Renowned actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died Sunday, once played a Canadian crook. As BlogTO points out, in 2003’s Owning Mahowny, Hoffman’s character, Dan Mahowny, is a Bay Street embezzler inspired by a real-life Torontonian, Brian Molony, who approved dozens of fraudulent loans to himself under various aliases as a means of funding his gambling habit. More than $10-million worth, in fact. Molony eventually served six years in prison. As for Owning Mahowny, the movie wasn’t exactly a box office hit, but it did garner impressive reviews, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering its protagonist was played by one of the greatest actors of our time.
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Blogs & Comment
Philip Seymour Hoffman once played a Bay Street embezzler
Inspired by a real-life Torontonian
By Trevor Melanson
Renowned actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, who died Sunday, once played a Canadian crook. As BlogTO points out, in 2003’s Owning Mahowny, Hoffman’s character, Dan Mahowny, is a Bay Street embezzler inspired by a real-life Torontonian, Brian Molony, who approved dozens of fraudulent loans to himself under various aliases as a means of funding his gambling habit. More than $10-million worth, in fact. Molony eventually served six years in prison. As for Owning Mahowny, the movie wasn’t exactly a box office hit, but it did garner impressive reviews, which shouldn’t surprise anyone considering its protagonist was played by one of the greatest actors of our time.