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Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is a two-time Academy Award-winning American actor.
BiographyHoffman was born in Los Angeles, California to Jewish American parents, Harry Hoffman and Lillian Gold.
After graduating from Los Angeles High School, Hoffman attended the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music with ambitions of being a concert pianist. He later attended Santa Monica College for a year before dropping out due to poor grades. While at the college, Hoffman took an acting class to boost his grade point average (he was told "nobody flunks acting") and later remarked that when he was in the class he felt totally at peace with himself[citation needed]. Acting beginningsHoffman performed at the Pasadena Playhouse for two years with fellow actor Gene Hackman. Hackman headed for New York City and told Hoffman to call him if he were to come to New York City. Hoffman took Hackman up on his offer and soon after followed his friend to New York, where he worked a series of odd jobs, such as coat checking at restaurants, working in the typing department of the city Yellow Pages directory, or stringing Hawaiian leis, while getting the occasional bit television role. To support himself, he left acting briefly to teach. In 1960, Hoffman landed a role in an off-Broadway production and followed with a walk-on role in a Broadway production in 1961. He also did the occasional television commercial. An oft-replayed segment on programs that explore actors' early work is a clip showing a young Hoffman touting the Volkswagen Fastback.
1960s: The breakthroughImage:Dustin Hoffman 1989.jpg Dustin Hoffman Through the early and mid-1960s, Hoffman made appearances early in his career on many television shows and movies, including Naked City, The Defenders and Hallmark Hall of Fame. Hoffman made his theatrical film debut in The Tiger Makes Out in 1967, alongside Eli Wallach. In 1966, young up-and-coming director Mike Nichols, fresh off a Best Director Oscar- nomination for his film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, began casting his next film The Graduate, an adaptation of author Charles Webb's little-known novel of the same name. The first choice for the role of Benjamin Braddock, Warren Beatty, soon dropped out. The second choice was Robert Redford, who also wanted the role, but agreed with Nichols that he was too charming and popular to play the role of a sweaty-palmed, sexually uncomfortable virgin. Hungry for a role, Hoffman auditioned for the film and, luckily, he came through with the exact amount of awkwardness necessary for the role. Hoffman was cast, and the film began production in March 1967. The cast included Anne Bancroft as the sexually promiscuous older woman, Mrs. Robinson. Though the age difference in their characters was intended to be 20-25 years, Hoffman and Bancroft were actually only 6 years apart in age difference. Hoffman was twenty-nine. Hoffman received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in The Graduate. The film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and Nichols took home the award for Best Director. The Graduate was also subsequently voted as the #7 Greatest American Movie of All-Time by the AFI. After the success of this film, another Hoffman film, Madigan's Millions - shot before The Graduate - was released on the tail of the actor's newfound success. It was considered a failure at the box office. Midnight Cowboy (1969) According to Hoffman, he thought he had proactively kinked the Ratso Rizzo chain by appearing in The Graduate, by now an international smash hit. He found his Strasberg training taking over when, to prove his dedication to the role, he asked the producer to meet him on a street corner in Manhattan. Without the producer's knowledge, Hoffman dressed up as a homeless man and begged for money on the streets. When the producer arrived, he took the man for an everyday beggar and paid no attention. Hoffman walked up to him several minutes later and introduced himself. Shocked, the producer questioned no further whether Hoffman could play Rizzo or not. In one scene Rizzo and Joe Buck (Jon Voight) are walking a street crossing in New York City when a car almost hits the two of them. "Hey, I'm walkin' here! I'm walkin' here!" Rizzo exclaims, feverishly smacking the hood of the car. The quote has become one of the most famous in film history, recently voted #27 on AFI's Top 100 Movie Quotes Of All Time. The incident with the car was totally unscripted, and Hoffman's famous line was ad-libbed. Hoffman received his second Academy Award nomination for Midnight Cowboy. Directed by John Schlesinger, the film won the Best Picture honor at the ceremony, the only X-rated film ever to do so. Cowboy was voted the 36th Greatest American Film by the AFI. 1970s: Staying in the gameHoffman could now get the parts he dreamed of ten years earlier. Instead of making large Hollywood films, however, Hoffman more often opted to take roles in smaller-scale, character-driven films. Little Big Man (1970) According to IMDb, Hoffman sat in his dressing room for an hour screaming at the top of his lungs in order to achieve the 121 year-old rasp. Mostly comedic, the film was widely praised by critics, but was overlooked for an award except for a supporting nomination for Chief Dan George. Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971) Straw Dogs (1971) Papillon (1973) Lenny (1974) Image:All the President Men.jpg Hoffman with Robert Redford in All the President's Men All the President's Men (1976) Image:Marathon Man2.jpg Hoffman with Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man Marathon Man (1976) Marathon Man found Hoffman re-facing the themes of distress and anger that he encountered on Straw Dogs, though this film was more conventional. Sir Laurence Olivier starred in the film as the Josef Mengele-inspired Dr. Christian Szell (AKA "The White Angel"), a sadistic Nazi who tortured countless Jews in Auschwitz. Hoffman's character finds himself in the middle of Szell's plans to smuggle diamonds out of America. In the film's most famous scene, Olivier tortures Hoffman while repeating the seemingly non-sequitur question: "Is it safe?" The quote was voted as the 70th greatest quote in the history of film by AFI. To achieve his character's exhausted look in this scene, Hoffman deprived himself of sleep for two days. During the filming Olivier famously said to Hoffman "Try acting. . . It's much easier!" While this is widely believed to have been a joke about Hoffman's Strasbergian method, Hoffman himself, who for many years denied the story altogether, now claims that Olivier had been referring to how Hoffman had been partying too hard (the real reason he had deprived himself of sleep) as a way of coping with his depression and the pain of his divorce. [1] For scenes in which Hoffman was to appear breathless, he would run a half mile until the moment Schlesinger called "action". After this film, Hoffman said that he would no longer play "young" roles like being a college student in Marathon Man (he was 40 at the time of its release). Straight Time (1978) Agatha (1979) Controversy arose when the script was adjusted to accommodate Dustin Hoffman's starpower. Agatha producer David Puttnam left the production and swore he would never again work with Dustin Hoffman. Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) Directed by Robert Benton, Kramer featured Hoffman as workaholic Ted Kramer whose wife unexpectedly leaves him, and he has to raise their son alone. Hurt and stunned, Ted is forced to juggle his priorities: success in advertising and single parenthood. In tradition feel-good fashion, he comes to see what's truly important and finds himself growing up far too late. When his ex-wife returns to reclaim their child, he finds everything he's fixed breaking all over again. Hoffman starred alongside Meryl Streep in the film, which earned Hoffman his first Academy Award. The film also received the Best Picture honor, as well as Supporting Actress (Streep) and Director. 1980sImage:Tootsie at the Russian Tea Room.jpg Hoffman with Sydney Pollack in Tootsie Tootsie (1982) Tootsie earned ten Academy Award nominations, including Actor (Hoffman), Picture and Director. The film would only win one, for Supporting Actress (Lange). Ishtar (1987) The film received largely negative reviews from critics and was nominated for three Razzie awards, though they spared Hoffman. Image:030826.jpg Hoffman with Tom Cruise in Rain Man Rain Man (1988) Because Hoffman shows no emotion throughout the entire film, it took careful crafting to make sure that Cruise's transformation was noticeable to audiences. So Levinson, Hoffman and Cruise worked for two years on this film. In that time, they decided that Hoffman's role in the film was simply Cruise's divine intervention. Because Hoffman's blankness is so strong, the audience shapes him into whatever they want him to be, and feel sympathy. Hoffman's nuanced performance has been hailed by many as the greatest of all time. The performance earned Hoffman his second Oscar, and the film took home three more, for Picture, Director and Screenplay. Family Business (1989) The film did relatively poorly with the critics and at the box office. 1990s: The commercial decadeThroughout the '90s, Hoffman would do many large, studio films. Dick Tracy (1990) The film was a hit with critics and a smash at the box office. Billy Bathgate (1991) The film failed on almost all accounts, critically and financially. Hook (1991) At $70 million, Hook was easily the most expensive film Spielberg had made up to that point, and was a huge success at the box office. The film earned Hoffman a Golden Globe nomination. Hero (1992) The film failed to perform well at the box office and received a mixed reception from critics. Outbreak (1995) Outbreak went on to recoup its budget, but made very little profit. The film, though, did receive better-than-average reviews for a Hollywood film. Sleepers (1996) Good reviews and decent box office led the film to cult status with the release of the film on video and, eventually, DVD. Mad City (1997) Amongst negative reviews and terrible receipts, the film quickly left theatres and plunged into obscurity. Wag the Dog (1997) The film was shot in just under a month. Hoffman's Robert Evans-inspired performance in Wag The Dog earned him some of the best reviews of his career and also brought him his 7th Academy Award nomination. Sphere (1998) After being welcomed with a plethora of bad reviews, the film failed to regain even half of its budget domestically. Being that Wag The Dog was filmed after this and released only weeks before it, Hoffman and Levinson managed to dodge Sphere's proverbial bullet. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999) The film failed with critics and at the box office. 2000sHoffman's work has primarily been supporting roles in studio films. Moonlight Mile (2002) Moonlight Mile, written and directed by Brad Silberling, primarily focuses on Gyllenhaal's character as the three work together to get through their grief. Though it performed poorly domestically, the film received fantastic reviews. Confidence (2003) Costing a meager $15 Million, the film failed to make that much in domestic theatres. It did, though, surpass the number worldwide (barely). Runaway Jury (2003) In the film, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz portray two important factors in a large murder trial, one on the jury, working on the inside, and the other playing the outside. Hoffman portrays the plaintiff's attorney, while Hackman plays the jury consultant for the defense. In a pivotal and dramatic scene, Hoffman's and Hackman's characters have an argument in the court bathroom. The two friends rehearsed this scene for days. Receiving good reviews all round, the film performed somewhat poorly at the box office, failing to recoup its $60 Million budget domestically. Finding Neverland(2004) The film, costarring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie and Freddie Highmore, received rave reviews, was a hit at the box office and earned the film seven Academy Award nominations - including Best Picture and Best Actor (Depp). I ♥ Huckabees (2004) The film received polarized reviews and failed commercially, but became an instant cult hit. Image:Dustin.jpg Hoffman with Ben Stiller in 2004's Meet the Fockers. Meet the Fockers (2004) is a comedy film and a sequel to Meet the Parents which saw Hoffman co-starring with Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller. The film was directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers). In addition to Hoffman, DeNiro and Stiller, Meet the Fockers has an all-star cast of Barbra Streisand, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Tim Blake Nelson and Owen Wilson. The film went on to become one of the highest grossing comedies in history, and Hoffman won the 2005 MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance. Also, Hoffman recently was featured in cameo roles in Andy Garcia's The Lost City and on the final episode of HBO sitcom "Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s fifth season. His role in 2006's Stranger Than Fiction pushed further into the comedic vein that Hoffman's performances have been mining in his latter years. He gave an interviewto stv's Grant Lauchlan in December 2006 and discussed the importance of comedy in life and work. In 2006 Hoffman played the perfumier Giuseppe Baldini in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume - The story of a murderer. He had a small cameo in the 2006 film, The Holiday. He was said to come up with a joke for Ellen DeGeneres in the Academy Awards involving the Oscar statue being nude with no genitalia. However, the statue is actually a knight. Private lifeHoffman has two children (Karina and Jenna) with his first wife Anne Byrne (married May 1969; divorced in 1980), and four more (Jacob, Maxwell, Rebecca and Alexandra) with wife Lisa Gottsegen, who is an attorney (married since October 1980). Hoffman also has two grandchildren. A political liberal, Hoffman has long supported the Democratic Party, as well as Ralph Nader. He is unrelated to fellow Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman. TriviaThe rock band Of Montreal made an album called The Early Four Track Recordings which tells a fictional, sarcastic story about Dustin Hoffman. Robert Duvall was a roommate of Hoffman in college. Duvall and Hoffman tease each other on the matter of acting training, as Duvall was trained by Sanford Meisner whereas Hoffman was brought up on Lee Strasberg's method acting. Hoffman is good friends with actor Gene Hackman. They shared an apartment for a time. Hoffman on a talk show once stated that the Oscars were "obscene, dirty and no better than a beauty contest". When presenting an award at the 1974 Oscar ceremonies, Frank Sinatra responded strongly: "Contrary to what Mr. Hoffman thinks, it is not an obscene evening. It is not garish and it is not embarrassing." Before auditioning for the part in The Graduate, Hoffman was slated to play Leo Bloom in The Producers. In reference to the poor reviews that Hoffman's film Ishtar received, Gary Larson did a Far Side cartoon entitled "Hell's Video Store" in which the only video available was Ishtar. Filmography
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