Philip Seymour Hoffman left his mark upon the world of film and stage. In turn, he also left quite a legacy at the podium.
The Academy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor, who died Sunday at 46, brought words of wisdom and grace to the dais, despite that he never seemed quite comfortable up there. But surely he belonged.
Hoffman’s strongest year — awards-wise at least — was the 2005 season (celebrated in 2006), in which he raked in trophies for the title character in “Capote.”
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The highlight, of course, was Hoffman’s triumph in the 68th Annual Academy Award “Best Actor” category. Hoffman beat out competition from Heath Ledger (“Brokeback Mountain”), Terrence Howard (“Hustle & Flow”), Joaquin Phoenix (“Walk the Line”) and David Strathairn (“Good Night, and Good Luck.”).
Following acknowledgement of his fellow nominees and the requisite thank yous, Hoffman turned the spotlight to his mother, who’d been sitting beside him all night. “My mom’s name is Marilyn O’Connor and she’s here tonight,” Hoffman said. “I’d like if you see her tonight to congratulate her because she brought up four kids alone and she deserves a congratulations for that.”
He continued, “We’re at the party, ma, you know? She took my to my first play and she stayed up with me to watch the NCAA Final Four … her passions became my passions. Be proud ma, because I’m proud of you, we’re here tonight and it’s so good.”
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Watch Hoffman’s Oscar acceptance speech:
At the Golden Globes, Hoffman beat out the same cast of characters, save the substitution of Russell Crowe (“Cinderella Man”) for Phoenix. This time around, Hoffman recounted the story of “Capote” writer Danny Futterman and director Bennett Miller coming to his house and convincing the actor to play the title role.
“I just was given the best part of my life, and I know that,” Hoffman concluded this time. Watch the full speech:
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Video of Hoffman’s Screen Actor’s Guild Award win is not readily available, but here is the full transcript of his acceptance:
“Wow … this is nerve-wracking. I want to thank the Guild very much for this honor. It’s a huge, huge, huge honor. And I just was watching these clips, and I love actors, too. Everyone’s been saying that tonight, and I love and have loved the performances of these actors for a long time. And I wanted to say, David Straithairn, I saw you last night, and I wanted to say to you that I looked up to you when I was younger, and I still look up to you. And I think a lot of people in this room feel the same way.
And I want to thank Sony Classics, you guys are fabulous. You guys have been fabulous. And I wanted to talk about my “Capote” family, ’cause that’s really what we are. And I have all the names here ’cause I didn’t want to forget anybody. Catherine Keener, well, you all know about Catherine Keener. Clifton Collins, who is fabulous in this. Bruce Greenwood, Chris Cooper, you know … Mark Pellegrino, who I think — the most fantastic transformation in this film. Bob Balaban, my friend; Amy Ryan, the beautiful, beautiful Amy Ryan, and Marshall Bell.
I think that it’s important to say that actors can’t act alone. It’s impossible, except if you’re doing a solo performance or something, but it’s pretty impossible. And what we have to do is support each other. And competition like this sometimes is tough, because really what we need to do is support each other. And actors have to have each other’s backs. It’s the only way to act well. It’s the only way to act well is when you know the other actor has your back. And these actors had my back. And I hope they know that I had theirs.”
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Hoffman also won that season’s BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead, and many others.
He has been nominated for three additional Oscars, Golden Globes and Tony Awards, along with a Primetime Emmy, to name just a few on his impressive list of acknowledgments from critics and peers, which totals 72 wins and 54 nominations, per iMDb.