Oscar History: Midnight Cowboy (1969)–Best Picture Winner Starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman | Emanuel Levy Oscar History: Midnight Cowboy (1969)–Best Picture Winner Starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman January 27, 2015 by EmanuelLevy Leave a Comment In 1969, Midnight Cowboy won the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director for John Schlesinger, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Waldo Salt. Midnight Cowboy was based on a respectable source material, the 1966 novel of James Leo Herlihy (who later committed suicide). Though tough and gritty in dealing with unusual subject matter, the movie, with the help of the Oscars, was quite commercially successful. The year of 1969 was a mixed bags as far as the Oscar race was concerned. Released in the midst of the Vietnam War and Anti-War movement, Midnight Cowboy won over the flawed historical epic “Anne of the Thousand Days,” the stagy adaptation of “A Thousand Clowns,” the campy and exuberant revisionist Western, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” starring Newman and Redford, the old-fashioned musical, “Hello Dolly!

with Streisand in the lead, and Costa-Gavras’ political thriller “Z.” Midnight Cowboy surprised audiences with its candid view of sex and daring dialogue, though by today’s standards, it’s rather conservative and mild. The film tells a bittersweet, often touching tale of a strange friendship between two victims of the American Dream. The one, Joe Buck (Jon Voight), is a good-looking, uneducated, and naive Texan who, under the influence of radio and television commercials, fancies himself to be a stud. His ambition is to strike it rich by providing sexual services to wealthy women, only to discover that the image projected by his buckskin jacket and cowboy paraphernalia has appeal mainly in the homosexual market. The other character, Ratzo Rizzo (Dustin Hoffman) is a crippled, ailing mousy scrounger, who lives in a vacant, decaying building, barely eking out an existence by his street smarts. Some critics, such as Pauline Kael, found the movie offensive and inaccurate in its seedy portrait of New York City. The harshest, most disturbing image shows a man lying unattended on a Fifth Avenue pavement in front to Tiffany’s.

Other critics, such as Barrios, claims that despite the edgy surface, the film is at heart conventional, sort of “old wine in new bottle.” But I disagree with both of them. Reflecting the zeitgeist, the film tried to capture the ambiance of nightlife at Times Square and the area’s alienated and lonely creatures. In the process, it perpetuated the myth of New York as a sleazy, dehumanized, impersonal city. Schlesinger explored the Dante-like Inferno the 42nd Street area long before it was Disneyfied. Grounded in its socio-political context, there is a Greenwich Village hippie party that feels like an orgy was a gesture toward the then fashionable kind of decadence. The relationship between a flawed “innocent” and a cynical, moribund loser emerges out of their desperate need for some kind of human companionship. The movie is sporadically moving and it certainly has energy to transcend the depressing context and awful surroundings. The film focuses on their squalid adjustments to loneliness and desperation. The tone is more morbidly exploitative than honestly realistic–“or humanistic, for that matter.

The relationship doesn’t go far enough; it is never overtly sexual, despite innuendos and homoerotic overtones. Joe may have been America’s last unenlightened fool, a small-town bumpkin, unable to adapt to faster world and new markets. This comes across in most of his interactions, but particularly with Cass (Sylvia Miles), a restless ex-hooker who welcomes the excitement of Joe’s visit to the plush penthouse provided by her current protector. She is an aging floozy that Joe picks up under the mistaken interpretation that she is a society lady. Moral ambiguity prevails throughout, specifically in the gratuitously brutal act Joe commits in an effort to realize the dying cripple’s fantasy about getting to hot-climate Florida. Aesthetically, Schlesinger relies on rapid-fire cutting, distorted wide angle shots, crudely inserted flashbacks from Joe’s childhood, and other shock effects. He uses the spurious exuberance of mass media slogans as a counterpoint to joyless real-life encounters. Most critics found the fragmented flashbacks into the cowboy’s lurid formative years to be irritatingly ambiguous and incoherent too.

Indeed, ultimately, what the viewers cared about was not the frenzied style and visual pyrotechnics but the characters and the central friendship. The movie is about the awakening of affection–“and conscience–in two alienated young men, who discover for the first time in their lives what it is to care about another human being. Neither the cowboy nor his pal Ratso, the Times Square derelict who first cheats and then befriends him, has ever really “communicated” with anyone before. The film catered to and reinforced the facile pessimism of the then young moviegoers, just as the facile optimism of the older generation used to cater to a simpler age. The film used freedom of expression with balancing responsibility and constructive-hopeful purpose. Indeed, it became first prestigious movie to get an X-rated in the new rating system, (which was initiated just seven months before its release. Awards-wise, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid got more Oscars (four) than Midnight Cowboy, which was nominated for seven Oscars, winning three.

Midnight Cowboy was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, two Best Actors (Voight and Hoffman, thus canceling each other out), Supporting Actress (Sylvia Miles), and Editing (Hugh A. Robertson). The acting of Voight and Hoffman was superb, and both were nominated for Best Actor, though the winner that year was John Wayne for the retro Western, True Grit. It’s worth noting that “Midnight Cowboy” was released theatrically just weeks before the riots at Stoenwall, New York, a tumultuous event that would open the gates to a more vivid and candid portrayal of gay characters abd relationships. Share this: 1969 Academy Awards® Winners and History Z (1969, Fr./Algeria) Actor: JOHN WAYNE in "True Grit", Richard Burton in "Anne of the Thousand Days", Dustin Hoffman in "Midnight Cowboy" , Peter O'Toole in "Goodbye, Mr.

Chips", Jon Voight in "Midnight Cowboy" Actress: MAGGIE SMITH in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie", Genevieve Bujold in "Anne of the Thousand Days", Jane Fonda in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", Liza Minnelli in "The Sterile Cuckoo", Jean Simmons in "The Happy Ending" Supporting Actor: GIG YOUNG in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?", Rupert Crosse in "The Reivers", Elliott Gould in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice", Jack Nicholson in "Easy Rider" , Anthony Quayle in "Anne of the Thousand Days" Supporting Actress: GOLDIE HAWN in "Cactus Flower", Catherine Burns in "Last Summer", Dyan Cannon in "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice", Sylvia Miles in "Midnight Cowboy" , Susannah York in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Director: JOHN SCHLESINGER for "Midnight Cowboy" , Costa-Gavras for "Z", George Roy Hill for "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" , Arthur Penn for "Alice's Restaurant", Sydney Pollack for "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" Although unlikely, it

 was interesting that nominations and awards were won by various kinds of 'Westerns' this year: a musical western - Paint Your Wagon It was also noteworthy that two major competitors this year, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and Midnight Cowboy , were quintessential buddy films - although one reflected the dark side, while the other was light-hearted.

