Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Hundreds Say Good-Bye To Philip Seymour Hoffman At Funeral
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 8, 2014
Modified Feb 8, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Gothamist
View all 32
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 8, 2014
Modified Feb 8, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
The funeral for actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was described as "very respectful and loving and simple" by one of the 400-some mourners who gathered at St. Ignatius Loyola Church yesterday.
Hoffman's co-stars, directors and collaborators in film and theater joined his family and friends at the service; attendees included Amy Adams, Paul Thomas Anderson, Mike Nichols, Joaquin Phoenix, Cate Blanchett, Michelle Williams, Laura Linney, Sam Rockwell, Spike Lee, and many more. Playwright Jose Rivera told the Daily News, "It was very respectful and loving and simple. It was very much a ritual of healing and remembering. It was beautiful. We all laughed. We all had a good laugh a few time."
Blanchett, who worked with Hoffman on The Talented Mr. Ripley and on theater projects with her husband Andrew Upton, gave a reading and Anderson, who directed Hoffman in Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love and The Master, "delivered a moving eulogy."
The News also reports that the funeral program featured words from playwright David Bar Katz, Hoffman's good friend who discovered the 46-year-old's body on Sunday, "Like a collapsed star, a teaspoon of you weighed a thousand tons. I won’t ever memorialize you, you beautiful beautiful beast, because even in your absence you’re so much more here than I am ... for the rest of my life I’m going to be looking towards the door waiting for you to walk in." Katz was also, apparently, the last person to hear from Hoffman, receiving texts from the actor on Saturday evening.
Fr. James Martin S.J., who first got to know Hoffman while consulting on the LAByrinth Theater's production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Martin later became a member of the theater group and helped Hoffman with his role as a priest in Doubt) presided over the funeral. He wrote on his Facebook page:
Dear friends: Today we celebrated the funeral Mass of my friend Phil Hoffman at the Church of St. Ignatius in New York. Thank you so much for your prayers for his wife and children over the last few days. It was such a rare and beautiful privilege to know this extraordinary man and to preside at his funeral today.
I know that many people have been saddened by Phil's death and have been praying for his family. So thank you for your prayers.
May he rest in peace.
Tagged
father james martin
heroin
overdose
philip seymour hoffman
psh
st. ignatius loyola
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes documentary has been selling out across Manhattan and Brooklyn. Tickets to see the film, however, are very much available in other boroughs.
By
Sonia Rao
Published Oct 27, 2026
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
Gothamist went behind the scenes to learn how the NYC landmark keeps its majestic waters flowing.
By
Sonia Rao
Arts & Entertainment
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
Gothamist went behind the scenes to learn how the NYC landmark keeps its majestic waters flowing.
By
Sonia Rao
In the algorithm age, NYC college radio DJs are still broadcasting the funky stuff
By
James Ramsay
A Queens prop shop shutters, bunnies find a home uptown, and more openings and closings
By
Hannah Frishberg
A new film invites you to eavesdrop on one of the greatest conversations in NYC history
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .