Philadelphia native and playwright David Bar Katz found character actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, dead from an apparent heroin overdose.
Katz was a friend of Hoffman's, was born in Philadelphia and attended Chestnut Hill Academy. He studied at Williams College where he rowed crew.
“I saw him last week, and he was clean and sober, his old self,” David Bar Katz told the New York Times. “I really thought this chapter was over.”
Hoffman was found with a syringe in his arm on the bathroom floor of his West Village apartment by a friend Sunday morning at about 11:30 a.m., and authorities believe he had been dead several hours, sources told NBC 4 New York.
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN FOUND DEAD
There were 5 empty bags of heroin and 3 unused bags of heroin found in Kauffman's New York City apartment, according to NBC4 investigative reporter Jonathan Dienst.
Hoffman had been subletting the apartment where he was found dead. His commonlaw wife called Katz to check on him. He was supposed to meet his children at 9 a.m. The apartment was double locked but Katz was able to enter with the help of an assistant.
Hoffman began acting in 1991 and acted in a range of films from "Hunger Games" to "Boogie Nights." Click here for an overview of the Oscar winner's roles over the past two decades.
Contact Sarah Glover at 610-668-5580, sarah.glover@nbcuni.com or follow @skyphoto on Twitter.
Photo Credit: WireImage
