Dustin Hoffman - biography, filmography, personal life and photos

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Oscar-winning North American actor Dustin Hoffman has been a successful film and stage performer for over 50 years. His path to success was winding and long, sometimes leading him "in the wrong direction." But in the end, films with the participation of Hoffman entered the golden fund of cinema, and the characters he created were remembered and loved by the audience.

Childhood

Dustin Lee Hoffman was born on August 8, 1937 in Los Angeles (California, USA). His parents - Lillian and Harry - were descendants of Jewish emigrants from Ukraine and Romania. The father of the Hoffman family worked as a decorator at Columbia Pictures, enthusiastically retelling stories about filming in Hollywood at home, heard from colleagues. The Great Depression hit, and the elder Hoffman was forced to sell furniture at the store. The mother also left her job as a jazz pianist to raise her children.

When Dustin was 5 years old, he was already given piano lessons. At 12, he appeared on the stage of the school theater, but the debut was unsuccessful. The older brother Ronald was a classic honors student, participated in the filming of the film, tried himself in dancing, and later became a professor of economics. As a child, against the backdrop of shiningRon's talents Dustin Hoffman constantly felt inferior, and his parents were worried about his poor grades, for which the boy was expelled from school for the first time in the third grade.

Find yourself

In 1952, Dustin moved to high school, where he continued to play music, joined the tennis team and sold newspapers on the streets. Among his classmates, the young man mostly kept to himself due to his small stature and skin problems. Later, the actor recalled that at the age of 16-17 he was the owner of a collection of acne, one of the worst in Los Angeles. At this time, Dustin cherished the dream of becoming a jazz pianist.

After graduating from high school in 1955, the young man entered Santa Monica College, where he did not like it. He convinced his parents that it would be better for him to drop out and enter the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music (later the California Institute of the Arts). One of the friends noticed how easily Dustin Hoffman transforms into different images. The biography of the young man at that moment made another sharp turn. He goes to the theater school, opened at the theater in Pasadena.

Basic Acting in Pasadena

Dustin begins his studies in Pasadena and becomes close to another student, Gene Hackman. The paradox is that the two greatest actors of American cinema at that time were considered unpromising in their educational institution. Another classmate of Hoffman was Barbra Streisand.

In Pasadena, Dustin got his first major role. Hoffman played a lawyer in the play based on the work of A. Miller "View from the Bridge". Something embarrassed the director in the performer. He came up and said that only by the age of 30 actor Dustin Hoffman will be able to succeed. After studying 2 courses in Pasadena, the 21-year-old young man goes to New York to Manhattan, following Jim Hackman.

Hoffman's accident

The first weeks in the big city unsettled Dustin, he was a little scared. For some time he huddled in the apartment of Hackman and his wife, then settled with Robert Duvall. Dustin becomes more relaxed, begins to flirt with women. Robert Duvall recalled that at that time Hoffman had many girls, he grew long hair, rode a motorcycle.

One of the evenings the actor spent at his girlfriend's house, preparing fondue. Suddenly, the pot of food exploded, hot oil splattered on the floor and caught fire. Dustin Hoffman extinguished the flames, but suffered severe burns and was taken to the hospital. Doctors assumed that the young man would not survive. After extensive surgery, Dustin took several months to fully recover. The threat of death gave him strength and determination, he decided to return to the stage.

Hoffman's studies and theater career in New York

Soon, Dustin found a suitable theater school for himself - the famous Lee Strasberg Acting Studio in New York. He failed to audition with the most famous directors four times. After some time, he received a call and was told that he had been accepted into the studio, where, under the guidance of Lee Strasberg, Marlon Brando andMarilyn Monroe. Together with Hoffman, his friends Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman attended acting classes.

Dustin simultaneously played in Broadway productions. To pay the bills, the actor was forced to work as a teacher, on duty in a psychiatric hospital, as a waiter, and as a toy seller. Complementing the meager income were fees for shooting in commercials. Soon he found a job as a cloakroom attendant in the theater and secretly watched outstanding actors play on stage for six months.

In 1966, it was time to graduate from Lee Strasberg's acting studio. Hoffman successfully completed his studies and received a diploma. For 6 years in New York, he played several roles in Broadway productions, and also appeared occasionally in television series. After graduation, Dustin was actively looking for "his" theater. The young actor heard about the upcoming premiere of director Larry Arrick and convinced him to take him to the lead role in one of the productions. The performance was considered unsuccessful by critics, but Hoffman's performance was highly praised in theater magazines. Dustin's work was recognized as the best male role of the year, and the performer was awarded the prestigious Obie Award.

Symbols of "New Hollywood"

In the late 1960s, the theme of the American dream in films was replaced by dramatic collisions that showed the characters in development. The direction was called "New Hollywood". Barbra Streisand, Jack Nicholson and Dustin Hoffman became its representatives.

The growth of the actor by the standards of traditional Hollywood is not "star" - 165 cm. But thisdid not stop Dustin from becoming a favorite of several generations of moviegoers.

In 1967, the actor appeared in the episodic role of the hippie Hap in the black comedy "Enter the Tiger". Canadian director Arthur Hiller filmed the tape in New York. The next work was also the comedy film Madigan's Million.

