Dustin Hoffman profile
Actor profile

Dustin Hoffman

8th August 1937 Los Angeles, California, USA Acting

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 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.

150 Movies 42 TV Shows 192 Credits
Filmography

Movies & TV Shows

Tuner poster
Tuner 21st May 2026 as Harry Horowitz
TOVAH poster
TOVAH 26th January 2026 as Self
Megalopolis poster
Megalopolis 25th September 2024 as Nush 'The Fixer' Berman
Hal poster
Hal 28th March 2019 as Self
Boychoir poster
Boychoir 27th March 2015 as Master Carvelle
Chef poster
Chef 8th May 2014 as Riva
Close Up poster
Close Up 30th September 2012 as Self (archive footage)
Trumbo poster
Trumbo 10th September 2007 as Self - Interviewee
The Holiday poster
The Holiday 5th December 2006 as Dustin Hoffman (uncredited)
Sphere poster
Sphere 13th February 1998 as Dr. Norman Goodman
Hero poster
Hero 2nd October 1992 as Bernard 'Bernie' Laplante
Hook poster
Hook 10th April 1991 as Captain Hook
Rain Man poster
Rain Man 12th December 1988 as Raymond Babbitt
Ishtar poster
Ishtar 15th May 1987 as Chuck Clarke
Tootsie poster
Tootsie 17th December 1982 as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels
Agatha poster
Agatha 9th February 1979 as Wally Stanton
Lenny poster
Lenny 10th November 1974 as Lenny Bruce
The Point poster
The Point 2nd February 1971 as Narrator / Father (first telecast)
Luck poster
Luck 29th January 2012 as Chester Bernstein
Close Up poster
Close Up 1st February 2006 as Self - Interviewee
MADtv poster
MADtv 14th October 1995 as Self
Today poster
Today 14th January 1952 as Self