Hoffman mourned at private funeral

Phillip Seymour Hoffman died Sunday of an apparent heroin overdose.

• Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman mourned privately by family and friends


• Funeral attended by Cate Blanchette, Louis C.K., Diane Sawyer, Mike Nichols, others


• Hoffman, 46, died Sunday of an apparent heroin overdose

(CNN) -- Philip Seymour Hoffman was mourned in New York on Friday in much the same way he lived his life -- with a private funeral attended by family and close friends.

In the late morning, friends of the one of the greatest actors of his generation began streaming through the bronze doors of the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola on Park Avenue, the 116-year-old church that hosted the funerals of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Lena Horne.

A black hearse pulled up to the church shortly after noon Friday as a couple of dozen fans and mourners gathered nearby to pay their respects.

Six pallbearers carried Hoffman's casket into the church's Baroque-style interior, where a star-studded group of friends such as Cate Blanchette, Louis C.K., ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer and husband Mike Nichols, Joaquin Phoenix, and Amy Adams waited. Nichols directed Hoffman in his acclaimed portrayal of Willy Loman in "Death of a Salesman" on Broadway.

Hoffman's longtime partner, Mimi O'Donnell, held their young daughter atop the church's marble stairs as traffic was momentarily halted on Park Avenue and quiet enveloped the normally bustling thoroughfare. Hoffman had three children with O'Donnell.

The Oscar-winning actor was found dead in his Manhattan apartment Sunday of an apparent drug overdose, law enforcement sources said.

Hoffman, 46, was found on the bathroom floor of his apartment, a needle in his arm, and pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigators discovered close to 50 envelopes of what they believed was heroin in the apartment, the law enforcement sources said. They also found used syringes, prescription drugs and empty plastic bags of a type commonly used to hold drugs, the sources said.

A spokeswoman for the New York medical examiner's office said Wednesday a determination of the cause and manner of Hoffman's death is pending further study, including toxicology reports.

A larger memorial service is being planned for later this month.

On Thursday night, family and close friends attended a private wake at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home.

Hoffman, who was nominated for Academy Awards four times, won the Oscar for best actor in 2006 for his portrayal of writer Truman Capote in "Capote."

On Wednesday night, Broadway honored Hoffman by dimming its lights for a minute and actors gathered for a vigil.

CNN's Kristen Hamill and Rande Iaboni contributed to this report