Celebrity Death Thread

[Tony G]

I watched a youtube yesterday of his Oscar winning moment. The same year he won, Heath Ledger was up for best actor also. Jarring to see those two future victims of addiction at the same career peaks

[NewOrleansLion]

I don't buy the whole "addiction is a disease" thing. However, I do think addiction is a symptom of mental illness in many, many cases. My ex still battles the bottle. She admitted that she was self-medicating. You'd think that parental instincts would kick in and make a person get his or her shit together for their kids, if no other reason. That's logical. Logic does not work for people with mental illness.

In my ex's case, she has demons and trauma buried very deep and she can't dig them up to address them. Again, it's illogical, but I think the people affected by illness like this feel that if they go down into that dark space they'll never come back out. Therefore, they self-medicate in order to get along. That could be how PSH was living. Or trying to.

[froot loops]

People aren't logical and heroin is physically addicting. Your body craves it after you start.

[Tony G]

I don't buy the whole "addiction is a disease" thing. However, I do think addiction is a symptom of mental illness in many, many cases. My ex still battles the bottle. She admitted that she was self-medicating. You'd think that parental instincts would kick in and make a person get his or her shit together for their kids, if no other reason. That's logical. Logic does not work for people with mental illness.

In my ex's case, she has demons and trauma buried very deep and she can't dig them up to address them. Again, it's illogical, but I think the people affected by illness like this feel that if they go down into that dark space they'll never come back out. Therefore, they self-medicate in order to get along. That could be how PSH was living. Or trying to.

That's 60's and 70's thinking

[NewOrleansLion]

Exsqueeze me?

[Malto Marko]

Kinda sad to hear he was clean for years then fell off the wagon.

Even sadder to hear he had a dozen or so bags in his possession.

This mornings news claims an arrest was made of the possible supplier.

[The Cat]

People who take their own lives have some form of mental illness. Unlike physical ailments where we suspect something is wrong.... a sick mind doesn't know it's sick.

[Chuck Cunningham]

Lost in the news about Mr. Hoffman was that Academy Award winner Maximilian Schell passed away.

[Tony G]

February 2nd, 2014, 02:44 PM #4178 Tony G
Senior Member



Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Downriver
Posts: 17,918


I thought when I clicked on the thread it was going to be about Max.

Oscar-winning actor Maximilian Schell dies at 83
__________________
Benny Blades~"If you break down this team man for man, we have talent to compare with any team."

[fontes91]

Kinda sad to hear he was clean for years then fell off the wagon.

Even sadder to hear he had a dozen or so bags in his possession.

This mornings news claims an arrest was made of the possible supplier.

They raided the supplier's place and there was a lot of heroin, but a different type than that used by Hoffman. Got a supplier off the streets, but likely not Hoffman's supplier.

[-Deborah-]

Aaron Sorkin Penned A Chilling Obituary For Philip Seymour Hoffman

By Dustin Rowles / 02.06.14




Aaron Sorkin, the writer and creator of Sports Night, West Wing, and The Newsroom, is also a recovering addict. He was a long-time cocaine abuser, an addiction that was in part responsible for his divorce. His first stint in rehab was in 1995, and his second one was in 2001, though he has stated that he?s remained sober since then. Sorkin worked with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman on Charlie Wilson?s War, for which Sorkin wrote the screenplay. It was at a table read for Charlie Wilson that Sorkin first met Hoffman, according to a Time obituary.

During production on Charlie Wilson?s War, Sorkin writes that it was not unusual for he and Hoffman to have mini-AA meetings, where they would swap stories about their drug use. On Hoffman?s heroin use, Sorkin said he felt lucky that his squeamishness around needles prevented him from trying heroin. ?He told me to stay squeamish,? Sorkin writes.

And then Hoffman predicted the good that could come out of an overdose. From Time:

And he said this: ?If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won?t.? He meant that our deaths would make news and maybe scare someone clean.

So it?s in that spirit that I?d like to say this: Phil Hoffman, this kind, decent, magnificent, thunderous actor, who was never outwardly ?right? for any role but who completely dominated the real estate upon which every one of his characters walked, did not die from an overdose of heroin ? he died from heroin. We should stop implying that if he?d just taken the proper amount then everything would have been fine.

He didn?t die because he was partying too hard or because he was depressed ? he died because he was an addict on a day of the week with a y in it. He?ll have his well-earned legacy ? his Willy Loman that belongs on the same shelf with Lee J. Cobb?s and Dustin Hoffman?s, his Jamie Tyrone, his Truman Capote and his Academy Award. Let?s add to that 10 people who were about to die who won?t now.

Well said, Sorkin, and if the scores of thoughtful, helpful addiction pieces that have hit the Internet the last few days are any indication, Hoffman may have saved a lot more than ten people.

Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2014/02/aar...#ixzz2sYWPwPEC
Follow us: UPROXX on Facebook

[Tony G]

Aaron Sorkin Penned A Chilling Obituary For Philip Seymour Hoffman

By Dustin Rowles / 02.06.14




Aaron Sorkin, the writer and creator of Sports Night, West Wing, and The Newsroom, is also a recovering addict. He was a long-time cocaine abuser, an addiction that was in part responsible for his divorce. His first stint in rehab was in 1995, and his second one was in 2001, though he has stated that he?s remained sober since then. Sorkin worked with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman on Charlie Wilson?s War, for which Sorkin wrote the screenplay. It was at a table read for Charlie Wilson that Sorkin first met Hoffman, according to a Time obituary.

During production on Charlie Wilson?s War, Sorkin writes that it was not unusual for he and Hoffman to have mini-AA meetings, where they would swap stories about their drug use. On Hoffman?s heroin use, Sorkin said he felt lucky that his squeamishness around needles prevented him from trying heroin. ?He told me to stay squeamish,? Sorkin writes.

And then Hoffman predicted the good that could come out of an overdose. From Time:

And he said this: ?If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won?t.? He meant that our deaths would make news and maybe scare someone clean.

So it?s in that spirit that I?d like to say this: Phil Hoffman, this kind, decent, magnificent, thunderous actor, who was never outwardly ?right? for any role but who completely dominated the real estate upon which every one of his characters walked, did not die from an overdose of heroin ? he died from heroin. We should stop implying that if he?d just taken the proper amount then everything would have been fine.

He didn?t die because he was partying too hard or because he was depressed ? he died because he was an addict on a day of the week with a y in it. He?ll have his well-earned legacy ? his Willy Loman that belongs on the same shelf with Lee J. Cobb?s and Dustin Hoffman?s, his Jamie Tyrone, his Truman Capote and his Academy Award. Let?s add to that 10 people who were about to die who won?t now.

Well said, Sorkin, and if the scores of thoughtful, helpful addiction pieces that have hit the Internet the last few days are any indication, Hoffman may have saved a lot more than ten people.

Read more: http://www.uproxx.com/tv/2014/02/aar...#ixzz2sYWPwPEC
Follow us: UPROXX on Facebook

[jaadam4]

lol... I wonder what CL thinks of Sorkin's take on things

[Tony G]

I'm more inclined to listen to someone who has walked in those shoes

[fontes91]

Ralph Kiner passed today. Won the HR title his first 7 years in the league. Retired young. RIP to a fine HOF