abuse cause of hospital admissions for people in this age group, studies show older Americans are also turning to illicit drugs in large numbers. > > A study of admissions data by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the Department of Health and Human Services, finds that: > > Marijuana abuse exploded among the older age group in the period studied, with admissions for treatment rising from 0.6% to 2.9%. > Cocaine abuse nearly quadrupled, from 2.9% to 11.4%. > Heroin abuse more than doubled, from 7.2% to 16%. > Prescription drug abuse jolted from 0.7% to 3.5%. … ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/45 "2014-02-02T20:21:46Z")
Back in the late 90s, I lived on the upper east side of Manhattan. I had a friend Rikki who worked at a bookstore called Logos on Yorkville Avenue (which is a sort of out of the way neighborhood in the city - not a lot of tourists, not a ‘destination’ nabe.) I would sometimes stop in the stop in the store and hang out and have coffee with Rikki since there were never many customers there. One afternoon when I was there, a shlubby guy with a scruffy beard, rumpled sweatshirt and torn-up jeans came in and browsed for books for a while. He picked out a few books, asked about the release dates for a few others. He chatted with Rikki and myself for about 15-20 minutes about books and authors. After he left, Rikki said to me "Did you recognize him?’’ I shook my head. “That was Philip Seymour Hoffman; the actor.” PSH had only recently been making a name for himself. I was very surprised. “The guy from ‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’”??" I said. Rikki nodded. Hoffman had a supporting role in that film, but easily walked away with every scene he appeared in. I was a little surprised to realize I’d been talking to him. He was the very antithesis of the ‘Hollywood movie star’ archetype - he was down-to-earth, clearly very smart and passionate about literature. According to my friend Rikki, he came in to the bookstore often, and was always very amiable and nice. Not to disparage any of the other big stars who died too soon, but thinking of that brief meeting about 16 years ago it makes me especially sad to see him go out this way. RIP. ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/46 "2014-02-02T20:27:44Z")
He was one of very few actors who I’d watch in anything. I can’t think of a movie which he didn’t make better by being in it. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/47 "2014-02-02T20:29:49Z")
> [@Esco](#): > > This is why I stick to alcohol. Booze (for me anyways) is something I can control. From what I read and heard of hard drugs you cant control them, they control you Not derail this thread, but this is bullshit. My son is an addict and can no more control his urge to drink than a druggie can control his urge for a fix. Booze killed my father, not drugs. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/48 "2014-02-02T20:37:22Z")
As everyone pointed out at the time, he may as well have been in a different movie than his co-stars when he walked off with MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III, as the guy who essentially says, _no, see, you’re in over your head here, and you don’t even know it, and you’re bluffing, and it’s obvious, and, to be honest, that’s why I’m going to throw in a little torture before you die._ ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/49 "2014-02-02T20:39:06Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Holy crap. I remember first seeing him in _Scent of a Woman_, and he just kept getting better. All the time. He will be missed. That’s where I first noticed him too. As a young student torn between telling the truth and feeling pressured to lie, he was completely natural and believable, and that goes for everything I’ve seen him in since. You see someone who is so in command of himself in his work, you think he’s like that naturally, so his death is a real shock. He must have had some awful demons to deal with. A real tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Esco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9de053/32.png) [@Esco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esco)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/50 "2014-02-02T20:41:04Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Not derail this thread, but this is bullshit. My son is an addict and can no more control his urge to drink than a druggie can control his urge for a fix. Booze killed my father, not drugs Right, but thats your son and this is me. Thats why I wrote (for me anyways). Plenty of people can control their drinking, I’m sorry to hear your family could not ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/51 "2014-02-02T20:53:40Z")
How very sad. Fucking drugs. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/52 "2014-02-02T21:03:19Z")
He had a wonderful little cameo in _The Invention of Lying._. [Ricky Gervais reads the note he sent to Hoffman](https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=239119832879044) asking him to be in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/53 "2014-02-02T21:15:34Z")
I understand teenagers dying from heroin because they don’t listen to a goddamn thing anybody tells them but this guy survived his drug years. He knew what this shit did. Another waste of talent dead before his time. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/54 "2014-02-02T21:25:10Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I understand teenagers dying from heroin because they don’t listen to a goddamn thing anybody tells them but this guy survived his drug years. He knew what this shit did. Why would that make a difference to an addict? Do you think there are no smart, intelligent addicts who know the risks? Are we even certain what the cause of death is? ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/55 "2014-02-02T21:35:38Z")
Lots of actors die young of drug-realted problems. Then, their colleagues mourn the “untimely death of a friend”. After that they say he/she was doing drugs all during the filming. Nice friends. As long as they hit their cues and make money, they don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/56 "2014-02-02T21:38:47Z")
Has 3 kids too. Shit. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/57 "2014-02-02T21:41:45Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Lots of actors die young of drug-realted problems. > Then, their colleagues mourn the “untimely death of a friend”. > After that they say he/she was doing drugs all during the filming. > Nice friends. As long as they hit their cues and make money, they don’t care. Does something you’ve said made it evident that they’re not good friends? I have a close relative that is a heroin addict and I love him very much. I know of times that it was obvious he was using. So does his mother and everyone else close to him. There’s only so much we can do for him when he falls off the wagon and it’s not enough. We can’t make him stop. We’ll have similar things to say if heroin takes his life and it doesn’t make us “some family” and it doesn’t mean we don’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Wayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4bbf92/32.png) [@Charlie\_Wayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Wayne)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/58 "2014-02-02T21:48:06Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Wow. That one came out of nowhere. This is true. However, he did make one movie called Love Liza. > **[Love Liza (2002) ⭐ 6.9 | Comedy, Drama](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0282698/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_34)** > > 1h 30m | R In that film he portrayed an unfortunate who was hopelessly addicted to huffing gasoline. I just saw that movie 3 days ago and it was eery. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/59 "2014-02-02T22:02:20Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > He was one of very few actors who I’d watch in anything. I can’t think of a movie which he didn’t make better by being in it. > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As everyone pointed out at the time, he may as well have been in a different movie than his co-stars when he walked off with MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III, as the guy who essentially says, _no, see, you’re in over your head here, and you don’t even know it, and you’re bluffing, and it’s obvious, and, to be honest, that’s why I’m going to throw in a little torture before you die._ He was the only reason I watched M:I3. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364/60 "2014-02-02T22:03:18Z")
[http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1599537](http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1599537) > [@](#): > > I went (to rehab), I got sober when I was 22 years old," he said. > “You get panicked … and I got panicked for my life,” he said.“It really was just that.” > Last May Hoffman completed a 10-day detox program in rehab after admitting he relapsed after 23 years of sobriety. > He said the problems began more than a year ago. It "started slowly with prescription pills and recently escalated to snorting heroin,” he said. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/philip-seymour-hoffman-has-died/680364.md?page=4)