| Turned down the role of Lex Luthor in Superman (1978). |
| He has worked with 9 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Mike Nichols, John Schlesinger, Franklin J. Schaffner, Bob Fosse, Robert Benton, Sydney Pollack, Barry Levinson, Warren Beatty, and Steven Spielberg. |
| He was treated for skin cancer in 2013. |
| Played a character whose grandson was played by his son in real life Jake Hoffman both in Le monde de Barney (2010) and Luck (2011). |
| He was originally set to play the title role in Popeye (1980), opposite Lily Tomlin as Olive Oyl. Robin Williams eventually played the role opposite Shelley Duvall. |
| He appeared in three Best Picture Academy Award winners: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988). |
| He has a pet tortoise, which was given to him by his children. |
| On the VHS release of Rain Man (1988) there was a short documentary segment before the film, narrated by Hoffman, about the seriousness of the issue of Autism. |
| As of 2014, has appeared in eight films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: The Graduate (1967), Midnight Cowboy (1969), Lenny (1974), _All the President's Men (1976), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Tootsie (1982), Rain Man (1988) and Finding Neverland (2004). Three of them won the award in the category: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and Rain Man (1988). |
| Is active in a commercial campaign for the Swedish cloth-company KappAhl. [October 2006] |
| His public relations agent is Jodi Gottlieb. |
| Once bought an old house in London and had asked Robin Moore-Ede, the designer Freddie Mercury hired to design his Garden Lodge mansion, if he could show him some work he had done. Rather than show drawings, Robin asked Freddie if Dustin could see Garden Lodge. Freddie readily agreed and acted as the tour guide, pointing out all the details for a few hours. |
| Recipient of the 2012 Kennedy Center Honors. Other recipient that year were Buddy Guy, David Letterman, Natalia Makarova, and the rock band Led Zeppelin, comprising John Paul Jones, Jimmy Page, and Robert Plant. |
| Is one of only four actors to win two Oscars for films that also won Best Picture (the others being Marlon Brando, Jack Nicholson and Gene Hackman. |
| On April 27, 2010, Dustin Hoffman helped to save the life of Sam Dempster, 27, a lawyer who suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed while jogging in Hyde Park in London, England. Hoffman, who owned a house in London, was taking a morning walk when he saw Dempster fall and land on his face. The actor waited with Dempster until ambulances came to the scene and resuscitated him. |
| Is only seven years younger than Sean Connery, who played his father in Family Business (1989). |
| Stars in four of the American Film Institute's 100 Greatest Movies: The Graduate (1967) at #17, Midnight Cowboy (1969) at #43, Tootsie (1982) at #69 and All the President's Men (1976) at #77. |
| As of 2010, Marlon Brando and he are the only actors to win two Oscars for leading roles in pictures that earned Oscars for best pictures: Brando won for his performances in On the Waterfront (1954) and The Godfather (1972) and Hoffman won for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988). |
| Both Hoffman and his former roommate, Gene Hackman, had their big breaks in 1967. Hoffman in The Graduate (1967) and Hackman in Bonnie and Clyde (1967). |
| 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. |
| Good friends with: Warren Beatty, Robert De Niro, Gene Hackman, Spike Lee, Katharine Ross, David Thewlis, Jack Nicholson, Maggie Smith, Robert Duvall, Ulu Grosbard, Barbra Streisand, Billy Connolly, Judi Dench, Jason Bateman and Jon Voight. |
| Nominated for the 1990 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "The Merchant of Venice". |
| Did a brief stint while he was a struggling actor working at the toys' department at Macy's. As a joke, he set Gene Hackman's toddler son up on a display and tried to pass him off as a large doll, until a woman offered to buy him. |
| Was considered for the role of Mario Mario in Super Mario Bros. (1993). |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| The only actor in history to have top billing in three films that won the Best Picture Oscar: Midnight Cowboy (1969), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988). |
| Is one of the main supporters and contributers to the Santa Monica College Madison Theatre in Santa Monica, CA. |
| Has 6 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. |
| Was in talks to appear in The Verdict (1982). |
| Was an L.A. high school classmate of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.. |
| Was Warner Brothers' first consideration for "The Penguin" in Batman Returns (1992). |
| 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. |
| Is active in a commercial campaign with the Swedish clothing company KappAhl. |
| 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. |
| Two of his films are on the American Film Institute's 100 Most Inspiring Movies of All Time. They are Rain Man (1988) at #63 and All the President's Men (1976) at #34. |
| His performance as "Ratso" Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy (1969) is ranked #33 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. |
| His performance as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie (1982) is ranked #39 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time. |
| 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. |
| His performance as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie (1982) is ranked #33 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). |
| His performance as "Ratso" Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy (1969) is ranked #7 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). |
| 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. |
| Was considered for the role of Beau Burruoghs in Rumor Has It... (2005). The part was eventually played by Kevin Costner. Beau Burruoghs was meant to be a real-life version of Hoffman's Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate (1967), set 38 years after the film's release. |
| His father, Harry Hoffman, was born in Massachusetts, to Ukrainian Jewish parents, Esther (Schiskoski) and Frank Hoffman, from Bila Tserkva, in the Kiev Oblast. His mother, Lillian (Gold), was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Isadore Gold, a Jewish immigrant from Warsaw, Poland, and Celia Epstein, a Romanian Jewish immigrant. In the Russian Empire, the Hoffman family's surname was spelled "Goikhman". |
| He and Anne Bancroft are less than 6 years apart in real life, even though she was supposed to be more than twice his age in The Graduate (1967). |
| 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. |
| Had expressed an early desire to play the title role in Gandhi (1982), but was offered Tootsie (1982) the same year and ended up taking the latter role. He eventually lost the Oscar that year to Ben Kingsley who played Gandhi. |
| April 2005: Recipient of a Lincoln Center tribute. |
| Both he and Robert Duvall said one of the best reasons why they went to acting classes were the girls. When they were young, the classes were a gold mine to them. |
| 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. |
| While filming Finding Neverland (2004) lost the tip of a finger and performed one day of shooting on morphine. |
| 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. |
| He was voted the 28th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly. |
| 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). |
| 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. |
| As roommates, Hoffman and Gene Hackman would often go to the apartment rooftop and play the drums. Hoffman played the bongo drums while Hackman played the conga drums. They did it out of their love for Marlon Brando, who they had heard played music in clubs. They wanted to be like Brando and were big fans of his. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Met actor Gene Hackman in their first month at Pasadena Playhouse and had several classes with him. Hackman failed out after three months and moved to New York to try his luck as a stage actor. |
| 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. |
| 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 Wager, was also a neighbor in that block and witnessed the explosion, as it occurred. |
| Has a house in the Kensington area of London. |
| Has known Gene Hackman since 1956 when they met at the Pasadena Playhouse. |
| Was in early consideration for the role of Rick Deckard in Blade Runner (1982). The role eventually went to Harrison Ford. |
| Brother-in-law of producer Lee Gottsegen. |
| 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. |
| His parents named him Dustin after actor Dustin Farnum. |
| October 1997: Ranked #41 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. |
| 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." |
| Was considered for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). |