Dustin Hoffman

Overview

Born
August 8, 1937 · Los Angeles, California, USA
Birth name
Dustin Lee Hoffman
Height
1.67 m

Biography

Family

Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives

Trademarks

He is famous for taking a wide range of difficult roles, such as a crippled street hustler in Macadam 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 ou la Revanche du capitaine Crochet (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

Trivia

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.
During the filming of Des hommes d'influence (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 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.
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.
On an episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992), Dustin Hoffman said that his cameo in the film The Holiday (2006) was not scripted and unplanned. He was driving by the Blockbuster shown in the film and saw all of the cameras and equipment so he decided to stop in and see what was happening. Because he knew director Nancy Meyers, they worked up a scene which ultimately made the final cut.

Quotes

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.