Dustin Hoffman is a two-time Academy Award winner who rose to fame in Mike Nichols‘ 1967 film “The Graduate” but began his acting career years before. In fact, he has been a professional actor for nearly six decades and remains one of the world’s most esteemed performers. He has also received acclaim for working in other entertainment capacities, directing the 2012 film “Quartet” starring Maggie Smith, as well as helming the 1974 Broadway play “All Over Town.”
For his film work, Hoffman has been nominated six times by the Academy, winning twice (for 1979’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and 1988’s “Rain Man”). He has also earned 11 Golden Globe nominations, winning for “Kramer vs. Kramer,” 1982’s “Tootsie,” “Rain Man” and as Most Promising Newcomer for “The Graduate.” In addition, he has been nominated twice for a Screen Actors Guild Award. For his stage work, he earned a Tony nomination for the 1990 production of “The Merchant of Venice,” and for television, he earned another Globe for the 1986 telecast of Arthur Miller‘s “Death of a Salesman.” Also for “Salesman,” Hoffman won an Emmy Award for his lead performance as Willy Loman and earned a second nomination for producing the television movie.
Let’s celebrate Hoffman by ranking his 20 greatest film performances from worst to best in the photo gallery above.
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20. KUNG FU PANDA (2008)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directors: John Stevenson, Mark Osborne. Writers: Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger. Voices: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, David Cross.
Although Hoffman had never before worked as a voice actor on film, he signed on to voice Master Shifu, an aging red panda, who is the esteemed trainer of a quintet of kung fu masters who aspire to the esteemed title of Dragon Warrior. Through a freak accident, an obese kung fu hopeful, a panda named Po (Jack Black), is named Dragon Warrior instead, and over Shifu’s objections, he agrees to train Po to be a kung fu master. This is a voice role that requires gravitas, and with over half a century of celebrated screen performances, Hoffman can bring it. He also voices Shifu in this film’s two sequels, 2011’s “Kung Fu Panda 2” and 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda 3.”
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19. MEET THE FOCKERS (2004)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Jay Roach. Writers: Jim Herzfeld, John Hamburg. Starring Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo.
Grossing over half a billion dollars worldwide, this sequel to 2000’s “Meet the Parents” was one of Hoffman’s most popular films. As fun-loving father Bernie to Ben Stiller’s about-to-be-married Greg Focker, Hoffman brings a delight to the role that he doesn’t often get a chance to show. When Greg’s future in-laws, Dina (Blythe Danner) and Jack Byrnes (Robert DeNiro) descend on the Florida home of Bernie and his sex therapist wife Roz (Barbra Streisand), the two families immediately face a culture clash, and soon the always-vigilant Jack becomes as skeptical about Bernie and Roz as he is about Greg. Hoffman also appeared with Streisand in this film’s 2010 sequel, “Little Fockers.”
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18. FINDING NEVERLAND (2004)
Image Credit: Film Colony/Kobal/Shutterstock Director: Marc Forster. Writer: David Magee. Starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Julie Christie, Dustin Hoffman, Radha Mitchell, Freddie Highmore.
“Finding Neverland” focuses on writer/playwright J.M. Barrie (Oscar nominee Johnny Depp), who responds to the flop of his latest play with despondency but finds comfort in the family of widow Sylvia Llewelyn Davies (Kate Winslet) and her four young boys. Sylvia (and especially the kids) give Barrie a chance to recapture the joy of what it means to be a child again, and, inspired by them, he writes a new play called “Peter Pan.” Producer Charles Frohman (a very good Hoffman) is skeptical of the play’s appeal to upper-class adults but agrees to produce it anyway. Frohman is surprised when the joy of the kids in the audience (secretly arranged by Barrie) is picked up by the adults as well, and “Peter Pan” soon becomes Barrie’s biggest hit. As a member of the film’s ensemble, Hoffman was nominated for his second SAG Award.
