Dustin Hoffman
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Male
Birthday
1937-08-08 (88 years old)
Place of Birth
Los Angeles, California, USA
Dustin Hoffman
Biography
Dustin Lee Hoffman 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 everyman's 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 1961's 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 off-Broadway 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 Schlesinger's 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 Fosse's Lenny (1975), Marathon Man alongside Laurence Olivier (1976), and as Carl Bernstein investigating the Watergate scandal in All the President's 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 three-year break from films, Hoffman returned in Sydney Pollack's 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 May's 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, co-starring 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 Beatty's action comedy adaptation Dick Tracy (1990), Steven Spielberg's 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.
Acting
Tower Stories
as Jacob
Franz Kline - Remembered
as Self
(2025)
Tuner
as Harry Horowitz
(2025)
MegaDoc
as Self
(2025)
Twiggy
as Self
(2024)
Kung Fu Panda 4
as Shifu (voice)
(2024)
Megalopolis
as Nush 'The Fixer' Berman
(2023)
Reinventing Elvis: The 68' Comeback
as Benjamin Braddock (archive footage)
(2022)
(2022)
Sam & Kate
as Bill
(2022)
As They Made Us
as Eugene
(2022)
PRIDE: To Be Seen - A Soul of a Nation Presentation
as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels (archive footage)
(2020)
(2019)
Hal
as Self
(2019)
Alan Pakula: Going for Truth
as Self
(2019)
Into the Labyrinth
as Dottor Green
(2017)
The Newspaperman: The Life and Times of Ben Bradlee
as Self (archive footage)
(2017)
Spielberg
as Self
(2017)
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
as Harold Meyerowitz
(2017)
Steve McQueen: American Icon
as Self (archive footage)
(2016)
Kung Fu Panda 3
as Shifu (voice)
(2016)
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Scroll
as Shifu / Warrior (voice)
(2016)
All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception, and the Spirit of I.F. Stone
as Carl Bernstein (archive footage)
(2016)
(2015)
The Program
as Bob Hamman
(2015)
Roald Dahl's Esio Trot
as Mr. Hoppy
(2015)
Boychoir
as Master Carvelle
(2015)
Arthur Miller: A Man of His Century
as Self - Actor
(2014)
Chef
as Riva
(2014)
The Cobbler
as Abraham Simkin
(2014)
Led Zeppelin Played Here
as Self (archive footage)
(2013)
(2013)
Kung Fu Panda: The Awesome Secrets Collection
as Shifu (Voice)
(2012)
Casting By
as Self (Archival Footage)
(2012)
La Classe américaine
as Self
(2012)
Close Up
as Self (archive footage)
(2011)
Kung Fu Panda 2
as Shifu (voice)
(2011)
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters
as Shifu (voice)
(2011)
Paul Williams Still Alive
as Self (archive footage)
(2010)
Little Fockers
as Bernie Focker
(2010)
Kung Fu Panda Holiday
as Shifu (voice)
(2010)
Barney's Version
as Izzy Panofsky
(2010)
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(2010)
Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story
as Narrator (voice)
(2009)
Against the Tide
as Narrator
(2009)
(2008)
Kung Fu Panda
as Shifu (voice)
(2008)
The Tale of Despereaux
as Roscuro (voice)
(2008)
Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Furious Five
as Shifu (voice)
(2008)
Last Chance Harvey
as Harvey Shine
(2008)
Visual Acoustics
as Self - Narrator
(2008)
(2008)
(2007)
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium
as Mr. Edward Magorium
(2007)
Trumbo
as Self - Interviewee
(2006)
The Holiday
as Dustin Hoffman
(2006)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
as Giuseppe Baldini
(2006)