In the late 1960's, it was significant that the Academy Awards honored British film-maker John Schlesinger's seamy, hard-hitting film (with Nilsson singing "Everybody's Talkin'" on the enhanced music track) Midnight Cowboy as the Best Picture. It captured the graphic, lonely alienation of the hustler's world of New York's Times Square, and told a tale of a strange friendship between a would-be Texan stud (Jon Voight) and a sickly drifter (Dustin Hoffman). The film was daring, scandalous, and shocking with its X-certificate for language and sex (not signifying pornography but an adults-only subject with no one under 16 admitted). [This was remarkable since the previous year's Oscar winner for Best Picture was the light-hearted musical Oliver! (1968).] It was the first and only X-rated Best Picture winner in Academy history (although it was re-rated in the next decade with an R rating.) Both lead actors were nominated for Best Actor - and both lost to John Wayne for True Grit.

From its seven nominations, the film won three awards (Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay by Waldo Salt), but was unable to win any of its three acting nominations. [Waldo Salt won the film's third Oscar for his witty screenplay that was adapted from James Leo Herlihy's novel.] The other films in the same category covered a wide range of subjects: a historical drama/period piece by director Charles Jarrott about the affairs of amoral King Henry VIII (Richard Burton) who sets aside his wife for Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold) - Anne of the Thousand Days (with ten nominations - more nominations than any other picture in 1969, but with only one win - Best Costume Design).

[The film was produced by Hal Wallis, his 19th Best Picture nomination - a record.] Sixties' historical pageants of this sort (after the success of Becket (1964), A Man for All Seasons (1966), and The Lion in Winter (1968)) were beginning to lose their popularity and impact the popular buddy film and revisionist Western about two legendary outlaws by director George Roy Hill, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid , (with seven nominations and four wins, the most of all Best Picture nominees) - William Goldman's Best Original Screenplay, Conrad Hall's Cinematography, Burt Bacharach's Best Original Score, and Hal David's Best Song "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head," a mix of entertaining music and comedic bank-robbing with two handsome male leads as the legendary outlaws the escapist musical and box-office failure - a re-creation of the popular Broadway show adapted from Thornton Wilder's play Matchmaker - with last year's Oscar-winner Barbra Streisand miscast in the un-nominated role of Dolly in director Gene Kelly's film, Hello, Dolly!

(with seven nominations and three wins - Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, and Best Musical Score) a tough political melodrama about the assassination of a 1960s Greek nationalist in director Costa-Gavras' French-Algerian co-produced thriller, Z (with five nominations and two wins - Best Film Editing and Best Foreign Language Film). [Z was the first film nominated as Best Foreign Language Film (1969) that also received a Best Picture nomination. It was also the second non-English language film to be nominated as Best Picture - the first was Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion (1938), over thirty years earlier.] The Best Director award went to British director John Schlesinger for Midnight Cowboy . Four years earlier, Schlesinger's Darling was also sexually permissive, with Julie Christie awarded Best Actress in the film as a hip model.

Other high-impact films with Best Director nominations included: Arthur Penn for Alice's Restaurant (the film's sole nomination), a 60's countercultural, hippie re-creation based upon folk singer Arlo Guthrie's song "Alice's Restaurant Massacre" Costa-Gavras for the political thriller Z, originally subtitled "The Anatomy of a Political Assassination" and based upon the 1963 real-life killing of a Greek liberal Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

(with nine nominations, not including Best Picture, and one win - Best Supporting Actor), the Depression-Era tale based on Horace McCoy's novel, of the desperate, self-destructive contestants in the Aragon Ballroom six-day marathon dances of early 1930s Los Angeles - this film was conspicuously missing from the Best Picture nominees The two co-stars of the Best Picture winner Midnight Cowboy were fellow nominees for Best Actor: Jon Voight (with his first nomination) as uneducated, wanna-be hustler/stud but naive blonde Texas boy Joe Buck who, after being influenced by radio and TV commercials, wants to pimp himself in the big city Dustin Hoffman (with his second nomination) as grimy, tubercular, gimp-gaited, sickly street-savvy Bronx hustler Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo The other two defeated Best Actor nominees were: Richard Burton (with his sixth of seven unsuccessful career nominations) was nominated for his role as boisterous King Henry VIII in Anne of the Thousand Days.

[The character role of King Henry VIII has been nominated more than any other literary or historical figure - previously, Charles Laughton for The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), and Robert Shaw for A Man for All Seasons (1966).] Peter O'Toole (with his fourth of eight career nominations) was nominated for his playing of Arthur Chipping - the beloved schoolmaster in the title role of director Herbert Ross' directorial debut with the musical remake of the 1939 film classic, Goodbye, Mr. Chips (with two nominations and no wins), based upon James Hilton's novel about a kind English all-boys school teacher. Sixty-two year-old John Wayne's 'sentimental' win of the Best Actor Oscar in 1969 (as a different kind of cowboy from the one in the Best Picture of the year) has generally been considered as a belated, long-overdue 'career' Oscar award or 'sentimental favorite' award.

He was nominated (this was his second acting nomination, after being nominated as Best Actor for Sands of Iwo Jima (1949)) and finally won for his 139th film, Henry Hathaway's True Grit, in a self-parodying role as the one-eyed (eye-patched), mean-tempered, hard-drinking, old US marshal named Rooster Cogburn who helps a young girl (Kim Darby) and a Texas ranger avenge the murder of the girl's father. [The film was remade in 2010 with Jeff Bridges in the starring role.] [Six years later, Wayne reprised his character in the title role of the sequel Rooster Cogburn (1975). Wayne would eventually appear in 151 films in his career. And he had performed in some of the best films and roles ever created - without nominations and/or Oscars: The Ringo Kid in Captain Nathan Brittles in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) Sgt. John M.

Stryker in Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) Sean Thornton in The Searchers (1956) - this was the film for which he should have won an Oscar! Tom Doniphon in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962) But Wayne's only previous acting nomination was for his role in the war film The Sands of Iwo Jima (1949). The Alamo (1960), in which Wayne served as producer, director, and actor - as Davy Crockett - received a Best Film nomination.] British thespian Maggie Smith's Best Actress Award was won for the Ronald Neame-directed adaptation of Muriel Spark's novel/play, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in which she portrayed the title role of a 1930s elitist, spinsterish, but inspirational, free-thinking, and eccentric teacher at the conservative Edinburgh school for girls.

[The win was her second nomination - her first was for her role in Othello (1965).] Smith's dark-horse win defeated two other favorites and first-time nominees: Jane Fonda (with her first nomination) as penniless, resolute, suicidal dance contestant and would-be actress Gloria Beatty in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Liza Minnelli (with her first nomination in her adult screen debut) as Pookie Adams, an eccentric, neurotic, aggressive college student, in director Alan Pakula's debut film, the romantic comedy The Sterile Cuckoo (with two nominations and no wins) Genevieve Bujold (with her sole nomination in her first major Hollywood film) as Anne Boleyn - the ill-fated Anne whose days were numbered in Anne of the Thousand Days Jean Simmons (with her second and last unsuccessful nomination, following her loss for Hamlet (1948)) as Mary Wilson - an unhappily-married, unfulfilled woman who seeks to find herself in director Richard Brooks' The Happy Ending (with two nominations and no wins) Gig Young (with his third career nomination - and sole Oscar win) won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as "Yowsir"-yelling Rocky - the uncaring, dissipated, ruthless emcee/Master of ceremonies of the tragic dance marathons for desperate couples in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

