Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip-Seymour-Hoffman.jpg
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 2002
Born July 23, 1967 (1967-07-23) (age 42)
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Occupation actor, theater director
Years active 1991 - present
Domestic partner(s) Mimi O'Donnell

Philip Seymour Hoffman (born July 23, 1967) is an American BAFTA-, Golden Globe-, SAG- and Academy Award-winning actor.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Hoffman was born in Rochester, New York, the son of Marilyn L. O'Connor, a family court judge, lawyer and civil rights activist, and Gordon S. Hoffman, a former Xerox executive.[1] He has two sisters, Jill and Emily, and a brother, Gordy Hoffman, who scripted the 2002 film Love Liza, in which Philip starred. Hoffman has Irish ancestry;[2] his father was Protestant and his mother was Catholic, but Hoffman was not raised with a deep commitment to either religious tradition.[3] Hoffman's parents divorced when he was nine years old.[4] His first acting role was as Radar O'Reilly in Fairport High School's production of M*A*S*H in 1982.

Hoffman attended the 1984 Theater School at the New York State Summer School for the Arts. He received a BFA in drama in 1989 from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. At NYU, he was a founding member of the notoriously short-lived and volatile theater company the Bullstoi Ensemble with actor Steven Schub and director Bennett Miller.[5]

He was college roommates at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts with actor Steven Schub (lead singer of ska band The Fenwicks) and Jimmie Corrieri (guitarist of The Fenwicks).[6] Soon after graduating, he went to rehab for drug and alcohol addiction and has since remained sober.[7]

Film and television career

Hoffman's first role was as a defendant in a 1991 episode of the television series Law & Order. He made his film breakthrough in 1992 when he appeared in four feature films, with the most successful film being Scent of a Woman, in which he played a backstabbing classmate of Chris O'Donnell's character. He had been stocking shelves at a city grocery at the time before landing the role and credits the film to kickstarting his career.

Hoffman has established a successful and respected film career playing diverse and idiosyncratic characters in supporting roles, working with a wide variety of noted directors, including Paul Thomas Anderson, The Coen Brothers, Cameron Crowe, Spike Lee, David Mamet, Robert Benton, Todd Solondz and Anthony Minghella; notably, he has appeared in four out of five of Anderson's feature films to date (Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love).

He appeared in Last Party 2000, a documentary about the 2000 U.S. elections. Throughout his career he has rarely been given a chance to play the lead role. In 2002, however, Hoffman starred as a widower coping with his wife's suicide in Love Liza, for which his brother, Gordy Hoffman, wrote the screenplay. In 2003, he played the lead role in Owning Mahowny as a bank employee who embezzles money to feed his gambling addiction.

Hoffman has continued to play supporting parts in such films as Cold Mountain, as a carnally obsessed preacher, Along Came Polly, as Ben Stiller's crude has-been actor buddy, and Mission: Impossible III, as villainous arms dealer Owen Davian out to kill Ethan Hunt. Hoffman has distinguished himself by playing a wide contrast of characters including gay characters (Boogie Nights, Flawless and Capote), lonely losers (Happiness), spoiled rich brats (Scent of a Woman, Patch Adams and The Talented Mr. Ripley), caring and nurturing figures (Magnolia and Almost Famous), vicious thugs (Punch-Drunk Love and Mission: Impossible III), sensitive artists (State and Main), an outlandish CIA officer (Charlie Wilson's War), and so on.

He received his first Emmy Award nomination for the HBO miniseries Empire Falls, but lost to castmate and personal idol Paul Newman. One of Hoffman's earliest roles was as a police deputy who gets punched in the face by Newman in 1994's Nobody's Fool.

In 2005, Hoffman won widespread acclaim for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in the film Capote. His performance received numerous high-profile accolades and awards, including the Academy Award for Best Actor, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. In addition, he was also awarded Best Actor by at least ten film critic associations, including the National Board of Review, Toronto Film Critics, and Los Angeles Film Critics.

In 2007, Hoffman was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for playing Gust Avrakotos, a CIA officer who helps Congressman Charlie Wilson support a covert war in Afghanistan in the movie Charlie Wilson's War. In 2008, he was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the same role.

He has two films awaiting release in 2008: Synecdoche, New York, in which he plays Caden Cotard, a man who attempts to build a full-scale replica of New York inside a warehouse for a play, and Doubt, in which he plays Father Flynn, a priest accused of abusing a black student.

