Investigators have confirmed that heroin was found in the New York apartment of Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died of a suspected drugs overdose.
The sudden death of the 46-year-old father of three young children, hailed by many as the finest character actor of his generation, has shocked Hollywood and devastated his family.
Police said he was found on the bathroom floor in his Manhattan apartment, a syringe in his arm, wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
According to US media, at least 50 envelopes of heroin littered the $US10,000 ($A11,460) a month apartment in plush Greenwich Village, but there has been no official confirmation of the amount of drugs.
"Preliminary tests have indicated that the drugs were heroin," a law enforcement official told AFP, without confirming the quantity found.
Hoffman was last seen on Saturday and the alarm was reportedly raised by his estranged girlfriend Mimi O'Donnell when he failed to show at a playground to see his children on Sunday.
She was also quoted by US media as saying he was high when she last saw him on Saturday afternoon and spoke to him that evening.
Police say his death seems to have been the result of an overdose but refused to release further details.
New York pathologists have begun the autopsy, but a spokeswoman for the New York City chief medical examiner's office said no further update was expected on Monday.
In a career spanning more than 20 years and 50 films, Hoffman mesmerised filmgoers with his portrayal of some of the most repellent and yet electrifying characters of the silver screen.
He won a best actor Oscar for his performance as Truman Capote in the 2005 film "Capote" and was nominated for three further Academy Awards as a supporting actor in 2008, 2009 and 2013.
Broadway announced that it would dim its lights for one minute on Wednesday evening in memory of the celebrated actor.
Charlotte St Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, described Hoffman as a "true artist who loved theatre.
