Best Dustin Hoffman Films and Performances, Ranked

Dustin Hoffman is one of the most versatile actors to ever walk the screen. The Hollywood-born Los Angeles native has steered a career that has spanned seven decades and produced some of the most vivid character creations in cinema history.

Commemorating Dustin Hoffman’s 85th birthday^th Birthday, diversity counts the 13 best performances of his career.

Hoffman broke into Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1967) as Benjamin Braddock, a 21-year-old who is seduced by an older married woman (Anne Bancroft). The film became the highest-grossing release of the year, grossing more than $104 million worldwide ($857 million adjusted for inflation).

Looking back at Hoffman’s first decade in the film business, it’s hard to pick another actor in history with a better decade of films early in his career. The next wave brought the best picture winners “Midnight Cowboy” (1969), “Little Big Man” (1970), “Straw Dogs” (1971), “Papillon” (1973), “Lenny” (1974), “All the President’s Men (1976) and Marathon Man (1976). What an undertaking.

His undeniable brilliance was recognized with two acting Oscars, for Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988) – both also winning Best Picture. Of the 44 actors and actresses to have won two or more Academy Awards, Hoffman is one of five whose wins come in two Best Picture winners. The others are Jack Nicholson (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Terms of Tenderness”), Marlon Brando (“On the Waterfront” and “The Godfather”), Gene Hackman (“The French Connection” and “Unforgiven”) and Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight” and “Green Book”).

He also earned an Emmy for his role as Willy Loman in the TV adaptation of Death of a Salesman (1985), along with three BAFTAs and multiple honors and lifetime achievements from AFI, the Gothams, the Golden Globes and more .

Still, Hoffman’s reputation on film sets was far from favorable, with former colleagues such as Meryl Streep and the late Sydney Pollack speaking out about his misconduct. Additionally, his legacy has been further tarnished by allegations of sexual misconduct, which the actor has denied.

This year he stars in Mayim Bialik’s directorial debut, As They Made Us from Quiver, and in an upcoming independent feature film, Sam & Kate, starring Sissy Spacek and his son Jake Hoffman, which is currently in post-production.

Read diversity List of Hoffman’s best performances.

recognitions: Finding Neverland (2004); “I Love Huckabees” (2004); “Papillon” (1973)