In 1966,
Mike Nichols, began casting
The Graduate. Negotiations with
Warren Beatty and
Robert Redford fell through, Hoffman auditioned for the role. Hoffman had been set to play the role of Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in Mel Brooks' 1968 movie
The Producers, but dropped out when he landed the role of Benjamin Braddock, opposite
Anne Bancroft. The film began production in March 1967. Hoffman received an
Academy Award nomination for his performance. After the success of this film, another Hoffman film,
Madigan's Millions, shot before
The Graduate, was released on the tail of the actor's newfound success. It was considered a failure at the box office.
Hoffman's next role was Ratso Rizzo in
Midnight Cowboy. Hoffman received his second
Academy Award nomination for
Midnight Cowboy, while the film won the Best Picture honor. This was followed by his role in
Little Big Man, wherein he played Jack Crabb, who ages from teenager to the age of 121 years in the film. 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?,
Straw Dogs, and
Papillion were followed by
Lenny in 1974. Hoffman once again received a nomination for Best Actor, his third nomination in seven years.
Less than two years after the
Watergate scandal, Hoffman and
Robert Redford starred as Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, respectively, in
All the President's Men. Hoffman next starred in
Marathon Man, a film based on
William Goldman's novel of the same name, opposite
Laurence Olivier as a sadistic former Nazi who plans to smuggle diamonds out of America. To achieve his character's exhausted look in the torture scene in the film, Hoffman deprived himself of sleep for two days.
Hoffman's next roles were not as successful. He opted out of directing
Straight Time but starred as a thief. His next film,
Michael Apted's
Agatha, was opposite
Vanessa Redgrave starring as
Agatha Christie.
Hoffman's next starred in
Robert Benton's
Kramer Vs. Kramer as workaholic Ted Kramer whose wife unexpectedly leaves him and he must raise their son alone. Hoffman starred alongside
Meryl Streep in the film, which earned Hoffman his first Academy Award. The film also received the Best Picture honor, as well as Supporting Actress (Streep) and Director.
In
Tootsie, Hoffman portrays Michael Dorsey, a struggling actor who finds himself dressing up as a woman (Dorothy Michaels) to land a role on a soap opera. His co-star was
Jessica Lange.
Tootsie earned ten Academy Award nominations, including Hoffman's fifth nomination.
Hoffman then turned to television in the role of Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, for which he won the 1985 Emmy Award for Outstanding lead actor in a TV movie or miniseries. He would also go on to win a Golden Globe for the same performance.
Hoffman's largest film failure came in
Elaine May's
Ishtar, with
Warren Beatty. The film received largely negative reviews from critics and was nominated for three
Razzie awards.
James House, who later became a country music artist, served as Hoffman's vocal coach in the film.
In director
Barry Levinson's
Rain Man, Hoffman starred as Raymond Babbitt, opposite
Tom Cruise. Levinson, Hoffman and Cruise worked for two years on the film, His performance garnered Hoffman his second Academy Award. Upon accepting, Hoffman stated softly to his fellow nominees that it was okay if they didn't vote for him because "I didn't vote for you guys either."
After
Rain Man, Hoffman appeared with
Sean Connery and
Matthew Broderick in
Family Business. The film did relatively poorly with the critics and at the box office. In 1991, Hoffman voiced the character of Mr. Bergstrom in the
Simpsons episode
Lisa's Substitute, under the pseudonym Sam Etic.
Throughout the 1990s, Hoffman appeared in many large, studio films, such as
Warren Beatty's
Dick Tracy,
Hero and the ill-fated
Billy Bathgate. Hoffman also played the title role of
Captain Hook in
Steven Spielberg's
Hook, earning Hoffman a
Golden Globe nomination.
Hoffman played the lead role in Sam Daniels in
Outbreak, alongside
Rene Russo,
Kevin Spacey,
Morgan Freeman,
Cuba Gooding Jr. and
Donald Sutherland. Following that, he appeared in
Sleepers with
Brad Pitt and
Jason Patric. He Hoffman starred opposite
John Travolta in the
Costa Gavras vehicle
Mad City.
Hoffman gained his seventh Academy Award nomination for his role in
Wag The Dog. He next appeared in Barry Levinson's adaptation of
Sphere, opposite
Sharon Stone,
Samuel L. Jackson,
Peter Coyote,
Queen Latifah and
Liev Schreiber.
Hoffman next appeared in
Moonlight Mile, followed by
Confidence opposite
Edward Burns,
Andy Garcia and
Rachel Weisz. Hoffman would finally have a chance to work with Gene Hackman, in Gary Fleder's
Runaway Jury, an adaptation of
John Grisham's bestselling novel.
More recently, Hoffman played theatre owner Charles Frohman in the
J.M. Barrie biopic
Finding Neverland, costarring
Johnny Depp and
Kate Winslet. In director
David O. Russell's
I ♥ Huckabees, Hoffman played opposite
Lily Tomlin) as an existential detective team.
Hoffman co-starred with
Barbra Streisand,
Robert De Niro and
Ben Stiller in 2004's
Meet the Fockers, a sequel to
Meet the Parents. Hoffman won the 2005 MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance. Also, Hoffman recently was featured in cameo roles in Andy Garcia's
The Lost City and on the final episode of
HBO sitcom "
Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s fifth season.
In 2006, Hoffman appeared in
Stranger Than Fiction, played the perfumier Giuseppe Baldini in
Tom Tykwer's film
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, and had a small cameo in the 2006 film,
The Holiday.
In 2007 he was featured in an advertising campaign for
Australian
telecommunications company
Telstra's Next G network., appeared in the 50 Cent video "Follow My Lead" as the Psychiatrist, and played the title character in the family film
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.
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