[Young had already been nominated twice before for Come Fill the Cup (1951) and Teacher's Pet (1958).] Other Best Supporting Actor nominees included: Anthony Quayle (with his sole career nomination) as Cardinal Wolsey in Anne of the Thousand Days newcomer Jack Nicholson (with his first nomination) as George Hanson in one of the best youth-oriented, low-budget, counter-cultural films of the late 1960s - a middle-class, alcoholic lawyer who joins Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda (as two motorcycling hippies) on a cross-country journey in co-writer/director Hopper's debut film, Easy Rider (with two nominations and no wins) Elliott Gould (with his sole nomination) as conservative Ted Henderson - one member of the swinging, spouse-swapping married couples in California in director Paul Mazursky's debut film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (with four nominations and no wins) Rupert Crosse (with his sole nomination) as Ned McClaslin - a black servant (and Steve McQueen's sidekick) who rides in a stolen car from small-town Mississippi to Memphis in 1905 in the adapted William Faulkner tale directed by Mark Rydell - The

 Reivers (with two nominations and no wins).

[Rupert Crosse was the first black actor to be given a Best Supporting Actor nomination. He was only the second black performer to receive an acting nomination in either category - the first was Sidney Poitier.] The Best Supporting Actress award was presented to Goldie Hawn (with her first nomination - and sole Oscar win) for her role as Toni Simmons - the infatuated mistress/girlfriend (of dentist Walter Matthau) in director Gene Saks' Cactus Flower (the film's sole nomination). [The role was Hawn's first major screen role (and second film) following star appearances as a giggly and dumb, body-painted, bikini-clad, go-go blonde on late 60's TV's Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In.

With her win, she became the first actress to win a Best Supporting Oscar while simultaneously starring in a TV-sitcom.] Her fellow Best Supporting Actress nominees included: Dyan Cannon (with her first of two unsuccessful career nominations) as Alice (Gould's wife) in Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice Sylvia Miles (with her first of two unsuccessful nominations for brief cameo roles) as Cass - a wily hooker who out-hustles $20 from Joe Buck for taxi cab fare in Midnight Cowboy Susannah York (with her sole nomination) as hopeful Jean Harlow-starlet Alice - another of the broken-down dance contestants in They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

Catherine Burns (with her sole nomination) as Rhoda - a slightly plump, homely teen who tragically comes of age during a summer vacation on the white sands of Fire Island, NY in director Frank Perry's dark film Last Summer (the film's sole nomination) Debonair leading man Cary Grant was presented with this year's Special Honorary Oscar award, for "his unique mastery of the art of screen acting with the respect and affection of his colleagues." Grant had only been nominated twice (and never won an Oscar) in his entire career, uncharacteristically for dramas, as Best Actor for Penny Serenade (1941) and for None But the Lonely Heart (1944), but he was best-known for his screwball comedies, including Topper (1937), The Awful Truth (1937) , Holiday (1938), North by Northwest (1959) , and for the romantic melodrama An Affair to Remember (1957).

Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Two westerns were entirely neglected by the Academy in 1969 for Best Picture and Best Director: Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch (with only two nominations - Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Score) Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West (1968, It.) (with no nominations) Although Easy Rider received two nominations (that both lost), Best Adapted Screenplay (Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Terry Southern) and Best Supporting Actor (Jack Nicholson), it should also have been nominated for Best Picture for its influential role and landmark place in cinematic history. And Haskell Wexler's semi-documentary political film Medium Cool lacked nominations in all categories. Although Sydney Pollack's They Shoot Horses, Don't They? received a remarkable nine nominations, one of them wasn't Best Picture. It became the first (and only) film to receive the most nominations ever (9) without being nominated for Best Picture. Neither Paul Newman nor Robert Redford (in their first teaming together) received Best Actor nominations as the title characters in the box-office success, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid .

Shirley Knight and James Caan were both ignored for their performances in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People: Knight as Natalie Ravenna - an on-the-road pregnant housewife, and Caan as brain-damaged ex-football player 'Killer' Jimmie Kilgannon. And ex-model Ali McGraw was unnominated for her role as Jewish princess Brenda in Goodbye, Columbus (with only one nomination - Best Adapted Screenplay). Dustin Hoffman - Photo 9 - Pictures - CBS News Dustin Hoffman Dustin Hoffman takes part in the TV show "Le Grand Journal" on a set of French television channel Canal Plus on March 27, 2013, in Paris. Credit: FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/Getty Images Dustin Hoffman poses for photographers during the 35th Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center Hall of States on Dec. 2, 2012, in Washington. Credit: Getty Images Actor Dustin Hoffman celebrates after receiving the Special Donostia Award at the 60th San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 29, 2012, in San Sebastian, Spain.

Credit: AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos Actor Dustin Hoffman arrives at the premiere of the feature film "Barney's Version" in Los Angeles on Nov. 6, 2010. Credit: AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Actor Dustin Hoffman, right, and wife, Lisa, attend the 2009 New York Public Library 'Library Lions Benefit' on Monday, Nov. 2, 2009, in New York. Credit: AP Actor Dustin Hoffman reacts after being awarded with the medal of Commander in the French Order of Arts and Literature by French Culture Minister Christine Albanel, unseen, during a ceremony at the Culture ministry in Paris, Feb. 26, 2009. Credit: AP Actor Dustin Hoffman, 29, is seen on Feb. 13, 1967. Hoffman was gaining positive critical attention for his role in the off-Broadway comedy "Eh?" Credit: AP Hoffman looks over the stockinged leg of actress Anne Bancroft in this scene from the 1967 film "The Graduate." His starring role as an alienated recent college graduate put the actor in the spotlight and earned him an Academy Award nomination.

Credit: AP Hoffman stands near a destroyed four-story residence next door to his own apartment at 11th Street in New York's Greenwich Village, March 5, 1970. Members of the radical Weather Underground group were making a bomb in the townhouse when it accidentally exploded, killing three people. Credit: AP Hoffman and his wife, ballerina Anne Byrne, enjoy the swimming pool at their hotel in Cannes, France, during the annual film festival there, May 15, 1975. The couple married in 1969 and had two children before divorcing in 1980. Credit: AP Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein, second from left, and Bob Woodward, third from left, are flanked by Hoffman and actor Robert Redford as they attend the premiere of "All the President's Men," in Washington, D.C., April 5, 1976. Hoffman plays Bernstein in the film, which is based on the two reporters' book documenting their investigation of the Watergate scandal. Credit: AP Hoffman, left, and Justin Henry appear in the 1979 fim "Kramer vs.

Kramer." The film stars Hoffman as a man who learns about parenthood as he battles Meryl Streep for the custody of their son. Credit: AP Actress Jane Fonda presents the Oscar for best actor in a leading role to Hoffman for his performance in "Kramer vs. Kramer," at the 52nd annual Academy Awards show in Los Angeles, Calif., April 14, 1980. Credit: AP Hoffman arrives with his wife Lisa at a luncheon to honor the nominees for the 55th annual Academy Awards, in Beverly Hills, Calif., March 22, 1983. Hoffman was nominated as best actor for his work in "Tootsie," a comedy in which stars as a down-and-out actor who finds soap opera success masquerading as a woman. Credit: AP Hoffman and Tommy Tune hold a conversation at a Drama League of New York luncheon in New York, May 4, 1984.

