Dustin Hoffman's film acting credentials came quickly with his Academy Awards nomination for only his second cinema appearance. However, he was a recognized Broadway stage actor in the 1960s before Mike Nichols cast him in “The Graduate.”
Here are some of the awards and highlights of Dustin Hoffman's acting career.
1. Stage-Acting Awards
Dustin Hoffman started in off-Broadway acting after taking acting classes at Santa Monica College and working at the Pasadena Playhouse. He received a Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Vernon Rice Award for “Eh?” in 1967. He won two more Drama Desk Awards in his stage career and was nominated for a fourth in 1990. He was also nominated for a Tony Award that year,
according to Playbill Vault.
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2. 1960s and 1970s Film Era
“The Graduate” (1967) kick-started Hoffman's career with nominations for Best Actor at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes, and Laurel Awards. He won New Star of the Year at the Golden Globes and British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. He rounded out the 1960s with similar nominations for “Midnight Cowboy” (1969) and “John and Mary” (1969).
The title role in “Lenny” (1974) ended a four-year drought in major accolades, with nominations for an Oscar, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe and New York Film Critics Circle award. He broke his Oscar drought in 1979, winning the Academy Award for Best Actor as Ted Kramer in “Kramer vs. Kramer.”
3. 1980s: “Tootsie” and “Rain Man”
The 1982 comedy “Tootsie,” in which Hoffman starred,
was ranked by the American Film Institute as the No. 2 funniest film of all time. It also scored Hoffman another Oscar nomination and wins from BAFTA and the Golden Globes.
In “Rain Man” (1988), Hoffman co-starred with Tom Cruise as the film's savant, Raymond Babbitt. “Raymond couldn't have the dramatic arc that actors always look for in roles,”
Hoffman told The New York Times in 1988. “And instead of a full-scale painting, I would have to do a pen-and-ink drawing – a poem, a haiku.”
The performance earned him an Oscar win, a Golden Globe, and numerous other awards and nominations.
4. 1990s and 2000s: “Wag the Dog” to “Kung Fu Panda”
The 1997 political satire “Wag the Dog” scored Hoffman another round of award nominations. Hoffman was also recognized for two Peter Pan-related performances, “Hook” (1991) opposite Robin Williams, and “Finding Neverland” (2004).
Hoffman took on more voice acting roles in the 2000s, including as Master Shifu in “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), for which he won an Annie Award for animated feature voice acting.
5. Lifetime Achievement Awards
Hoffman received the Kennedy Center Honors award in 2012, along with David Letterman and the members of Led Zeppelin. In 1999, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute.
Numerous other organizations and film festival groups have honored Hoffman with lifetime achievement awards for his total body of work in stage, film and television,
according to IMDb.
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