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17. CHEF (2014)
Image Credit: Weinstein Co/Aldamisa/Kobal/Shutterstock Writer/Director: Jon Favreau. Starring Jon Favreau, Sofia Vergara, Scarlett Johansson, John Leguizamo, Dustin Hoffman, Oliver Platt, Bobby Cannavale, Robert Downey, Jr.
In actor/director Jon Favreau’s food-based indie, Hoffman’s character, Riva, the owner of a Brentwood restaurant with a conservative clientele, is butting heads with his executive chef Carl Casper (Favreau) who wants to add several innovative dishes to the tired menu. When the old menu results in a scathing review from a food critic, Carl blasts the critic with a tweet that goes viral, giving him thousands of new followers. Carl devises a new menu which the staff loves, but when Riva orders him to scrap it, he quits and begins his own food-truck business. And the story begins. As a writer, Favreau is generous with Hoffman’s character, as Riva has a point in knowing that his customers want comfort food, not experimentation, and the actor knows just how to play it.
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16. HOOK (1991)
Image Credit: Jorgensen/REX/Shutterstock Director: Steven Spielberg. Writers: Jim V. Hunt, Nick Castle. Starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith.
Hoffman earned his 10th film nomination for a Golden Globe in this Steven Spielberg fantasy take on the J.M. Barrie classic story of Peter Pan. Set in contemporary times, Peter (Robin Williams) is now a workaholic businessman who has put the needs of his job over those of his family. He is sorely in need of regaining the values of his lost youth, so, while on a visit to Wendy Darling (Maggie Smith), he is whisked back to Neverland by Tinker Bell (Julia Roberts), where he must once again face his old nemesis, Captain Hook (Hoffman). While Hoffman is clearly having fun with the character, he plays it straight, giving him that extra bit of weight that makes him a believable threat to Peter.
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15. PAPILLON (1973)
Image Credit: Corona/Allied Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Franklin J. Schaffner. Writers: Dalton Trumbo, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Starring Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Anthony Zerbe.
In this gritty prison drama directed by Franklin J. Schaffner, Hoffman teams up with Steve McQueen as two convicts in a strict French Guiana prison in 1933. The two prisoners make a deal to escape together, but in this prison, that’s easier said than done. Hoffman’s Louis Dega is an embezzler and a forger who agrees to bankroll Papillon’s (McQueen) escape in return of him taking Dega with him. Under Schaffner’s direction, “Papillon” is the kind of big adventure spectacle that typified much of the 1970s, and Hoffman’s gritty performance is a far cry from much of the romantic work he was known for at that time.
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14. THE MEYEROWITZ STORIES (NEW AND SELECTED) (2017)
Image Credit: Netflix Writer/Director: Noah Baumbach. Starring Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Candice Bergen.
Hoffman delivered one of his strongest performances of this decade in Noah Baumbach’s Netflix family drama about the Meyerowitzes, an accomplished family headed up by patriarch Harold (Hoffman), a noted sculptor who considers himself to be more esteemed than he really is. Harold can be a difficult person with whom to deal — just ask his sons Danny (Adam Sandler) and Matthew (Ben Stiller), who have to bear the brunt of their father’s moodiness. He’s a tough character to like, but in Hoffman’s hands, he makes the artist understandable and real.
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13. STRAIGHT TIME (1978)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Director: Ulu Grosbard. Writers: Alvin Sargent, Edward Bunker, Jeffrey Boam. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Theresa Russell, M. Emmet Walsh, Harry Dean Stanton, Gary Busey.
“Straight Time” is one of Hoffman’s lesser-known films, but it contains of one of the actor’s best and most powerful performances. Petty thief Max Dembo (Hoffman), just released from prison, is determined to go straight and work at a legit job, despite continual hassling from his parole officer (M. Emmet Walsh). He falls in love with Jenny Mercer (Theresa Russell), who helped him get a job at a can factory, but criminal associates from Max’s past cause him complications, and he finds that managing to get and hold straight time is not as easy as he hoped that it would be.
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12. I HEART HUCKABEES (2004)
Image Credit: Snap Stills/REX/Shutterstock Director: David O. Russell. Writers: Jeff Baena, David O. Russell. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Isabelle Huppert, Jude Law, Lily Tomlin, Mark Wahlberg.