Stage career

In addition to his television and film career, Hoffman has been recognized for his work in theater. He has twice been nominated for a Tony Award: as Best Actor (Play) in 2000 for a Broadway revival of Sam Shepard's True West opposite John C. Reilly, and for Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) in 2003 for a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. In 1999, he also starred in Richard Greenberg's one-act play, The Author's Voice, in New York. Hoffman has also distinguished himself as a director with off-Broadway projects such as Rebecca Gilman's The Glory of Living at the MCC Theater, and Stephen Adly Guirgis's Jesus Hopped the A Train, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, and The Little Flower of East Orange. Hoffman is co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company, along with actor John Ortiz.

Personal life

Hoffman is in a relationship with costume designer Mimi O'Donnell. They met while working on the 1999 play In Arabia We'd All Be Kings, which Hoffman directed. They have a son, Cooper Alexander, born in March 2003, and a daughter, Tallulah, born in November 2006.[8] In October 2008, they welcomed a second daughter.[9]

Hoffman is a fan of the New York Mets baseball team.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1991 Triple Bogey on a Par Five Hole Klutch
1992 Szuler
My New Gun Chris
Leap of Faith Matt
Scent of a Woman George Willis, Jr.
1993 Joey Breaker Wiley McCall
My Boyfriend's Back Chuck Bronski
Money for Nothing Cochran
1994 The Getaway Frank Hansen
The Yearling Buck (TV)
When a Man Loves a Woman Gary
Nobody's Fool Officer Raymer
1995 The Fifteen Minute Hamlet Bernardo, Horatio & Laertes
1996 Hard Eight young craps player
Twister Dustin Davis
1997 Boogie Nights Scotty J.
1998 Culture Bill
Montana Duncan
Next Stop Wonderland Sean
The Big Lebowski Brandt
Happiness Allen Chlotrudis Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
Patch Adams Mitch Roman
1999 Flawless Rusty Zimmerman Won San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor
Magnolia Phil Parma Won Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor
The Talented Mr. Ripley Freddie Miles
2000 Titanic 2000 himself
State and Main Joseph Turner White
Almost Famous Lester Bangs Chicago Film Critics Association nomination for Best Supporting Actor
2002 Love Liza Wilson Joel
Punch-Drunk Love Dean Trumbell Golden Satellite nomination for Best Supporting Actor
Red Dragon Freddy Lounds
25th Hour Jacob Elinsky
2003 Owning Mahowny Dan Mahowny Won Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Cold Mountain Reverend Veasey
2004 Along Came Polly Sandy Lyle
2005 Strangers with Candy Henry, Board Of Education
Empire Falls Charlie Mayne (miniseries) Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Capote Truman Capote Academy Award for Best Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture
2006 Mission: Impossible III Owen Davian Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor
2007 Before the Devil Knows You're Dead Andy Hanson
The Savages Jon Savage Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Charlie Wilson's War Gust Avrakotos Nomination - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
2008 Synecdoche, New York Caden Cotard
Doubt Father Flynn awaiting release
2009 The Boat That Rocked The Count post-production
Mary and Max Max (voice only) post-production

References

  1. ↑ Philip Seymour Hoffman biography Film Reference.com.
  2. ↑ "Transcript: Inside the Actor's Studio, 2000". Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  3. ↑ "PSH Frequently Asked Questions". Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  4. ↑ "Philip Seymour Hoffman Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved on 2006-11-01.
  5. ↑ Philip Seymour Hoffman on Inside the Actors Studio
  6. ↑ Philip Seymour Hoffman on Inside the Actors Studio
  7. ↑ "Nominee Hoffman once struggled with drugs", Associated Press (February 16, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-01. 
  8. ↑ Hancock, Noelle (June 22, 2006). "Philip Seymour Hoffman and Girlfriend Expecting Second Child", Us Weekly. Retrieved on 2006-11-01. 
  9. ↑ http://www.bounty.com/Acclaimed-actor-welcomes-baby-girl--.news/18839980

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Leonardo DiCaprio
for The Aviator		 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama
2005
for Capote		 Succeeded by
Forest Whitaker
for The Last King of Scotland
Preceded by
Jamie Foxx
for Ray		 BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2005
for Capote		 Succeeded by
Forest Whitaker
for The Last King of Scotland
Academy Award for Best Actor

Denzel Washington (2001) · Adrien Brody (2002) · Sean Penn (2003) · Jamie Foxx (2004) · Philip Seymour Hoffman (2005) · Forest Whitaker (2006) · Daniel Day-Lewis (2007)

 · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Russell Crowe (2001) · Daniel Day-Lewis (2002) · Johnny Depp (2003) · Jamie Foxx (2004) · Philip Seymour Hoffman (2005) · Forest Whitaker (2006) · Daniel Day-Lewis (2007)

 · (1994-2000) · (2001-present)
Persondata
NAME
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH July 23, 1967
PLACE OF BIRTH Fairport, New York
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH