At age 46, multi-dimensional and famously talented actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead, syringe in his arm, next to 50 bags of heroin.
Last Sunday, playwright and friend, David Bar Katz, found Hoffman’s body on the bathroom floor of his West Village apartment in New York City.
“I saw him last week, clean and sober, his old self,” Katz told The Washington Post. “I thought that chapter was over.”
Hoffman had an ongoing battle with drug addiction which shadowed his career and personal life. In a “60 Minutes” interview in 2005, the actor admitted to a drug addiction he developed after college. Putting himself through rehab, Hoffman was a reformed addict at 22 years of age.
Over 20 years later, Hoffman relapsed. The actor spent 10 days in a rehabilitation center in May of 2013 recovering from heroin use.
While a world of fans lament over Hoffman’s untimely death, maybe it is time for the art industry to rethink its role in the epidemic of drug abuse within its own community.
Countless art industry stars come to know death through drug abuse. To name a few in the last 10 years: Whitney Houston drowned after taking a mix of cocaine and over-the-counter drugs, Heath Ledger overdosed on a combination of prescription drugs and Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning.
The art industry, while sympathetic of these drug related deaths, is not actively addressing the problem. This suggests nothing can be done, that it is an unavoidable tragedy.
But think about the sports industry. The National Football League has a 35 page policy covering drug abuse and rehabilitation for its members.
The NFL has three stages of drug testing for league players. There are pre-employment, pre-season and by agreement drug testing. In the opening lines of the league's drug policy it is stated: “substance abuse can lead to on-the-field injuries, to alienation of the fans, to diminished job performance, and to personal hardship. The deaths of several NFL players have demonstrated the potentially tragic consequences of substance abuse.”
Here, the NFL implies that personal suffering will not be overlooked in the name of professional football. But does the passivity towards drug abuse in the art industry suggest that art trumps the importance of personal health?
Hoffman participated in nearly 90 productions between his film and theater career. Ben Brantley of the New York Times wrote, “Mr. Hoffman does terminal uncertainty better than practically anyone.” The talent Hoffman brought to the stage touched many lives.
But, we cannot forget Hoffman had a life of his own. With his partner of 15 years, Mimi O’ Donnell, Hoffman fathered three children: his son Conner and two daughters Tallulah and Willa. Conner, the eldest, is only ten years old.
The world lost an intriguing and important actor. But a family lost their father, a wife, her husband. No artist should give their life for the sake of art, and it is time the art industry started recognizing artists as humans instead of commodities.
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