Hoffman was starring on Broadway in the play "Death of a Salesman." Credit: AP Hoffman and his wife, Lisa, are joined by co-star Warren Beatty, right, as they arrive for the world premiere of their movie "Ishtar," in Los Angeles, Calif., May 14, 1987. The film, which cost $55 million to make and earned only $12.7 million, is considered one of the biggest box-office bombs in history. Credit: AP Hoffman appears alongside Tom Cruise in 1988's "Rain Man." The film won four Academy Awards, including best picture and best actor for Hoffman, who portrays an autistic savant suddenly put under the care of his materialistic brother (Cruise). Credit: CBS/AP Actress Lauren Bacall, right, and Hoffman pose with their medals at the Paris Ministry of Culture, April 4, 1995. Hoffman was named Officer of the Arts and Letters and Bacall was honored with the title of Commander of the Arts and Letters by the French culture minister.

Credit: AP Hoffman clowns around as he poses for photographers during the International Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, on the French Riviera, May 10, 1996. Hoffman was there promoting his film production company, Punch Productions. Credit: AP Hoffman plays a famous Hollywood producer in a scene from the 1997 political satire "Wag The Dog." Credit: AP/New Line Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford in "All the President's Men" (1976). Credit: Warner Brothers Hoffman jokingly points to his son Jake's nose at the premiere of "Wag The Dog," Dec. 17, 1997, in Los Angeles. Hoffman has two sons and two daughters with his wife Lisa, in addition to two daughters from his first marriage. Credit: AP Hoffman and actor Jon Voight hug as they meet at a tribute to "Midnight Cowboy" director John Schlesinger, in Los Angeles, May 19, 2002. "Midnight Cowboy" starred Voight as a naive Texan who turns to prostitution to survive in New York and Hoffman as the ailing vagrant Ratso Rizzo. The film earned Hoffman his second best actor nomination.

Credit: AP Hoffman takes a break during construction of a Habitat for Humanity house in Wilmington, Calif., Dec. 5, 2000. Credit: AP/Habitat For Humanity Hoffman and actor Gene Hackman watch the New Orleans Hornets play the Miami Heat in New Orleans, Nov. 2, 2002. The two have been friends since the 1950s, when they roomed together as struggling actors. Credit: AP Hoffman, his wife Lisa and thier daughters Rebecca, far left, and Alexandra, at her right, arrive at the Los Angeles Premiere of "I Heart Huckabees," Sept. 22, 2004, in Los Angeles, Calif. Hoffman plays an existential detective in the offbeat ensemble comedy by David O. Russell. Credit: AP Hoffman and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-NY, attend the "Finding Neverland" premiere at the Brooklyn Museum, Oct. 25, 2004, in Brooklyn, N.Y. Hoffman is one of the stars of the film, which covers the life of "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie.

Credit: AP/Graylock Dustin Hoffman - Filmbug Dustin Hoffman Dustin Hoffman A two-time Academy Award winner and seven-time nominee whose arrival in Hollywood helped usher in a new and revitalised approach to filmmaking, Dustin Hoffman continues to add singular performances to a career rich with characters that have obliterated the line previously dividing the archetypes of character actor and leading man. Hoffman caught the world's attention for his role as Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols 's Academy Award nominated film, THE GRADUATE. Since then, he has been nominated for six more Academy Awards for diverse films such as MIDNIGHT COWBOY, LENNY, TOOTSIE (a film he also produced through his company, Punch Productions), and WAG THE DOG. Hoffman won the Oscar in 1979 for his role in KRAMER VS. KRAMER, and again in 1988 for RAIN MAN. In 1997, he was awarded the Golden Globes' esteemed Cecil B. DeMille Award. Hoffman recently starred in Michael Mann 's and David Milch's horseracing drama, LUCK for HBO.

In 2010, Hoffman starred opposite Paul Giamatti in BARNEY'S VERSION, directed by Richard J. Lewis. The film premiered at the 2010 Venice Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. Hoffman also reprised his role as Bernie Focker in LITTLE FOCKERS starring opposite Ben Stiller , Robert De Niro and Barbara Streisand. Hoffman starred in LAST CHANCE HARVEY, a love story set in London, written and directed by Joel Hopkins , and co-starring Emma Thompson . He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical category for his role. Hoffman lent his voice to the box office hit, KUNG FU PANDA. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Feature Film of the Year and Hoffman received the Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production. He also voiced the character of Shifu in KUNG FU PANDA 2. Other film credits include: THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX, MR.

MAGORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM, STRANGER THAN FICTION, PERFUME, MEET THE FOCKERS, FINDING NEVERLAND, I HEART HUCKABEES, THE LOST CITY, RACING STRIPES, RUNAWAY JURY, LITTLE BIG MAN, STRAW DOGS, PAPILLON, ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN, MARATHON MAN, STRAIGHT TIME, AGATHA, ISHTAR, DICK TRACY, BILLY BATHGATE, MAD CITY, HERO, SLEEPERS, SPHERE, AMERICAN BUFFALO, HOOK and OUTBREAK. On stage, Hoffman has had an equally impressive career. His first stage role was in the Sarah Lawrence College production of Gertrude Stein's YES IS FOR A VERY YOUNG MAN. This performance led to several roles off-Broadway, such as JOURNEY OF THE FIFTH HORSE for which he won the Obie, and EH?, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Best Actor. His success on stage caught the attention of Mike Nichols, who cast him in THE GRADUATE.

In 1969, Hoffman made his Broadway debut in Murray Schisgal's JIMMY SHINE. In 1974, Hoffman made his Broadway directorial debut with Schisgal's ALL OVER TOWN. In 1984, Hoffman garnered a Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the Broadway revival of DEATH OF A SALESMAN, which he also produced. In addition to starring in the Broadway production, a special presentation aired on television and Hoffman won the Emmy Award. Additionally, Hoffman received a Tony Award Nomination for his role as Shylock in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE which he reprised from his long run on the London Stage. As a producer, Hoffman produced Tony Goldwyn 's feature film A WALK ON THE MOON starring Diane Lane , Viggo Mortensen , Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin . He executive produced THE DEVIL'S ARITHMATIC, which won two Emmy Awards. Hoffman was born in Los Angeles and attended Santa Monica Community College. He later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse before moving to New York to study with Lee Strasberg.

