The passing of 46-year old American actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is among the most tragic of celebrity deaths of recent memory. Rarely has an actor been so versatile in terms of both comedic and dramatic talent, prompting his magnetic work in so many major film and theater projects.  Hoffman’s cause of death appears to be a drug overdose; after twenty-three years of sobriety, he had relapsed in 2012 and completed rehab in 2013.

Having starred in last year’s release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (as an almost irreplaceable Plutarch Heavensbee), Hoffman was at the height of his fame and his career as a great thespian.  Later this year he will star in an adaptation of John le Carré’s war on terror epic A Most Wanted Man, and in Mad Men actor John Slattery’s directorial debut, God’s Pocket.  Looking back on his past projects, some of his best and most iconic work can be found in Magnolia (1999), Punch-Drunk Love (2002), Capote (2005), Charlie Wilson’s War (2007), Pirate Radio (2009), and The Master (2012).

May another great servant of the film industry and theater arts rest in peace, and may his work be remembered as some of the best American cinema that anyone has ever witnessed.  If you have a favorite Hoffman performance or a reflection on his life and work, feel free to share in the comments section below.