In the film "The Graduate" in 1967, a new Hollywood star, Dustin Hoffman, announced himself in full voice. The filmography of the actor was just beginning, and the role of Ben Braddock in the comedy directed by M. Nichols brought him universal recognition from film critics. The young actor was very convincing as a college graduate who rebelled against parental tutelage.

Dustin Hoffman's Early Years Awards and Nominations

The film directed by M. Nichols "The Graduate" is one of a series of successful works that marked the start of Dustin Hoffman's film career. Filmography for all years includes more than 50 films. He constantly improved his technique, which eventually became the hallmark of the actor. Often he had to listen to reproaches of perfectionism, which sometimes slowed down the filming process. The desire for the ideal embodiment of the director's idea and his aspirations allowed Dustin to win worldwide recognition. Hoffman received his first film awards and nominations for his performance as Ben Braddock in The Graduate:

• BAFTA Award for Promising Debut in a Leading Role (1969);
• Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer - Lead Actor (1968);
• 1968 Oscar nomination for Best Actor;
• nomination1968 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, Comedy/Musical.

Films featuring Dustin Hoffman

The actor's notable work in 1969 was the role of the crippled swindler, swindler Enrico Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy. Hoffman's shooting partner was Jon Voight. The film was awarded three Oscars, and later included in the list of the greatest films in history. The picture became a vivid example of how Hollywood rethought traditional ideas about screen heroism. The audience liked Hoffman's character, although critics suggested that the film was going to fail. In the seventies and eighties, successful films were released starring Dustin Hoffman. Best films of this period:

• Straw Dogs (1971).
• "Lenny" (1974).
• Marathon Runner (1976).
• All the President's Men (1976).
• Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).
• Tootsie (1982).
• Rain Man (1988).

Dustin Hoffman's Career Triumph

The British Film Academy in 1970 recognized Dustin Hoffman as the best actor of the year. The performer of the role of Enrico Rizzo in "Midnight Cowboy" was nominated for an Oscar in the United States for Best Performance by a Male Lead.

The image of Lenny in the film of the same name brought Hoffman a third nomination for a gold statuette. The lead role in Kramer vs. Kramer earned Hoffman a long-awaited American Academy Award.

He was also awarded the Golden Globe Award for his imagefather who builds a relationship with his young son after the departure of his wife (Meryl Streep).

The tape has been nominated for numerous film awards more than 50 times, and won awards in 35 nominations.

Dustin Hoffman. Filmography in the eighties and nineties

In the 1982 film Tootsie, Hoffman showed the desperation of out-of-work actor Michael Dorsey. He disguises himself as actress Dorothy Michaels and participates in a "soap opera" on television. In this image, Michael unwittingly becomes a role model. The film "Tootsie" directed by Sidney Pollack brought Hoffman worldwide popularity, was a great commercial success at the box office. Working side by side with Jessica Lange, Hoffman in 1982:

• received his fifth Oscar nomination;
• winned Best Actor by the National Society of Film Critics;
• awarded a Golden Globe Award;
• Won Best Actor at BAFTA (1983).

Major success came to the actor after the release of the film "Rain Man", filmed by Barry Levinson in 1988. He played the role of Raymond Babbit, suffering from autism, for which he received an Oscar for the second time, and a Golden Globe for the fifth. Hoffman managed to return to the theater, playing on Broadway in London's West End. In the nineties, Hoffman starred in the film adaptation of the comic book "Dick Tracy", the gangster film "Billy Bathgate", in the fairy tale "Captain Hook". Many viewers remember films with Dustin Hoffman: "Epidemic", "Sleepers", "Wag", "Sphere". The new century is marked by such highlights in the career of an actor as filming in tapesHeartbreakers, Meet the Fockers, Harvey's Last Chance. In recent years, Hoffman has been voicing popular cartoon characters, working in television and directing films.

Dustin Hoffman's personal life

Dustin Hoffman married ballerina Anne Bjorn on May 4, 1969. The family brought up two children: Jenna and Karina. In 1975, the actor's wife decided to resume performing on stage. Hoffman had to take care of the children and the household. Because of this, in the late seventies, the actor had problems with Ann Bjorn, which ended in a divorce in 1980.

Shortly after the breakup, the family arranged for a new marriage to take place. The chosen one of the actor this time was the daughter of an old family friend - the lawyer Lisa Gottsegen. Dustin Hoffman, whose photo and his wife reprinted all the magazines, was happy. In this marriage, the actor had children: Jacob, Rebecca, Max and Alexandra. Throughout his creative career, Hoffman maintains a good relationship with his youth friends Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman. Dustin recently had a successful operation after doctors diagnosed him with cancer.

For half a century of Hoffman's work in the cinema, many legends arose about him. He collaborates with the best directors in Hollywood, who call him "the indefatigable shorty" for his perfectionism on the set. Hoffman's endless remarks led to another nickname, "the bore." The actor likes to repeat that when shooting, it is important to take into account all the nuances so that any trifledid not spoil the result. There are rumors about Dustin's desire to count every dollar of the fees due to him. But he also shows examples of virtue, donating to the repair of a burned-out church and providing first aid to the victim. In many ways, Hoffman resembles his on-screen character from the movie Hero. It makes people empathize, sympathize with those who are often ignored. For this talent, the audience fell in love with Dustin Hoffman.