Hoffman serves as the chair of the Artistic Advisory Board along with Mikhail Baryshnikov and PlÃ¡cido Domingo for the Eli and Edythe BroadStage Theater, which opened on September 20, 2008. This intimate 499-seat state-of-the-art theater provides a much-needed performance facility for Santa Monica College and the surrounding community. Hoffman was awarded the Honorary Cesar Medal at the 2009 Cesar Awards. Note: This profile was written in or before 2013. Read earlier biographies on this page . Dustin Hoffman Facts Midnight Cowboy: 1969 Best Picture – Fikkle Fame Midnight Cowboy: 1969 Best Picture by VJ · August 22, 2014 “Anne of the Thousand Days” got the most nominations (10) at the 42nd Academy Awards , and “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” won the most awards (4), but neither of them won Best Picture. That honor went to “Midnight Cowboy” starring Jon Voight and Dustin Hoffman. They were both nominated for Best Actor, but that one went to John Wayne in “True Grit”.

Other 1969 flicks that were nominated for awards included “Hello, Dolly!” and “Z” (the other 2 Best Picture nominees), “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”, “Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice”, “Marooned”, “Easy Rider”, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”, “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”, and “The Wild Bunch”. Jeopardy!

clues on the “Midnight Cowboy” THEY ALMOST STARRED IN… $400: The role of Joe Buck in this film made Jon Voight a star, but it was originally meant for Michael Sarrazin KEEPING UP APPEARANCES $1600: Hopefully the Urban Decay make-up with the name of this 1969 film won’t make you look like Ratso Rizzo X-RATED $800: This 1969 buddy pic was the first X-rated film to win best picture HITS OF THE ’60s $800: Nilsson’s 1969 hit “Everybody’s Talkin'” served as the theme song to this Oscar-winning film THE TALES OF DUSTIN HOFFMAN $800: “Frankly, you’re beginning to smell and for a stud in New York, that’s a handicap”, says Dustin in this 1969 film BOB DYLAN $500: Bob’s “Lay Lady Lay” was considered for this 1969 Jon Voight film, but didn’t make the soundtrack NEW YORK IN THE MOVIES $1200: (Jimmy of the Clue Crew in New York

’s Times Square) Times Square looked pretty seedy when Jon Voight hung out here in this 1969 film More 1969 film clues: LETTER SECRET IDENTITIES $400: “Z” is the title of the 1969 movie that won an Oscar in this category THEME $1000: Rod McKuen wrote & sang “Jean”, the theme song of this 1969 Maggie Smith film HELP ME, FONDA $1200: In this 1969 film Peter Fonda helps a young Jack Nicholson loosen up MOVIE DIRECTORS $800: From 1969’s “Take the Money and Run” through 2011, he has released a new film in all but 4 years NICE “BUN”s $400: In a 1969 Sam Peckinpah film, William Holden led a “Wild” one “AZ” I WAS SAYING $800: The title of this 1969 Alfred Hitchcock film comes from the code name of a French spy ring BUTCH CASSIDY $600: Name of the gang Butch led on numerous rampages

, or a 1969 Peckinpah film MOVIE TITLES!

$800: In 1969 it was Bonjour, Babs!

when Streisand & Matthau hit the screen in this film MOVIE MUSICALS $200: The title robot of this 2008 animated film learns about human emotion by watching a video of the 1969 film “Hello, Dolly!” COUNTRY MUSIC STARS ON FILM $2000: In a 1969 film he showed some “True Grit” as John Wayne’s young sidekick ON THE ROAD $1600: Hey man, hit the road with Wyatt & Billy, man & check out Phil Spector as Connection in this 1969 film, man BIRTHSTONES $800: In a 1969 Hitchcock film, a spy ring has this code name, also November’s birthstone NEWMAN’S OWN $400: 1969 film in which Paul Newman tells Robert Redford, “Boy, I got vision, and the rest of the world wears bifocals” “EASY” FOR YOU TO SAY $800: Before he was TV’s Grizzly Adams, Dan Haggerty helped build some of the custom motorcycles for this 1969 film CARS $20

0: In a 1969 Disney film, Herbie was this model of car SKI YOU AT THE MOVIES $400: This actor who owns his own ski resort did much of his own skiing in the 1969 film “Downhill Racer” SKI YOU AT THE MOVIES $1600: In a 1969 film, Dean Martin’s daughter Claudia & this star of “Adam-12” got “Ski Fever” COUNTRY SINGERS WHO ACT $600: Glen Campbell co-starred in this 1969 film, but unlike John Wayne, he didn’t win an Oscar for it “BU” WHO $1600: In the 1969 film “Anne of the Thousand Days”, she played Anne Boleyn FONDA THE MOVIES $200: In this 1969 film Peter Fonda & Dennis Hopper hit the road on their motorcycles to find America ’60s POP QUIZ $400: “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” went to No.

1 after it was featured in this 1969 film HOT “BUN”s $100: In a 1969 Sam Peckinpah film, William Holden & Ernest Borgnine were part of a “Wild” one JACK NICHOLSON $800 (Daily Double): In this 1969 film Jack wonders, “This used to be a fine country. What went wrong?” DUKE $300: This 1969 film earned John Wayne an Oscar; must have been the eye patch WHEN THEY WERE TEENS $800: She was the teen star of the 1969 film “A Walk with Love and Death”, directed by her dad, John Huston WESTERNS $600: “Rooster Cogburn” was a 1975 sequel to this 1969 John Wayne film THE MOVIES $600: In this 1969 film Robert Duvall told John Wayne, “I call that bold talk for a one-eyed fat man” HE WAS IN THAT?

$1000: In 1969, in his pre-“Phantom” days, he played Cornelius Hackl in the film version of “Hello, Dolly!” ’60s FLICKS $800: One book abbreviated this 1969 film “B&C&T&A” JOHN WAYNE FILMS $200: John Wayne won his Oscar for playing marshall Rooster Cogburn in this 1969 film THE MOVIES $300: This one-letter Yves Montand film won 1969 Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film & Best Film Editing BATTLES $200: Term for the 1940-1941 air war over England, or the title of a 1969 film about it “APRIL” SONGS $400: Title song of the 1969 movie starring Jack Lemmon and Catherine Deneuve Dustin Hoffman | Profiles | Finding Your Roots | PBS Explore more from this episode More Photo by Bret Hartman/ Dustin Hoffman is featured in Season 3, Episode 10: Maps of Stars, which airs Tuesday, March 8 at 8PM EST (

 check local listings ).

A two-time Academy Award winner and seven-time nominee whose arrival in Hollywood helped usher in a new and revitalized approach to filmmaking, Dustin Hoffman continues to add singular performances to a career rich with characters that have obliterated the line previously dividing the archetypes of “character actor” and “leading man.” Hoffman caught the world’s attention for his role as Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichol’s Academy Award nominated film, The Graduate. Since then, he has been nominated for six more Academy Awards for diverse films such as Midnight Cowboy, Lenny, Tootsie (a film he also produced through his company, Punch Productions), and Wag the Dog. Hoffman won the Oscar in 1979 for his role in Kramer Vs. Kramer and again in 1988 for Rain Man. In 1997, he was awarded the Golden Globe’s esteemed Cecil B. DeMille Award. Hoffman made his directorial debut with the feature film, Quartet starring Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins, Michael Gambon and Sheridan Smith. The film was recognized by the National Board of Review for being one of the “Top Ten Independent Films” in 2012.

