#benjamin braddock

It does, however, create an unrealistic expectation that in my post-graduate malaise, my parents' friends wife might come onto me with the intent of starting an Extramarital affair.

Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft in 'The Graduate' 1967.

Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor who studied at the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music before he decided to go into acting, for which he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse. He then studied at Actors Studio and appeared in numerous theater and television productions. He received an Academy Award for Best Actor nomination for his first major role as Benjamin Braddock, a recent college graduate who has an affair with a much older woman, in the independent film The Graduate (1967), considered a key movie in the formation of New Hollywood. He moved smoothly into the 1970s and the 1980s with his versatile portrayals of diverse roles, most with critical praise, in the movies, TV, and the theater. He closed out the 1980s with his second Best Actor Oscar win for a convincing depiction of a middle-aged autistic savant in Rain Man (1988) by United Artists. Among his numerous accolades are two Academy Awards (out of seven nominations), four BAFTA Awards (out of eight nominations), five Golden Globe Awards (out of 12 nominations), and two Emmy Awards as well as a nomination for a Tony Award. While he may not be as active as in his younger years, he continues to take on roles in film and television and has three films in production. As of 2025, he was last seen in Francis Ford Coppola's latest film with Lionsgate, a dystopian science fiction epic Megalopolis (2024).

Today, he primarily lives in his Malibu, California home. He was honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1997, the AFI Life Achievement Award in 1999, the Honorary César in 2009, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 2012. The American Film Institute ranked his character Carl Bernstein in All the President's Men (1976) is listed as the 27th greatest hero in American cinema in 2003.

Ten Selected Works:

The Graduate (1967) as Benjamin Braddock

Midnight Cowboy (1969) as Enrico Salvatore "Rico" Rizzo

Little Big Man (1970) as Jack Crabb

Lenny (1974) as Lenny Bruce

All the President's Men (1976) as Carl Bernstein

Marathon Man (1976) as Thomas Babington "Babe" Levy

Kramer vs Kramer (1979) as Red Kramer

Tootsie (1982) as Michael Dorsey / Dorothy Michaels

Rain Man (1988) as Raymond Babbitt