Dustin Hoffman Birthday (Date, Age, How Old)

Background

Dustin Lee Hoffman was welcomed into the world on August 8, 1937, in Los Angeles, born to Lillian and Harvey Hoffman, a designer of sets and furniture. He began his education in music at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and Arts, later enrolling at Santa Monica City College in 1955 to embark on a journey as a jazz pianist. However, an unexpected shift led him to the realm of drama, despite his initial indifference toward it.

Though his time at college lasted only a year before he chose to leave, the allure of acting captured his interest. This passion culminated in his Broadway debut and a subsequent television appearance in the 1961 episode of “Naked City.” The following years saw him balance performances in New York’s off-Broadway scene alongside television roles until he made his feature acting debut with “The Tiger Makes Out” in 1967. Dustin became an icon thanks to his role in “The Graduate,” which transformed the established perception of a Hollywood lead. Beyond earning $17,000 for this, he also secured his first Oscar nomination—a remarkable feat for someone who had once hesitated to audition for a leading part.

Dustin resisted the expectations of being merely a pretty face and instead delivered some of cinema’s most celebrated performances. His second Best Actor nomination came in 1969 for the classic film “Midnight Cowboy,” depicting the struggles of a hustler in the Sixties. Throughout the 1970s, he garnered two more Best Actor nominations, one for “Lenny” in 1974 and another for “Kramer vs. Kramer” in 1979. Additionally, his performance in “Tootsie” earned him yet another nomination.

In 1982, he predominantly donned a female costume. Throughout the latter part of the 1980s, Dustin produced a new project each year, including the self-produced television adaptation of “Death Of A Salesman” in 1985, which brought him an acting Emmy, alongside the 1987 failure “Ishtar,” featuring Warren Beatty. The following year, he bounced back by winning his second Best Actor Academy Award for “Rain Man” in 1988. In the early 1990s, he appeared alongside his friend Warren Beatty in “Dick Tracy,” and since then, his roles have varied, from an Army Colonel battling a virus in “Outbreak” to portraying The Conscience in “Joan Of Arc.” In 1997, his performance in “Wag The Dog” earned him his sixth Academy Award nomination.

Aside from being known as an Oscar winner, Dustin has garnered other labels throughout his remarkable career, including perfectionist, driven, and the often-quoted “difficult to deal with,” a term that does not bother him. Nonetheless, he maintains a life beyond the film industry, being a dedicated family man with six children. Two of his children are from his first marriage to ballerina Anne Byrne in 1969, lasting ten years, during which he also adopted Anne’s daughter, Karina. His four other children are from his ongoing marriage to Lisa Gottsegen, whom he has been married to since 1980.