Hoffman was also awarded with the “Breakthrough Director Award” by the Hollywood Film Awards. Additionally, Maggie Smith was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and Billy Connolly was nominated for a British Independent Film Award on behalf of the film. Quartet grossed almost $60 million worldwide. Quartet was based on Ronald Harwood’s stage play of the same name. Hoffman recently starred in Stephen Frear’s biopic The Program which tells the story behind the meteoric rise and fall of cyclist Lance Armstrong. The film is based on the award winning book Seven Deadly Sins by David Walsh and premiered at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. He was also recently seen in Boychoir, in Jon Favreau’s Chef and Dearblah Walsh’s Esio Trot opposite Judi Dench. In 2010, Hoffman starred opposite Paul Giamatti in Barney’s Version, directed by Richard J. Lewis. The film premiered at the 2010 Venice Film Festival and was released by Sony Pictures Classics. Hoffman also reprised his role as Bernie Focker in Little Fockers starring opposite Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro and Barbara Streisand.

Hoffman starred in Last Chance Harvey, a love story set in London, written and directed by Joel Hopkins, and co-starring Emma Thompson. He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category for his role. Hoffman lent his voice to the box office hit, Kung Fu Panda. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Feature Film of the Year and Hoffman received the Annie Award for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production. He also voiced the character of Shifu in Kung Fu Panda 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3. Other film credits include: The Tale of Despereaux, Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Stranger Than Fiction, Perfume, Meet the Fockers, Finding Neverland, I Heart Huckabee’s, The Lost City, Racing Stripes, Runaway Jury, Little Big Man, Straw Dogs, Papillon, All the President’s Men, Marathon Man, Straight Time, Agatha, Ishtar, Dick Tracy, Billy Bathgate, Mad City, Hero, Sleepers, Sphere, American Buffalo, Hook, and Outbreak.

On television, Hoffman starred in Michael Mann’s and David Milch’s acclaimed horseracing drama, Luck for HBO. On stage, Hoffman has had an equally impressive career. His first stage role was in the Sarah Lawrence College production of Gertrude Stein’s Yes is for a Very Young Man. This performance led to several roles Off Broadway, such as Journey of the Fifth Horse, for which he won the Obie, and Eh?, for which he won the Drama Desk Award for Best Actor. His success on stage caught the attention of Mike Nichols, who cast him in The Graduate. In 1969, Hoffman made his Broadway debut in Murray Schisgal’s Jimmy Shine. In 1974, Hoffman made his Broadway directorial debut with Schisgal’s All Over Town. In 1984, Hoffman garnered a Drama Desk Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Willy Loman in the Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman which he also produced. In addition to starring in the Broadway production, a special presentation aired on television and Hoffman won the Emmy Award.

Additionally, Hoffman received a Tony Award Nomination for his role as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice which he reprised from his long run on the London Stage. As a producer, Hoffman produced Tony Goldwyn’s feature film A Walk on the Moon starring Diane Lane, Viggo Mortensen, Liev Schreiber and Anna Paquin. He executive produced The Devil’s Arithmetic which won two Emmy Awards. Hoffman was born in Los Angeles and attended Santa Monica Community College. He later studied at the Pasadena Playhouse before moving to New York to study with Lee Strasberg. Hoffman serves as the chair of the Artistic Advisory Board along with Mikhail Baryshnikov and Plácido Domingo for the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage Theater, which opened on September 20, 2008. This intimate 499-seat state-of-the-art theater provides a much-needed performance facility for Santa Monica College and the surrounding community. Hoffman was honored at the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. Hoffman was also awarded the Honorary César Medal at the 2009 César Awards.

Dustin Hoffman (Actor) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Dustin Hoffman Male Born Aug 8, 1937 Dustin Lee Hoffman is an American actor with a career in film, television, and theatre since 1960. He has been known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and vulnerable characters. He first drew critical praise for the play Eh?, for which he won a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award. This was soon followed by his breakthrough 1967 film role as Benjamin Braddock, the title character in The Graduate.… Read More related links Still Fabulous At 50: 12 Stylish Sports Cars That Have Aged Beautifully CNN - 6 days ago 'Fifty years ago, the Beatles were singing \"All You Need is Love.\" Hot pants and go-go boots met the dress code for London\'s fashionable Carnaby Street, Lyndon Johnson was in the White House, and the top grossing film for 1967 was \"The Graduate\", starring <mark>Dustin Hoffman</mark>, Katherine Ross, and a little red sports car from Italian maker Alfa Romeo.

\n \n ' An Unforgettable Evening With Shlomo Carlebach Huffington Post - Jan 02, 2017 ' \nI am Jewish. My parents were Jewish. My grandparents were Jewish and all their parents and grandparents were Jewish. My father\'s father\'s name was \"Abraham\". His brother\'s name was \"Moses\". I was circumcised, went to Hebrew School, was bar mitzvahed, and ate more than my share of bagels, lox, gefilte fish, and matzoh balls. Like any good Jew, I celebrated the High Holidays. \n \nWait... hold on a minute... I don\'t think \"celebrate\" is actually the right word. Make that \"endure\... Carnegie Deli Last Of The Latkes Huffington Post - Jan 01, 2017 'There\'s Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Mellon. Dale Carnegie. Carnegie Hill. And then there\'s Carnegie Deli. \n \nFrom brisket bliss to cloud nine kasha, it\'s been a heavenly food haven for 79 years. Latkes the size of flying saucers.

Plates toppling over with 4\" piles of shaved beef and sauerkraut. And now the decades of deli decadence and delight are over. \n \n3D: Disney, Dustin &amp; Deli \n1937. The year Warren Beatty, <mark>Dustin Hoffman</mark> and Jane Fonda were born; Amelia Ear... Tbt To When Black Berry Phones Were Cool Yahoo News - Sep 28, 2016 ' Now that BlackBerry officially isn\'t making phones anymore, let\'s look back at a simpler time: the early 2000s, when BlackBerry ruled and Apple drooled. (The iPhone didn\'t exist yet, so BlackBerry was killing the mobile game.) When the BlackBerry 850 was released in 1999, the cool factor of cell phones began to rise. Throughout the early 2000s, before the rise of advanced touchscreen technology, everyone who was anyone was busy scrolling on their trackballs and BBM-ing their besties. In ... Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Dustin Hoffman.

CHILDHOOD 1937 Birth Hoffman was born on August 8, 1937 in Los Angeles, California, the second son of Lillian (nÃ©e Gold; 1909-1982) and Harry Hoffman (1908-1987). … Read More His father worked as a prop supervisor (set decorator) at Columbia Pictures before becoming a furniture salesman.<br /><br /> Hoffman was named after stage and silent screen actor, Dustin Farnum. His older brother, Ronald, is a lawyer and economist. Hoffman is Jewish, from an Ashkenazi family of immigrants from the Russian Empire, Poland, and Romania (the family's surname was spelled "Goikhman" in the Russian Empire). His upbringing was non-religious, and he has said, "I donât have any memory of celebrating holidays growing up that were Jewish", and that he had "realized" he was Jewish at around age 10; Hoffman did not have a bar mitzvah.

