Dustin Hoffman

As of 2008, he and Philip Seymour Hoffman are the only two winners of best actor in a leading role at the Oscars to share a last name. Philip won for Capote (2005) and Dustin won for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988).

In April 2005, he was a recipient of a Lincoln Center tribute.

He was interested in playing Shylock in Michael Radford's adaptation of William Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice": The Merchant of Venice (2004). However, by the time he contacted Radford, Al Pacino had already been cast for the role.

The bathroom scene in Runaway Jury (2003), where Roar confronts Finch is the first ever dialog in a movie between him and Gene Hackman. It was added when someone on the crew found out that the two, though they had been friends for 50 years, had never starred in a movie together.

In January 1999, he was awarded $3m in damages and compensation in a case against "Los Angeles" Magazine, because it had printed a digitally altered image of him in a dress (cf. Tootsie (1982)). In July 2001 a federal appeals court overturned the verdict. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that because the photo appeared in an article, not an advertisement, the use of the actor's likeness did not constitute "commercial speech" and was entitled to the full protection of the 1st Amendment.

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."

In 1993 he, together with Anne Bancroft, accepted the Oscar for "Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium", on behalf of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, who wasn't present at the awards ceremony.

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.

He has appeared in two films about "Peter Pan" (Hook (1991) and Finding Neverland (2004)). Following his appearance in Hook (1991), close friend and former roommate Gene Hackman began calling him "Hook" as a joke. The name stuck and his contemporaries call him by that nickname to this day.

He was nominated for the 1990 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "The Merchant of Venice".

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.

He was sought for the role of Rick Deckard in Blade Runner: The Director's Cut (1982) for several months but he saw the film very differently from the producers. The role eventually went to Harrison Ford after they were impressed by excerpts of his performance in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981).

Eventually Hackman persuaded Hoffman to room with their mutual friend Robert Duvall, and soon the two nascent actors were sharing an $80-a-month apartment on W. 109th St.in Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Oscar-winning director John Schlesinger envisioned a cast of Al Pacino, Julie Christie and Laurence Olivier for Marathon Man (1976). Pacino has said that the only actress he had ever wanted to work with was Christie, who he claimed was "the most poetic of actresses." Producer Robert Evans, who disparaged the vertically challenged Pacino as "The Midget" when Francis Ford Coppola wanted him for The Godfather (1972) and had thought of firing him during the early shooting of the now-classic film, vetoed Pacino for the lead. Instead, Evans insisted on the casting of the even-shorter Dustin Hoffman! On her part, Christie -- who was notoriously finicky about accepting parts, even in prestigious, sure-fire material -- turned down the female lead, which was then taken by Marthe Keller (who, ironically, became Pacino's lover after co-starring with him in Bobby Deerfield (1977)). Of his dream cast, Schlesinger only got Olivier, who was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar.

He was considered for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972).

On Friday, March 6th, 1970, he and wife Anne Byrne Hoffman were living in a brownstone on 11th St. in New York City's Greenwich Village when the house next door blew up. Fortunately, he and his family weren't home. Members of the radical 1960's domestic terror group, that called themselves "The Weathermen" were living in that house unknown to anyone and had stored a large cache of explosives that accidentally detonated, killing three of the group's members. Henry Fonda's ex-wife, Susan Blanchard, was also a neighbor in that block and witnessed the explosion, as it occurred.

His performance as "Ratso" Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy (1969) is ranked #7 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).

He was a neighbor of Mel Brooks in New York and was set to play the role of Franz Liebkind in Brooks' first film, The Producers (1967). Just before production was to commence, Hoffman was offered the role of Ben Braddock in The Graduate (1967), co-starring Brooks' wife Anne Bancroft, and asked to be let out of his contract. The role of Liebkind eventually went to Kenneth Mars.

He has six children: Jenna Byrne and Karina Hoffman-Birkhead (born 1966 - adopted) with his first wife Anne Byrne Hoffman; Jake Hoffman, Rebecca Hoffman, Max Hoffman and Alexandra Hoffman with his second wife Lisa Gottsegen.

Despite being old friends and roommates with Gene Hackman back in the 1960s, it was literally decades before he appeared on screen with him. He finally starred with Hackman in Runaway Jury (2003).

He has known Gene Hackman since 1956 when they met at the Pasadena Playhouse.

He was voted the 28th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

After attending the Pasadena Playhouse, Hoffman decided to move to New York and looked up former Playhouse classmate Gene Hackman. The two of them roomed together in New York at Hackman's one-bedroom apartment on 2nd Ave. and 26th St. Hoffman slept on the kitchen floor. Originally Hackman had offered to let him stay a few nights, but Hoffman would not leave. Hackman had to take him out to look for his own apartment. Eventually Hackman persuaded Hoffman to room with their mutual friend Robert Duvall, and soon the two nascent actors were sharing an $80-a-month apartment on W. 109th St.in Manhattan's Upper West Side.