Philip Seymour Hoffman, in 2012. Brigitte Lacombe

Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Academy Award for "Capote" and was a well-known face from movies such as "Doubt" and "Boogie Nights," but the actor was also a longtime presence in New York's theater community, which grieved Sunday as news of his death circulated.

"Phil was arguably the greatest actor of his generation," said Oskar Eustis, artistic director of the Public Theater. "The loss of an artist of his stature rips a hole in the world, but the loss of one so young is unendurable."

Mr. Hoffman was a three-time Tony Award nominee, most recently for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the 2012 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman." A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he was also interested in off-Broadway and experimental theater. Also in 2012, the playwright Young Jean Lee invited him to a preliminary meeting for her "Straight White Men."

A Look Back at Philip Seymour Hoffman's Performances

Mr. Hoffman in a scene from 'Magnolia.' New Line Cinema/Everett Collection

"My description of what it was going to be was really weird," she said. "He came because he was curious."

Mr. Hoffman's death is particularly painful for the Labyrinth Theater Company, a West Village organization that he joined in 1995. "We are heartbroken by the loss of our beloved friend, company member and former artistic director," the group said.

New York City law enforcement officials said that actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead at his apartment Sunday afternoon. Watch clips from some of the films Seymour Hoffman has starred in, including "Boogie Nights," "Almost Famous," and "Capote." Photo: AP

In recent years, he served as a board member, and his partner, Mimi O'Donnell, is its artistic director. In May, he directed "A Family for All Occasions," by Bob Glaudini, for Labyrinth at the Bank Street Theater. Board Chairman Jeffrey A. Horwitz described Mr. Hoffman as "a fierce leader and a brilliant intellectual," adding: "He was a regular guy. He wasn't seeking fame or celebrity or attention."

For New York theater artists, Labyrinth is central to Mr. Hoffman's legacy, said writer and director Pippin Parker, because it is a reflection of his "dedication to making theater work. He had a real commitment to the stage—and an old-fashioned dedication to this eight-show-a-week ethos."

That continued even as he gained fame in Hollywood. "His friends were actors and playwrights," Mr. Parker said, "a constellation of people who had dedicated themselves to theater."

—Stefanie Cohen contributed to this article.

Write to Pia Catton at

Corrections & Amplifications
The last name of Jeffrey A. Horwitz, Labyrinth Theater's board chairman, was incorrectly spelled as Horowitz in a Greater New York article on Philip Seymour Hoffman's impact on the theater community.