Dustin Hoffman (full name Dustin Lee Hoffman) was born on August 8, 1937, in Los Angeles, California. His parents were related to the entertainment industry. His mother was a jazz pianist and his father worked in Columbia Pictures. Surrounded by this family, Dustin Hoffman began taking active interests in acting which would eventually become his career.
He and his friend Gene Hackman acted in several productions in Pasadena Playhouse for two years. In search of further exposure, the two friends shifted to New York City. There, Dustin Hoffman acted in several plays off-Broadway and in a number of local productions.
Dustin Hoffman found a great opportunity with the movie, The Graduate, where he played the role of B
enjamin Braddock. His role caught the attention of public and Hoffman received his first Oscar nomination as well. He was also offered a role in The Producers (1968). Thereafter, Dustin Hoffman received one big role after another. First in line was the movie Midnight Cowboy (1969) for which he was nominated for the Oscar once more. Throughout the 1970s, he appeared in movies like Straw Dogs (1971), Lenny (1974) and All The President's Men (1976). His role in Lenny earned him yet another Oscar nomination. In 1979, Hoffman acted in lead role in the movie Kramer vs. Kramer and, finally, won as Oscar in the Best Actor category.
In 1982, he did an odd role of a cross-dresser in the superhit movie Tootsie, but his next movie Ishtar (1987) was a big flop. This did not condemn Dustin Hoffman's spirit and he bounced back with the huge hit movie Rain Man (1988). For this, he won another Oscar in the category of Best Actor.
During the rest of the century, he appeared in a number of movies which included Outbreak (1995), Wag The God (1997), Finding Neverland (2004), Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and, then, in the kids' movie Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (2007).
In 2008, he gave voice to the cartoon movie Kung Fu Panda. Apart from that, he acted in a couple of other movies, viz., The Tale of Despereaux and Last Chance Harvey.
Why is he famous?
Dustin Hoffman is famous as a two-time Oscar winning actor who is famous for roles in movies like Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man.
Here is one of his famous quotes:
"One thing about being successful is that I stopped being afraid of dying. Once you're a star you're dead already. You're embalmed."
- Dustin Hoffman
Life in Brief:
- Being born on Aug 08, Dustin is a Leo. - his ethnicity: White. - his mother's name: Lillian Gold. - his father's name: Harvey Hoffman. - Brother : Ronald Hoffman.
Dustin Hoffman had studied at Los Angeles High School, Los Angeles, CA and then he attended the Santa Monica College (but he dropped out in 1956).
Dustin dated Anne Byrne (wife) and amongst other amorous encounters was Lisa Gottsegen (wife).