After years of doing supporting work, Hoffman stepped up to lead David O. Russell’s comedy/drama in which Hoffman plays Bernard, an “existential detective,” who, with his partner Vivian (Lily Tomlin) investigate the meaning of life with their clients (Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts). Hoffman and Tomlin make a great team, and when their various investigations cross paths, so do the lives of their clients. As chaotic as things get in the on-camera story, the off-camera drama between Russell and his cast achieved notoriety of its own, yet throughout, Hoffman remains the calm center of reason amidst all the craziness.
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11. MARATHON MAN (1976)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: John Schlesinger. Writer: William Goldman, based on his novel. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane, Marthe Keller.
In one of Hoffman’s biggest commercial hits of the 1970s, he plays Babe Levy, a marathon runner and PhD candidate who gets involved with Szell, a Nazi war criminal (Laurence Olivier), who comes to America to claim a valuable collection of diamonds. The film, written by William Goldman based on his novel, is likely most remembered for the scene in which Babe is tortured by Szell, who, wielding dental implements and a drill, repeatedly asks Babe the mysterious question, “Is it safe?” Watching Olivier and Hoffman go toe to toe is a sheer acting joy.
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10. LITTLE BIG MAN (1970)
Image Credit: Cinema Center/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Arthur Penn. Writers: Thomas Berger, Calder Willingham. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George.
In director Arthur Penn’s film of Thomas Berger’s picaresque novel of the Old West, Hoffman portrays Jack Crabb, the oldest man in the world at age 121, who reminisces about his colorful life — raised by the Cheyenne, Jack was a gunslinger, an associate of Wild Bill Hickok, a scout for General George Armstrong Custer, and the sole white survivor of the Battle of Little Big Horn. More than any role up until that time, “Little Big Man” gave Hoffman a huge playground in which to take on a variety of characters in a single role.
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9. LENNY (1974)
Image Credit: SNAP/REX/Shutterstock Director: Bob Fosse. Writer: Julian Henry. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner.
Bob Fosse’s biography of controversial comic Lenny Bruce starred Hoffman, who initially seemed an unlikely choice but who wound up fitting the role perfectly. Not only did Hoffman capture Bruce’s eccentric stand-up stylings, but, more importantly, he meshed with Valerine Perrine, who delivers a powerhouse performance as Lenny’s stripper wife, Honey. Fosse’s black-and-white film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and for his performance, Hoffman received his third Academy Award nomination as Best Actor.
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8. STRAW DOGS (1971)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director: Sam Peckinpah. Writers: Sam Peckinpah, David Zelag Goodman. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Susan George, Peter Vaughan.
In the early 1970s, on-screen violence was a huge issue, and the person at the center of it was director Sam Peckinpah, whose film “The Wild Bunch” in 1969 was as graphic as anything before seen on screen. With “Straw Dogs,” Peckinpah, rather than backing down, pushed the limits even further, casting Hoffman as meek American mathematician David Sumner who moves to a small village in Cornwall UK with his bombshell of a wife Amy (Susan George). The beer-soaked louts at the local tavern begin to eye Amy and go so far as to lay siege to their house to get to her, which forces David to defend his homestead, even utilizing a bear trap (don’t ask –the results are not pretty).
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7. WAG THE DOG (1997)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director: Barry Levinson. Writers: Hilary Henkin, David Mamet. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Robert DeNiro, Anne Heche, Denis Leary.
One of the most insightful political satires ever filmed, “Wag the Dog” starred Hoffman as Hollywood producer Stanley Motts who is hired by political spin doctor Conrad Brean (Robert DeNiro) to concoct a phony war (with Albania, no less!) in order to distract the American people from a sex scandal with the President of the United States making moves on an underage “Firefly Girl.” Hoffman was said to have modeled his performance on colorful Hollywood producer Robert Evans, and it resulted in his sixth Oscar nomination as Best Actor.
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6. RAIN MAN (1988)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Barry Levinson. Writers: Barry Morrow, Ronald Bass. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino.