Read Less TEENAGE 1955 18 Years Old Hoffman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955 and enrolled at Santa Monica College with the intention of studying medicine. … Read More He left after a year to join the Pasadena Playhouse, although when he told his family about his career goal, his Aunt Pearl warned him "You can't be an actor. You are not good-looking enough." He also took classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.<br /><br /> Hoffman initially hoped to become a classical pianist, having studied piano during much of his youth and in college. While at Santa Monica College, he also took an acting class, which he assumed would be easy, and "caught the acting bug." He recalls: "I just was not gifted in music. I did not have an ear." Now an aspiring actor, he spent the next ten years doing odd jobs, being unemployed, and struggling to get any available acting roles. He composed a song called "Shooting the Breeze" and Bette Midler wrote the words.

Read Less TWENTIES 1960 23 Years Old In 1960, Hoffman was cast in a role in an Off-Broadway production and followed with a walk-on role in a Broadway production in 1961. … Read More Hoffman then studied at Actors Studio and became a dedicated method actor. Sidney W. Pink, a producer and 3D-movie pioneer, discovered him in one of his off-Broadway roles and cast him in Madigan's Millions. Through the early and mid-1960s, Hoffman made appearances in television shows and movies, including Naked City, The Defenders and Hallmark Hall of Fame. Read Less 1966 29 Years Old His first critical success was in the play Eh?, by Henry Livings, which had its US premiere at the Circle in the Square Downtown on October 16, 1966. THIRTIES Show Less Hoffman made his film debut in The Tiger Makes Out in 1967, alongside Eli Wallach.

In 1967, immediately after wrapping up principal filming on The Tiger Makes Out, Hoffman flew from New York City to Fargo, North Dakota, where he directed productions of William Gibson's Two for the Seesaw and William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life for the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre. … Read More The $1,000 he received for the eight-week contract was all he had to hold him over until the funds from the movie materialized. Read Less In 1967, director Mike Nichols cast Hoffman in The Graduate (1967), his first major role, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. … Read More Hoffman played the character of Benjamin Braddock, who returns to his wealthy parents' home in California after graduating from college. Confused about what to do with his life, he is seduced into having an affair with Mrs. Robinson, an alcoholic and a neurotic, and the wife of his father's business partner.<br /><br /> Although Life magazine joked that "if Dustin Hoffman's face were his fortune, he'd be committed to a life of poverty", The Graduate was a gigantic box-office hit for Embassy Pictures, making Hoffman a major new star at the same time.

The film received near-unanimous good reviews. Time magazine called Hoffman "a symbol of youth" who represented "a new breed of actors." The film's screenwriter, Buck Henry, notes that Hoffman's character made conventional good looks no longer necessary on screen: <br /><br /> Hoffman biographer Jeff Lenburg adds that "newspapers across the country were deluged with thousands of letters from fans," with one example published in the New York Times: "I identified with Ben I thought of him as a spiritual brother. He was confused about his future and about his place in the world, as I am. It's a film one digs, rather than understands intellectually." Read Less Show Less Also in 1969, Hoffman co-starred with Mia Farrow in John and Mary. … Read More He received a 1970 BAFTA Award as Best Actor, although the film received mixed reviews. He was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award as Best Actor.<br /><br /> This was followed by his role in Little Big Man (1970), where Jack Crabb, his character, ages from teenager to a 121-year-old man.

The film was widely praised by critics, but was overlooked for an award except for a supporting nomination for Chief Dan George. Hoffman continued to appear in major films over the next few years. Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971), Straw Dogs (also 1971), and Papillon (1973).<br /><br /> Hoffman next starred in Lenny (1974), for which he was again nominated for Best Actor. Lenny was based on the life of stand-up comedian, Lenny Bruce, who died at age 40, and was notable for his open, free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. Expectations were high that Hoffman would win an Oscar for his portrayal, especially after his similar role in Midnight Cowboy. Film critic Katharine Lowry speculates that director Bob Fosse "never gave him a chance" to go far enough into developing the character. "We never understand what, besides the drugs he injected, made him tick like a time bomb," she says.

Read Less … All the President's Men (1976) was made less than two years after the Watergate scandal, and starred Hoffman and Robert Redford as the real life journalists, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, respectively. Based on actual events, Hoffman and Redford play Washington Post reporters who uncover a break-in at the Watergate Hotel and end up investigating a political scandal that reaches all the way to the presidency. The film, as earlier ones, had Hoffman take on a dramatically different character than his previous one (as Lenny Bruce). Author James Morrison compares the two roles: "As Lenny Bruce in Lenny (1974), Hoffman plays a martyr to the cause of establishment oppression, while in All the President's Men, he plays a reporter exposing presidential malfeasance." <br /><br />Vincent Canby of the New York Times described the film as "a spellbinding detective story." "The strength of the movie", he added, was "the virtually day-to-day record of the way Bernstein and Woodward conducted their investigations." The characters portrayed by Hoffman and Redford shared the rank of No. 27 Hero on AFI's 100 Years...

100 Heroes and Villains list, while Entertainment Weekly ranked All the President's Men as one of the 25 "Powerful Political Thrillers". <br /><br />Hoffman next starred in Marathon Man (1976), a film based on William Goldman's novel of the same name, opposite Laurence Olivier and Roy Scheider. Read Less Its director, John Schlesinger also directed Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy in 1969. … Read More Described as "Schlesinger's thriller," by author Gene D. Phillips, Hoffman plays the hero, Babe Levy, a part-time long-distance runner and graduate student, who suddenly finds himself being pursued by a fugitive Nazi. To put himself in the mindset of someone under severe emotional distress, rather than simply acting, Hoffman did not sleep for days at a time and let his body become disheveled and unhealthy.<br /><br /> Goldman describes his inspiration for the novel: "What if someone close to you was something totally different from what you thought?

In the story, Hoffman thinks his brother (Roy Scheider) is a businessman where the reality is that the man is a spy, who has been involved with the Nazi, Szell." However, Hoffman remembers a serious disagreement he had with Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay, about how the story ends: <br /><br /> Hoffman's next roles were less successful. He opted out of directing Straight Time (1978), but starred as a thief. His next film, Michael Apted's Agatha (1979), was with Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha Christie. Read Less Hoffman married Anne Byrne in May 1969. … Read More Hoffman adopted Karina (b. 1966), Byrne's child from a previous marriage, and with Byrne had daughter Jenna (born October 15, 1970). In 1970, Hoffman and Byrne were living in Greenwich Village in a building next door to a townhouse occupied by members of the Weathermen, when a bomb was accidentally detonated in the townhouse's basement, killing three people. In the 2002 documentary The Weather Underground, Hoffman can be seen standing in the street during the aftermath of the explosion.

Read Less FORTIES Show Less The couple divorced in 1980. He married businesswoman Lisa Gottsegen Hoffman in October 1980; they have four children â Jacob Edward (born March 20, 1981), Rebecca Lillian (b. … Read More March 17, 1983), Maxwell Geoffrey (born August 30, 1984), and Alexandra Lydia (born October 27, 1987). Hoffman has two grandchildren. In an interview, he said that all of his children from his second marriage had bar or bat mitzvahs and that he is a more observant Jew now than when he was younger; he has also lamented that he is not fluent in Hebrew.<br /><br /> A political liberal, Hoffman has long supported the Democratic Party and Ralph Nader.

