Hoffman & drugs: ‘No one can be cured’
AS MORE details surface on the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tattle’s probably not going to be too funny today.
Hoffman’s essential problem? He could portray “The Master” in a movie but he couldn’t master his drug addiction in real life. It was an addiction for which he first sought treatment more than two decades ago.
The father of three had been sober for a long time before finding himself back in rehab as recently as 10 months ago.
When Hoffman was found dead Sunday in his bathroom, he had a syringe in his arm and glassine envelopes of what appeared to be heroin nearby, according to reports.
Some of the packets were stamped with the symbol for the ace of hearts and others with the words “Ace of Spades” and that symbol, an anonymous law-enforcement official said.
Stamps are common as a form of drug-world branding, and authorities make note of the ones they encounter. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the ace-of-hearts and ace-of-spades stamps could lead investigators to any clues about the source of the items found in Hoffman’s apartment.
* New York City medical examiners conducted an autopsy on Hoffman’s body yesterday as investigators scrutinized evidence found in his apartment.
“Here you have an extraordinarily talented actor who had the resources, who had been in treatment, who obviously realized the problem of drugs and had been able to stay clean,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“Addiction is a chronic, progressive illness. No one can be cured,” said Dr. Akikur Reza Mohammad, a psychiatrist and addiction-medicine specialist. “If someone is suffering from addiction, they cannot relax at any time. The brain neurochemistry changes . . . so these people are prone to relapse.”
Hoffman’s “is a story that unfortunately is not infrequent,” said Volkow, “to have an individual who takes drugs in their 20s and stops for 20 years, relapse in their 40s and overdose.”
* Broadway theaters will dim their marquee lights tomorrow night in memory of Hoffman, who earned three Tony Award nominations.
The Broadway League said yesterday that the lights will be dimmed for one minute starting at 7:45 p.m.
Hoffman made his Broadway debut in Sam Shepard’s “True West,” with John C. Reilly, in 2000, and followed it up three years later with Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night,” with Brian Dennehy and Vanessa Redgrave. In 2012, he played a powerful Willy Loman in “Death of a Salesman,” by Arthur Miller, under the direction of Mike Nichols. Each time he earned a Tony nod.
He also was a longtime supporter of the off-Broadway Labyrinth Theatre Company, where he served as co-artistic director.
