Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who won a best actor Academy Award for his portrayal of author Truman Capote in 2005, was found dead in an apartment in Manhattan's West Village neighborhood this morning, police said.

Numerous reports have police saying he was found with a hypodermic needle in his arm and two bags of what appeared to be heroin nearby.

Hoffman, 46, struggled with the drug in the past but told television's 60 Minutes in 2006 that he had been sober since the age of 22:
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Officers were called to the apartment at 35 Bethune St. about 11:36 a.m. Eastern time, according to a New York Police Department statement sent to the Weekly and other outlets:



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Upon arrival, officers located a 46-year-old male, unconscious and unresponsive, lying on the bathroom floor. EMS also responded and pronounced the male DOA at the scene. 

The New York Medical Examiner will ultimately determine cause of death, cops said.

According to reports, either a worried friend or an assistant had gone to check on Hoffman and discovered his body.

He reportedly suffered a relapse in the summer following years of sobriety. 

In 2006 he told 60 Minutes:

I got sober when I was 22 years old. You get panicked … and I got panicked for my life. It really was just that.

Today The New York Times called him “one of the most critically acclaimed actors of his generation.”

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