- Born
- Birth nameDustin Lee Hoffman
- Height5′ 5¾″ (1.67 m)
- Dustin Lee Hoffman was born in Los Angeles, California, to Lillian (Gold) and Harry Hoffman, who was a furniture salesman and prop supervisor for Columbia Pictures. He was raised in a Jewish family (from Ukraine, Russia-Poland, and Romania). Hoffman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955, and went to Santa Monica City College, where he dropped out after a year due to bad grades. But before he did, he took an acting course because he was told that "nobody flunks acting." Also received some training at Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. Decided to go into acting because he did not want to work or go into the service. Trained at The Pasadena Playhouse for two years.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Taesu Byun
- SpousesLisa Gottsegen(October 12, 1980 - present) (4 children)Anne Byrne Hoffman(May 4, 1969 - October 6, 1980) (divorced, 2 children)
- ChildrenKarina Hoffman-Birkhead
- ParentsLillian GoldHarry Hoffman
- RelativesRonald Hoffman(Sibling)
- He is famous for taking a wide range of difficult roles, such as a crippled street hustler in Midnight Cowboy (1969); an actor pretending to be a woman in Tootsie (1982), an autistic person in Rain Man (1988) and a Captain Pirate in Hook (1991).
- He has a reputation for being difficult to work with due to his perfectionist approach
- His deep nasal voice, which has a unique "honking" timbre
- He entered into The Guinness Book of World Records as "Greatest Age Span Portrayed By A Movie Actor" for Little Big Man (1970) in which he portrayed a character from age 17 to age 121.
- During the filming of Wag the Dog (1997) Hoffman, his co-star Robert De Niro and director Barry Levinson had an impromptu meeting with President Bill Clinton at a Washington hotel. "So what's this movie about?" Clinton asked De Niro. De Niro looked over to Levinson, hoping he would answer the question. Levinson, in turn, looked over to Hoffman. Hoffman, realizing there was no one else to pass the buck to, is quoted as saying, "So I just started to tap dance. I can't even remember what I said."
- He played Tiny Tim in a middle school production. On a bet, he changed the ending line from "God bless everyone!" to "God bless everyone, goddamn it!" on performing night and was subsequently suspended.
- While having dinner with Paul McCartney, Dustin Hoffman told the story of the death of Pablo Picasso and his famous last words, "Drink to me, drink to my health. You know I can't drink anymore." Paul had a guitar with him and immediately played an impromptu chord progression while singing the quote. Thus, "Picasso's Last Words", one of the highlights of the "Band On The Run" album, was made.
- His performance as Raymond Babbitt in Rain Man (1988) is ranked #88 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. Hoffman says he infused his portrayal with aspects of the personality of a patient he had known from the days when he worked as a nurse's aide in a New York City psychiatric facility.
- We all believe what we read. I read how Tom Cruise and I were two big egos holding up shooting. I know that isn't true - but if I wasn't making a movie with him and I just picked up the paper, I'd believe it. That's interesting, isn't it?
- I got into acting so that I could meet girls. Pretty girls came later. First, I wanted to start off with someone with two legs, who'd smile at me and look soft.
- I lived below the official American poverty line until I was 31.
- If a lot of dogs are on the beach, the first thing they do is smell each other's ass. The information that's gotten somehow makes pacifists out of all of them. I've thought, 'If only we smelled each other's asses, there wouldn't be any war.'
- You go to the cinema and you realize you're watching the third act. There is no first or second act. There is this massive film-making where you spend this incredible amount of money and play right to the demographic. You can tell how much money the film is going to make by how it does on the first weekend. The whole culture is in the crap house. It's not just true in the movies, it's also true in the theater.
- Hook (1991) - $2,000,000 +gross point
- Rain Man (1988) - $5,800,000 +% of gross
- Ishtar (1987) - $6,000,000
- Tootsie (1982) - $5,500,000
- Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) - $2,000,000
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