Mix Up Star: DUSTIN HOFFMAN

Updated: Oct 25, 2022

Age: 85

Birthday: 8th August

Dustin Hoffman is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. He is the recipient of numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, three Drama Desk Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. 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. He soon starred in the 1966 off-Broadway play Eh? for which he received a 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 crossing genres effortlessly in the western Little Big Man (1970), and thriller Marathon Man (1976). He also played real life figures: comedian Lenny Bruce in Bob Fosse's Lenny (1975), and journalist Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men (1976). Hoffman starred opposite Meryl Streep in the family drama Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), for which they both received Academy Awards.

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. 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 acted in such films as Dick Tracy (1990), Hook (1991), and Wag the Dog (1997).

In the 21st century, Hoffman has appeared in films such as Finding Neverland (2004), and Stranger than Fiction (2006), as well as Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010). Hoffman has done voice work for The Tale of Despereaux (2008) and the Kung Fu Panda film series (2008–2016).