Philip Seymour Hoffman dies of apparent drug overdose

Police officers revealed that Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead of an apparent heroin overdose with a hypodermic needle still stuck in his arm inside a Greenwich Village apartment on Sunday.

Screenwriter and friend David Bar Katz called 911 around 11:30 a.m. after he and a female friend found Philip Seymour Hoffman in his underwear on a bathroom floor at 35 Bethune St., sources said.

The pair went to check on the actor after he missed an appointment to pick up his three kids from longtime girlfriend Mimi O’Donnell.

Police found five empty glassine envelopes in a garbage can, two more under the bed and one on a table in the apartment, where Philip Seymour Hoffman — who has repeatedly struggled with substance abuse — was living recently.

They also found a charred spoon in the kitchen sink, sources say.

The envelopes were marked “Ace of Spades,” which sources said is a brand of heroin that hasn’t been seen on the streets since around 2008 in Brooklyn.

There was no note, and Philip Seymour Hoffman’s death is believed to be accidental.

The building is less than three blocks from the three-bedroom, 2-1/2-bath apartment on Jane Street that Philip Seymour Hoffman, 46, and Mimi O’Donnell, a costume designer, bought for $4.4 million in 2008.

In a statement released by his manager, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s family called his death “a tragic and sudden loss”.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Phil and appreciate the outpouring of love and support we have received from everyone,” the statement said.

“Please keep Phil in your thoughts and prayers.”

The Lionsgate entertainment company — for which Philip Seymour Hoffman co-starred in The Hunger Games franchise — called him “a singular talent and one of the most gifted actors of our generation”.

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 was largely complete and he had seven days of shooting left on Part 2, and his death is not expected to affect their scheduled openings in November of this year and November 2015, respectively.

In 2006, Philip Seymour Hoffman publicly admitted that he nearly succumbed to substance abuse after graduating from NYU’s drama school, but got sober in rehab.

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