As soon as I heard about this I was worried it was suicide, accidental or otherwise.
Fucking horrible way to go, but accidental is worse - at least if it was deliberate, the person went out on their own terms.
Hoffman is one of the better actors of our time frame. It's hard to phrase it without hyperbole, but I've only really seen him play bit parts in movies, and even those are memorable. The kind of guy who would seize upon his screen time however big or small and just bleed every last morsel out of it.
The main thing I remember him for is playing the slimy journalist in Red Dragon, and having read the book he was a perfect casting for it.
I actually always thought if they made a film of one of my friend's life (not that they ever would), he'd be a good choice to play him.
