Sources: Philip Seymour Hoffman dead of apparent drug overdose
updated 4:25 PM EST, Sun February 2, 2014
Hoffman played the slightly creepy production assistant Scotty in 1997's "Boogie Nights," with Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- NEW: Sources: Investigators found empty bags stamped with street names for heroin
- Police are investigating the scene; an autopsy is scheduled for Monday
- Law enforcement sources tell CNN that a needle was found in Hoffman's arm
- He won an Oscar for the film "Capote"
(CNN) -- Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman has been found dead of an apparent drug overdose in his Manhattan apartment, law enforcement sources said Sunday.
Police said Hoffman, 46, was found on the bathroom floor and pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators found two bags of what is believed to be heroin inside the fourth-floor apartment, law enforcement officials said.
Police are investigating to determine whether anyone was with the actor when he died, the officials said.
Philip Seymour Hoffman arrives for the Los Angeles premiere of 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire' at the Nokia Theatre LA Live in Los Angeles, California, on November 18.
"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone. This is a tragic and sudden loss and we ask that you respect our privacy during this time of grieving," Hoffman's family said in a statement. "Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers."
Hoffman was last seen alive at 8 p.m. Saturday, a law enforcement official said. He was expected to get his kids on Sunday, but didn't show up, the official said. Playwright David Katz and another person went to the apartment and found him dead, the official said.
A needle was in the actor's left arm, and eight empty glassine-type bags that usually contain heroin were found in the apartment, law enforcement sources told CNN.
The bags were stamped with "Ace of Hearts" and "Ace of Spades" -- street names for the heroin, the sources said.
An autopsy will be conducted on Hoffman's body Monday, said Julie Blocker, a spokeswoman for New York City's Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
Hoffman won an Academy Award for best actor for the 2005 biopic "Capote."
He was a beefy 5-foot-10-inch man, but was convincing as the slight, 5-foot-3-inch Truman Capote. He had a booming voice like a deity's but often played shlubby, conflicted characters.
He could be heartfelt and giving, as with his male nurse in "Magnolia" or rock critic in "Almost Famous," or creepily Machiavellian, like the gamemaster in the latest "Hunger Games" movie or a "Mission: Impossible" movie villain.
He also appeared in "Charlie Wilson's War," "Doubt," and "The Master," for which he was nominated as best supporting actor.
According to a biography of the actor posted on the Turner Classic Movies website, last year Hoffman revealed he was seeking treatment for drug abuse, and "seemed to be confident that he was getting a handle on the situation."
Hoffman's father was a salesman and his mother was a family court judge, the biography says.
He landed his first professional stage role before graduating from high school and went on to study acting at New York University.
In Hollywood, his big break came with a small role as Chris O'Donnell's classmate in the 1992 film "Scent of a Woman."
For years, Hoffman was the kind of anonymous character actor who earned critical raves but was often unnoticed by the general public. He used his abilities to take chances with such directors as a then-unknown Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom he worked in "Hard Eight" (and several ensuing films, as both became better known) and Todd Solondz ("Happiness").
"I think about that a lot," he told Esquire in 2012 of his anonymity. "I feel it cracking lately, the older I'm getting. I think I'm less anonymous than I was."
Even after winning the Academy Award, he took challenging roles. He was an L. Ron Hubbard-style leader in "The Master" and an intense theater director in "Synecdoche, New York." Neither lit up the box office, but Hoffman's performances earned wide praise for their immersiveness.
Hoffman appeared last month at the Sundance Film Festival, where a movie he starred in, "God's Pocket," premiered.
After his Oscar win at the Academy Awards in 2006, Hoffman thanked his mother for taking him to his first play.
"She brought up four kids alone and she deserves a congratulations for that. Ah, we're at the party, Ma, you know? And she took me to my first play and she stayed up with me and watched the NCAA Final Four, and my passions, her passions became my passions. And, you know, be proud, Mom, because I'm proud of you and we're here tonight and it's so good," he said in his acceptance speech.
Hoffman stayed active on stage even as his star rose in Hollywood. He starred in a Broadway production of "Death of a Salesman" in 2012 and was co-artistic director of the Labyrinth Theater Company in New York.
He is survived by three children and his longtime partner, Mimi O'Donnell.
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