Philip Seymour Hoffman Was a Fellow Upstate New Yorker

Philip Seymour Hoffman was the most famous graduate of Fairport High School, which is located just 9 miles east of Rochester, NY.  He graduated from Fairport High in 1985 and then traveled to New York and later graduated from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 1989.

Hoffman discovered theater and the arts in high school and played several small parts in movies and television through the 1990's.  His first big role came in 1992 when he played opposite Chris O'Donnell in Scent of a Woman; but, it wasn't until 1997 that he really 'hit the big time' with his breakthrough role in 1997 blockbuster film, Boogie Nights, opposite Mark Wahlberg.  Hoffman played a gay boom operator who developed a crush on Dirk Diggler, Wahlberg's character.

Hoffman was nominated for several Oscars.  In 2006, he won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of Truman Capote in the 2005 film Capote.

Hoffman was found dead in his bathroom with a hypodermic needle in his arm, the victim of a drug overdose, according to the New York Post.

TMZ blogged that Hoffman checked himself into rehab in 2012 following a heroin binge over a one-week period.

The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle reported today that Hoffman has three children — Cooper, 10; Tallulah 7, and Willa, 5 — with costume designer Mimi O'Donnell.

His family released a statement saying Hoffman's death is "a tragic and sudden loss."

They said the "outpouring of love and support" was appreciated. They asked people to respect their privacy.

Hoffman was 49.