Hoffman joins line of star deaths

Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was found dead from an apparent overdose in his New York City apartment, is the latest Hollywood star whose life was seemingly cut short by drugs.

The death of the 46-year-old follows that of Canadian actor Cory Monteith in a Vancouver hotel room last July.

The 31-year-old Glee star was found to have died from using intravenous heroin combined with alcohol.

Drugs were also a factor in the death of US actress Brittany Murphy in December 2009.

The 32-year-old Clueless and 8 Mile star died in her husband's arms after collapsing in the shower of her Los Angeles home.

An inquest found she died from pneumonia complicated by an iron deficiency, anaemia and multiple drug intoxication.

In January 2008, Australian actor Heath Ledger was killed by an overdose of painkillers, sleeping pills, anti-anxiety medication and other prescription drugs.

The 28-year-old died in his home in Manhattan while making the film The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

Fifteen years earlier the showbusiness world mourned American actor River Phoenix, whose death from a cocaine and heroin overdose on Halloween morning in 1993 shocked the movie industry and his fans.

The star collapsed outside the Viper Room, a Hollywood nightclub partially owned at the time by Johnny Depp.

Phoenix had a squeaky-clean image and his drug use was unknown to the public before his death at the tender age of 23.

In 1982, American comedian, actor and musician John Belushi, one of the original cast members of the comedy show Saturday Night Live, died in Hollywood after overdosing on a mixture of cocaine and heroin - a speedball - at the age of just 33.