Dustin Hoffman

A versatile leading man of New Hollywood, Hoffman won Oscars for Kramer vs. Kramer and Rain Man.

Born on August 8, 1937, in Los Angeles, California, Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor and filmmaker.^[1][2]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Birth name: Dustin Lee Hoffman
Born: 8 August 1937
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1960–present
Children: 6, including Jake

Life and work

While enrolled at Santa Monica College, Hoffman enrolled in an acting class and developed a strong interest in acting.^[3][4] The black comedy The Tiger Makes Out (1967) marked Hoffman's first film appearance.^[5] The year 2012 saw Hoffman's first work as a director with the film Quartet.^[6]

What the cited sources add

Hoffman told AARP that he "never been a man's man" and is "ultimately for whoever the underdog is".^[4] Hackman said people see in Hoffman "the little guy who can represent the way they feel in a variety of situations".^[4] Emma Thompson said Hoffman's strength lies in being true to who he is, calling him "completely original".^[4] The appeal for Hoffman in playing Ratso Rizzo was the difference between that character and his preppy role in The Graduate, as he told Biskind.^[7]

References

Wikipedia, "Dustin Hoffman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "A-listers turn out for AFI's Hoffman tribute", Variety, February 22, 1999; Tucker, "Kennedy Center Honors review: David Letterman, Dustin Hoffman, and others celebrated as 'difficult, demanding, passive-aggressive'", December 26, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Dustin Hoffman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Berman, "How Dustin Hoffman’s Off-Screen Family Influences His Acting", Time, 2017-10-13; "Dustin Lee Hoffman, born 08/08/1937", California Birth Index; "Film Reference.com biography", Filmreference.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Dustin Hoffman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Grant, "Dustin Hoffman is back with a new movie and a new appreciation of life's everyday miracles - AARP The Magazine", AARP, 20 May 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Grant, "Dustin Hoffman is back with a new movie and a new appreciation of life's everyday miracles - AARP The Magazine", AARP, 20 May 2009. facts only, no text reused. aarp.org
Wikipedia, "Dustin Hoffman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Higgins, "Hollywood Flashback: Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep First Won Oscars for 'Kramer vs. Kramer'", The Hollywood Reporter, December 7, 2019; "Dustin Hoffman Biography", Biography.com; Brody, "To Wish Upon Ishtar", August 9, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Dustin Hoffman" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Scott, "A 'Rigoletto' Reunion Just Might Save the Day", The New York Times, 2013-01-10 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Biskind, Peter. Midnight Revolution . Vanity Fair, April 2009. facts only, no text reused. vanityfair.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dustin Hoffman (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.