Son of Harry Jay Katz Found Philip Seymour Hoffman Dead
David Bar Katz was a friend of the actor.
Nearly 20 years after Harry Jay Katz found a woman dead in his East Falls hot tub, playwright David Bar Katz, his son, found Philip Seymour Hoffman dead in New York City.
Katz, seen here with Hoffman in 2008, called 911 after he found Hoffman’s body in the actor’s West Village apartment on Sunday morning. Hoffman reportedly died of a drug overdose. Police found a needle in Hoffman’s arm and heroin nearby. Hoffman had a long history of drug abuse.
“I saw him last week, and he was clean and sober, his old self,” Katz, a playwright and friend of Hoffman, told the New York Times. “I really thought this chapter was over.”
Hoffman directed two plays written by Katz, who attended Chestnut Hill Academy.
In 1995, Katz’s father, Harry, infamously found 35-year-old former teacher Valerie Sheridan dead in his hot tub after a long night of partying. Katz was cleared of any wrongdoing, but rumors about their relationship lingered. That same year, the Daily News titled its feature on Katz “The Last Playboy.”
A further bit of Philadelphia intrigue, Katz the father also once employed convicted murderer Ira Einhorn.
PHOTO: AP Photo.
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