I have to confess something. Even though the role of the autistic savant Raymond brought Hoffman his second Academy Award as Best Actor, it’s not one of my favorite Hoffman performances. Yes, I’ve ranked it up this high because of the skill he demonstrates in carrying it off, but, to me at least, it’s one note. Hoffman hit the right note as Raymond early on and just continues the same note throughout the film’s two hours. No knock on him — that’s what the role requires. But Hoffman is an actor who is known to bring many colors to his roles, and Raymond, Oscar or not, constricts him from displaying his full range of feelings on screen.
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5. KRAMER VS. KRAMER (1979)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Writer/Director: Robert Benton. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Justin Henry, Jane Alexander.
Hoffman won his first Best Actor Academy Award as Ted Kramer, a workaholic who wants to share the news that he has been assigned an important account when he sees that his wife Joanna (Meryl Streep, who won her first Oscar for this performance) is leaving him to raise their son Billy (Oscar nominee Justin Henry) by himself. Hoffman’s Ted is left with a dilemma with which many parents can identify — this is my kid, whom I love, but how am I going to raise him? To portray Ted, Hoffman went to his Everyman persona at which he is extremely effective, and the result is one of his most moving screen performances ever.
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4. THE GRADUATE (1967)
Image Credit: Embassy/Laurence Turman/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Mike Nichols. Writers: Calder Willingham, Buck Henry. Starring Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, Katharine Ross.
The one that started it all. When Hoffman hit the screen as Benjamin Braddock, he was a sensation. There was simply no one in the movies like Dustin Hoffman before, and his chemistry with Anne Bancroft was electric. I hate to use the term “counterculture” because it seems so quaint now, but in 1967, “The Graduate” was seen as rebellious, and while it doesn’t seem quuite as revolutionary today, the film holds up pretty well. For his performance as Benjamin, Hoffman received his first Academy Award nomination as Best Actor, and the film’s director Mike Nichols won the Oscar for his work as well.
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3. ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN (1976)
Image Credit: Embassy/Laurence Turman/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Alan J. Pakula. Writer: William Goldman. Starring Robert Redford, Dustin Hoffman, Jason Robards, Hal Holbrook, Jane Alexander.
Hoffman let his long hair down in the Alan Pakula adaptation of the best-selling book by Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Hoffman) as these newspaper reporters begin to piece together the various clues that instigated the Watergate investigation that eventually brought down President Richard Nixon. Redford and Hoffman are a real team here, and Hoffman in particular creates a really dogged character who will really stop at nothing to get out the real truth about Nixon’s misdeeds. One of Hoffman’s very best films.
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2. MIDNIGHT COWBOY (1969)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Director: John Schlesinger. Writer: Waldo Salt. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jon Voight, Sylvia Miles, Brenda Vaccaro.
Hoffman’s follow-up to “The Graduate” was as far away from Benjamin Braddock as anyone could imagine and was a brilliant choice by Hoffman. Enrico “Ratso” Rizzo (Hoffman) is a creature of the New York streets and strikes up a most unlikely friendship with fresh-off-the-bus cowboy Joe Buck (Jon Voight). The pair prowl the streets around Times Square as Joe makes himself available sexually to high-class women and (occasionally) men. The first (and only) X-rated film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, “Midnight Cowboy” brought Hoffman his second Academy Award nomination as Best Actor.
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1. TOOTSIE (1982)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Director: Sydney Pollack. Writers: Larry Gelbart, Murray Schisgal. Starring Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Bill Murray, Charles Durning.
Placing “Tootsie” at the top of Dustin Hoffman movies might be a bit controversial, especially since there are two Best Picture winners below it. Nonetheless, for me “Tootsie” is the winner because it gave Hoffman an incredible wide range of emotions with which to play. From the self-centered asshole he creates as Michael Dorsey, Hoffman, as Dorothy Michaels, opened up to display love, kindness and a concern for others, something he never showed as Michael. For his performance as Michael and Dorothy, Hoffman earned his fifth Academy Award nomination.
