It’s always sad when a good actor dies, even more so when a good one dies young. Despite his more recent (deserved) success, I still think of him as the kid on the receiving end (even if only tangentially) of a whirlwind called Al Pacino from Scent of a Woman. Hoffman had range, playing both character and lead roles, in anything from comedies, to dramas, and even summer-blockbusters (villain in MI:3).

And he was only 46…