Speedball Caused Philip Seymour Hoffman's Death

Philip Seymour Hoffman 1967-2014

Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in his New York apartment with a needle in his arm on Feb. 2. The eclectic actor co-starred in The Big Lebowski and 60 other films. He was 46.

Hoffman had a drug problem that required a brief rehab stay last year and dated back more than 20 years.

Update: On Feb. 28, the coroner reported that there was a combination of drugs in Hoffman's system at the time of his death. Those drugs were heroin, cocaine, amphetamine and benzodiazapines (Valium, Xanax). The New York Post claims Hoffman injected a speedball of heroin and coke.

"It was anything I could get my hands on," he said in 2006. "I liked it all. I got sober when I was 22 years old."

A source tells the Daily News that Hoffman was "was found alone with a needle in his arm in the bathroom of the apartment" on Bethune St. in the West Village at 11:15 am.

Born on July 23, 1967 in Rochester, New York, Hoffman began his professional acting career with an appearance on Law & Order in 1991. He went on to play numerous offbeat characters such as Brandt in The Big Lebowski (see clip below), Scotty J. in Boogie Nights, Lester Bangs in Almost Famous and Phil Parma in Magnolia.

In 2002, Hoffman portrayed a gas-huffing widower in the little seen Love Liza, which earned him a Stony Award.

Three years later, he won 25 major acting awards (including the Oscar) for his compelling depiction of Truman Capote in Bennett Miller's biopic, Capote. It was the peak of Hoffman's career.

His most recent films included The Master, Moneyball, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, The Ides of March and Jack Goes Boating, which he also directed.

Steve Bloom

Steve Bloom

Publisher of CelebStoner.com, former editor of High Times and Freedom Leaf and co-author of Pot Culture and Reefer Movie Madness.