Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Lee Hoffman born August 8 1937 is an American actor and filmmaker He is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters Actor Robert De Niro described him as an actor with the everymans face who embodied the heartbreakingly human At a young age Hoffman knew he wanted to study in the arts and entered into the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music later he decided to go into acting for which he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles His first theatrical performance was 1961s A Cook for Mr General as Ridzinski During that time he appeared in several guest roles on television shows like Naked City and The Defenders He then starred in the 1966 offBroadway play Eh where his performance garnered him both a Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Award His breakthrough role was as Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols critically acclaimed and iconic film The Graduate 1967 for which he received his first Academy Award nomination His next role was Ratso Rizzo in John Schlesingers Midnight Cowboy 1969 in which he acted alongside Jon Voight they both received Oscar nominations and the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture He gained success in the 1970s playing roles that shaped the craft of his acting crossing genres effortlessly in the western Little Big Man 1970 the prison drama Papillon 1973 playing a controversial and groundbreaking comedian in Bob Fosses Lenny 1975 Marathon Man alongside Laurence Olivier 1976 and as Carl Bernstein investigating the Watergate scandal in All the Presidents Men 1976 In 1979 Hoffman starred in the family drama Kramer vs Kramer alongside Meryl Streep They both received Academy Awards for their performances After a threeyear break from films Hoffman returned in Sydney Pollacks show business comedy Tootsie 1982 about a struggling actor who pretends to be a woman in order to get an acting role He returned to stage acting with a 1984 performance as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and reprised the role a year later in a television film earning a Primetime Emmy Award In 1987 he starred alongside Warren Beatty in Elaine Mays comedy Ishtar He won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the autistic savant Ray Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man costarring Tom Cruise In 1989 he was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for playing Shylock in a stage performance of The Merchant of Venice In the 1990s he made appearances in such films as Warren Beattys action comedy adaptation Dick Tracy 1990 Steven Spielbergs Hook 1991 as Captain Hook medical disaster Outbreak 1995 legal crime drama Sleepers 1996 and the satirical black comedy Wag the Dog 1997 alongside Robert De Niro