Dustin Hoffman Wiki, Bio, Age, Net Worth, and Other Facts

Below is a compiled list of the most interesting facts about Dustin Hoffman. Check it out!

Dustin Lee Hoffman was born in Los Angeles, California, to Lillian (Gold) and Harry Hoffman, who was a furniture salesman and prop supervisor for Columbia Pictures. He was raised in a Jewish family (from Ukraine, Russia-Poland, and Romania). Hoffman graduated from Los Angeles High School in 1955, and went to Santa Monica City College, where he dropped out after a year due to bad grades. But before he did, he took an acting course because he was told that “nobody flunks acting.” Also received some training at Los Angeles Conservatory of Music. Decided to go into acting because he did not want to work or go into the service. Trained at The Pasadena Playhouse for two years.

Interesting Facts about Dustin Hoffman

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.
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.
On August 25, 2019, he was honored with a day of his film work during the Turner Classic Movies Summer Under the Stars.
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.
He was voted the 28th Greatest Movie Star of all time by Entertainment Weekly.
His performance as Michael Dorsey/Dorothy Michaels in Tootsie (1982) is ranked #33 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
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.
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 was considered for the role of Mario Mario in Super Mario Bros. (1993).
In October 1997, he was ranked #41 in Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time” list.
He played a character whose grandson was played by his son in real life Jake Hoffman both in Barney’s Version (2010) and Luck (2011).
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.

Personal Quotes by Dustin Hoffman

I think there’s always going to be some kind of bigotry or some kind of racism. There has to be, because people can’t feel that they have any hero qualities unless there’s someone beneath them.
Dustin Hoffman