Stranger Than Fiction
as Professor Jules Hilbert
(2006)
(2006)
(2006)
The 78th Annual Academy Awards
as Self - Presenter
(2005)
Racing Stripes
as Tucker (voice)
(2005)
Earth to America
as Self
(2005)
The Lost City
as Meyer Lansky
(2005)
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
as Self
(2004)
Meet the Fockers
as Bernie Focker
(2004)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
as The Critic (uncredited)
(2004)
Finding Neverland
as Charles Frohman
(2004)
(2004)
I ♥ Huckabees
as Bernard Jaffe
(2003)
Runaway Jury
as Wendell Rohr
(2003)
Confidence
as Winston King
(2003)
Moonlight Mile: A Journey to Screen
as Self / Ben Floss
(2003)
Mantrap – Straw Dogs: The Final Cut
as Self (archive footage)
(2003)
(2003)
(2002)
Moonlight Mile
as Ben Floss
(2002)
Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
(2002)
(2001)
Tuesday
as voice
(2001)
(2001)
(2001)
Goldwyn: The Man and His Movies
as Self - Narrator
(1999)
The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
as Joan's conscience
(1999)
The Devil's Arithmetic
as Self (Introduces Film) (uncredited)
(1999)
Tato's Argentina
as Arturo Puig
(1999)
(1998)
Sphere
as Dr. Norman Goodman
(1998)
Warner Bros. 75th Anniversary: No Guts, No Glory
as Self - Host (segment "75 Years of Award Winners")
(1997)
Wag the Dog
as Stanley Motss
(1997)
Mad City
as Max Brackett
(1996)
Sleepers
as Danny Snyder
(1996)
American Buffalo
as Walt 'Teach' Teacher
(1995)
Outbreak
as Sam Daniels
(1995)
(1994)
Jonas in the Desert
as Self
(1993)
Aretha Franklin: Duets
as Self
(1993)
La Classe américaine
as Peter (archive footage)
(1992)
Earth and the American Dream
as Reader (voice)
(1992)
Hero
as Bernard 'Bernie' Laplante
(1992)
'The Graduate' at 25
as Self
(1991)
Hook
as Captain Hook
(1991)
A Wish for Wings That Work
as Milquetoast (voice)
(1991)
Billy Bathgate
as Dutch Schultz
(1990)
The Earth Day Special
as Every Lawyer
(1990)
Dick Tracy
as Mumbles
(1990)
(1989)
Family Business
as Vito McMullen
(1989)
Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt
as Narrator (voice)
(1988)
Rain Man
as Raymond Babbitt
(1987)
Ishtar
as Chuck Clarke
(1986)
Private Conversations: On the Set of ‘Death of a Salesman’
as Self / Willy Loman
(1985)
Death of a Salesman
as Willy Loman
(1985)
Night of 100 Stars II
as Self
(1982)
Tootsie
as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels
(1982)
Night of 100 Stars
as Self
(1982)
(1982)
(1982)
The Making of 'Tootsie'
as Self
(1980)
The Sensational Shocking Wonderful Wacky 70's
as Self (archive footage)
(1979)
Kramer vs. Kramer
as Ted Kramer
(1979)
Agatha
as Wally Stanton
(1978)
Straight Time
as Max Dembo
(1977)
(1976)
All the President's Men
as Carl Bernstein
(1976)
Marathon Man
as Babe
(1976)
(1976)
(1975)
(1974)
Lenny
as Lenny Bruce
(1974)
Free to Be… You and Me
as Self (scenes deleted)
(1973)
Papillon
as Louis Dega
(1973)
The Magnificent Rebel
as Self
(1972)
Alfredo, Alfredo
as Alfredo
(1971)
Straw Dogs
as David Sumner
(1971)
The Point
as Narrator / Father (first telecast)
(1971)
(1971)
On Location: Dustin Hoffman
as Self
(1970)
Little Big Man
as Jack Crabb
(1970)
Arthur Penn: The Director
as Self
(1970)
(1969)
Midnight Cowboy
as Enrico "Ratso" Rizzo
(1969)
John and Mary
as John
(1969)
The Crowd Around the Cowboy
as Self
(1968)
Madigan's Millions
as Jason Fister
(1968)
The New Cinema
as Self
(1967)
The Graduate
as Ben Braddock
(1967)
The Tiger Makes Out
as Hap
(1966)
The Journey of the Fifth Horse
as Zoditch
(1966)
The Star Wagon
as Hanus Wicks
Crew
(2019)
Into the Labyrinth
Executive Producer
(2015)
Brooklyn
Thanks
(2012)
Quartet
Director, Executive Producer
(1999)
A Walk on the Moon
Producer
(1999)
The Devil's Arithmetic
Executive Producer
(1998)
Tarzan and the Lost City
Producer
(1979)
Agatha
Producer