In 1997, he was one of a number of Hollywood stars and executives to sign an open letter to then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl protesting the treatment of Scientologists in Germany, which was published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune.<br /><br /> In 2009, he received the freedom of the Italian city Ascoli Piceno for being there during 1972 to shoot the movie Alfredo, Alfredo by Pietro Germi, where he played the role of Alfredo SbisÃ . Read Less 1984 47 Years Old In 1984, Hoffman starred as Willy Loman in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's play, Death of a Salesman He reprised his role in a TV movie of the same name, for which he won the 1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor along with a Golden Globe. … Read More Hoffman first read the play at age 16, but today considers the story much like his own: "It was a blueprint of my family.

I was the loser, the flunky, and my brother, a high-school varsity football player, was Biff." Author Marie Brenner notes that Hoffman "has been obsessed with the play" throughout his career: "For years he has wanted to be Willy Loman; when he discovered that Arthur Miller was his neighbor in Connecticut, they began to talk about it in earnest." For Hoffman, the story also left a deep emotional impact from the time he first read it: <br /><br /> Hoffman rehearsed for three weeks with the play's original star, Lee J. Cobb, and remembers seeing his stage performance: "I'll never forget that period in my life. It was so vivid, so intense, watching Lee J. Cobb and his sixteen-inch guns as Willy. God, how I think about what I saw on that stage!" Brenner adds that Hoffman "has been training like a boxer for the role that so exhausted Cobb he had to be replaced after four months." The original play was directed by Elia Kazan, who Hoffman considers "the perfect director, the best there ever was....

God, I would have done anything to have worked with Kazan." Read Less FIFTIES 1991 54 Years Old In 1991, Hoffman voiced substitute teacher Mr. Bergstrom in The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Substitute", under the pseudonym Sam Etic. … Read More As a reference to this episode, during the episode featuring the Itchy & Scratchy movie, Lisa claims that Dustin Hoffman had a cameo in that movie but didn't use his real name.<br /><br /> Throughout the 1990s, Hoffman appeared in many large, studio films, such as Dick Tracy (1990) (where his Ishtar co-star Beatty plays the titular character), Hero (1992) and Billy Bathgate (1991) co-starring with Nicole Kidman who was nominated for a Golden Globe). Hoffman also played the title role of Captain Hook in Steven Spielberg's Hook (also 1991), earning a Golden Globe nomination, and the narrator in Dr. Seuss Video Classics: Horton Hears a Who!

(also 1992); in Hook, Hoffman's costume was so heavy that he had to wear an air-conditioned suit under it.<br /><br /> Hoffman played the lead role in Outbreak (1995), alongside Rene Russo, Kevin Spacey, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Donald Sutherland. In the film, Hoffman is a medical doctor who uncovers a newly discovered Ebola-like virus which came to the U.S. from Africa in an infected monkey. Hoffman races to stop the virus's spread and find a vaccine before it becomes a worldwide pandemic with no cure. Read Less 1994 57 Years Old … He was then offered the lead in Midnight Cowboy (1969), which he accepted partly to prove many critics were wrong about his acting range and the variety of characters he could portray. As author and critic Peter Biskind explains, "it was the very contrast between his preppy character in The Graduate, and Ratso Rizzo" that appealed to Hoffman. "I had become troubled," recalls Hoffman, "by the reviews that I read of The Graduate, that I was not a character actor, which I like to think of myself as. It hurt me.

Some of the stuff in the press was brutal." Critics assumed that director Mike Nichols got lucky by finding a typical actor with average acting ability to play the part of Benjamin Braddock. <br /><br />John Schlesinger, who would direct Midnight Cowboy and was seeking lead actors, held that same impression. Hoffman's performance as a button-down college graduate and track star was so convincing to Schlesinger, "he seemed unable to comprehend the fact that he was acting," notes Biskind. To help the director, whom he had never met, overcome that false impression, Hoffman met him in Times Square dressed as a homeless person, wearing a dirty raincoat, his hair slicked back and with an unshaven face. Schlesinger was sold, admitting, "I've only seen you in the context of The Graduate, but you'll do quite well." <br /><br />Midnight Cowboy premiered in theaters across the United States in May 1969. For his acting, Hoffman received his second Oscar nomination and the film won Best Picture.

Read Less In 1994, the film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. … Read More Biskind considers Hoffman's acting a major accomplishment: Read Less 1996 59 Years Old Following that, he appeared in the 1996 revenge-drama/legal-thriller Sleepers (1996) with Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, and Kevin Bacon. … Read More In the mid-1990s, Hoffman starred inâand was deeply involved in the production ofâDavid Mamet's American Buffalo (also 1996), and an early effort of film editor Kate Sanford. Read Less LATE ADULTHOOD 1997 - 2004 3 More Events 1997 60 Years Old In 1997, Hoffman starred opposite John Travolta in the Costa Gavras film Mad City.

… Read More Hoffman gained his seventh Academy Award nomination for his performance in Wag The Dog (1997), in a role that allowed Hoffman the chance to work with both Robert De Niro and Denis Leary. The movie is a black comedy film produced and directed by Barry Levinson, who also directed Hoffman in Rain Man in 1988.<br /><br /> The story takes place a few days before a presidential election, where a Washington, D.C. spin doctor (De Niro) distracts the electorate from a sex scandal by hiring a Hollywood film producer (Hoffman) to construct a fake war with Albania. Hoffman, as a caricature of real life producer Robert Evans, according to some, "gives the kind of wonderfully funny performance that is liable to win prizes, especially since its mixture of affection and murderous parody is so precise. Stanley (Hoffman) conducts business meetings in tennis clothes or in robe and slippers," notes critic Janet Maslin.

Read Less 1999 62 Years Old In 1999, Hoffman received the AFI Life Achievement Award and recalls the emotional impact that receiving the award had on him: … Read More Hoffman next appeared in Moonlight Mile (2002), followed by Confidence (2003) opposite Edward Burns, Andy GarcÃ­a and Rachel Weisz. Hoffman finally had a chance to work with Gene Hackman in Gary Fleder's Runaway Jury (also 2003), an adaptation of John Grisham's bestselling novel.<br /><br /> Hoffman played theater owner Charles Frohman in the J. M. Barrie historical fantasia Finding Neverland (2004), costarring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet. In director David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees (also 2004), Hoffman appeared opposite Lily Tomlin as an existential detective team member.

Read Less 2004 67 Years Old Seven years after his nomination for Wag the Dog, Hoffman got another opportunity to perform again with Robert De Niro, co-starring with Barbra Streisand and Ben Stiller in the 2004 comedy Meet the Fockers, a sequel to Meet the Parents (2000).

Question: Which film starring Dustin Hoffman won the award for Best Picture Oscar for 1969?
Answer: MIDNIGHT COWBOY