View source for Dustin Hoffman

=== 1970–1979: Film stardom and acclaim ===
This was followed by his role in [[Little Big Man (film)|''Little Big Man'']] (1970), where Jack Crabb, his character, ages from teenager to a 121-year-old man. The film was widely praised by critics, but was overlooked for an award except for a supporting nomination for [[Chief Dan George]]. Hoffman continued to appear in major films over the next few years. ''[[Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?]]'' (1971), ''[[Straw Dogs (1971 film)|Straw Dogs]]'' (also 1971), and ''[[Papillon (1973 film)|Papillon]]'' (1973). He returned to Broadway in 1974, directing ''All Over Town''.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Barnes|first=Clive|date=December 30, 1974|title=Stage: 'All Over Town' Proves a Zany Surprise (Published 1974)|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/12/30/archives/stage-all-over-town-proves-a-zany-surprise.html|access-date=October 18, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Hoffman next starred in ''[[Lenny (film)|Lenny]]'' (1974), for which he was again nominated for Best Actor. ''Lenny'' was based on the life of stand-up comedian [[Lenny Bruce]], who died at the age of 40, and was known for his open, free-style and critical form of comedy which integrated politics, religion, sex, and vulgarity. Expectations were high that Hoffman would win an Oscar for his portrayal, especially after his similar role in ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]''. Film critic Katharine Lowry speculates that director [[Bob Fosse]] "never gave him a chance" to go far enough into developing the character. "We never understand what, besides the drugs he injected, made him tick like a time bomb", she says.<ref>Lowry, Katharine. "Talk on the Wild Side", ''Texas Monthly'', Jan. 1975</ref>

[[File:Dustin Hoffman & Lars Jacob 1974.jpg|thumb|right|Hoffman (left) on the set of ''[[Lenny (film)|Lenny]]'' in 1974]]
However, notes author [[Paul Gardner (journalist)|Paul Gardner]], "directing ''Lenny'', his most ambitious project, exhausted Fosse emotionally and physically. It turned his life inside out", with shooting days often lasting 10 to 12 hours:<ref name=Gardner>Gardner, Paul. "Bob Fosse Off His Toes", ''New York'', December 16, 1974.</ref> "The Lenny Bruce project, based on Julian Barry's play, had gone through two studios and three scripts, and was a problem child, like Lenny himself. But Fosse wanted to do it, and he wanted Dustin Hoffman".<ref name=Gardner/> Hoffman initially turned the part down, saying: "I didn't think the script was strong enough and I wasn't sure I was the one to play the role." While considering the part, he read Lenny Bruce's autobiography and looked at films with Bruce performing stand-up to live audiences. In the same interview with ''[[Playboy]]'' he recounted: "I began to feel an affinity with him, a realization that there was a lot of Lenny Bruce in me. My wife felt it too&nbsp;... I realized that I'd have to make use of my own spontaneity because he was so spontaneous. And I admired his guts&nbsp;... That intimacy is what an actor tries to get&nbsp;... It occurred to me that if I had known him, I would have wanted us to be friends&nbsp;... and he was a provocateur, and I love to provoke."<ref name=Playboy>[[Meryman, Richard]]. "Interview with Dustin Hoffman", ''Playboy'', April 1975</ref> Movie critic [[Judith Crist]] gave Hoffman credit for the ultimate success of the film:

{{blockquote|What is important is that Bruce's routines are so artfully reconstructed, the juice of his creativity so carefully strained, that the claim to genius is justified. And for that Dustin Hoffman deserves full credit, vanishing into the Bruce persona to simply stunning effectiveness,… Hoffman captures the restlessness, the velocity of a man's mouth straining to keep pace with a jet-propelled intelligence…<ref>Crist, Judith. "Bruce Unspruced", ''New York'', November 18, 1974.</ref>}}

''Lenny'' was nominated for six [[Academy Awards]], including [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Best Picture]], [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]], [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]], [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]], [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]], and [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]].<ref>{{YouTube|TqvNOq8kGB8|''Lenny'' official trailer}}</ref>

''[[All the President's Men (film)|All the President's Men]]'' (1976) was made less than two years after the [[Watergate scandal]], and starred Hoffman and [[Robert Redford]] as the real-life journalists, [[Carl Bernstein]] and [[Bob Woodward]], respectively. Based on actual events, Hoffman and Redford play ''[[Washington Post]]'' reporters who uncover a break-in at the [[Watergate complex|Watergate Hotel]] and end up investigating a political scandal that reaches all the way to the presidency. The film, as earlier ones, had Hoffman take on a dramatically different character than his previous one (as Lenny Bruce), although both men, Bruce and Bernstein, set their faces against abuses of institutional power, and the tendency for society to ignore such abuses. Author James Morrison compares the two roles: "As Lenny Bruce in ''Lenny'' (1974), Hoffman plays a martyr to the cause of establishment oppression, while in ''All the President's Men'', he plays a reporter exposing presidential malfeasance."<ref>Morrison, James. ''Hollywood Reborn: Movie Stars of the 1970s'', Rutgers University Press (2010) p. 4</ref>

[[Vincent Canby]] of ''The New York Times'' described the film as "a spellbinding detective story". "The strength of the movie", he added, was "the virtually day-to-day record of the way Bernstein and Woodward conducted their investigations."<ref name=Noble>Noble, William. ''Presidential Power on Trial: From Watergate to All the President's Men'', Enslow Publishers (2009) p. 99</ref> The characters portrayed by Hoffman and Redford shared the rank of No. 27 Hero on [[AFI's 100 Years... 100 Heroes and Villains]] list, while ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' ranked ''All the President's Men'' as one of the 25 "Powerful Political Thrillers".<ref name="ew25">{{cite magazine | title = Democracy 'n' Action: 25 Powerful Political Thrillers | magazine = [[Entertainment Weekly]] | url = https://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20209601_7,00.html | access-date = September 2, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090904195139/http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20209601_7,00.html | archive-date = September 4, 2009 | df = mdy-all }}</ref>
[[File:Hoffman-Midler - 1977.jpg|thumb|upright=0.85|left|With [[Bette Midler]] on ''The Bette Midler TV Special'' (1977)]]
Hoffman next starred in ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]'' (1976), a film based on [[William Goldman]]'s [[Marathon Man (novel)|novel of the same name]], opposite [[Laurence Olivier]] and [[Roy Scheider]].<ref>{{YouTube|OK26KtN99R4|''Marathon Man'' trailer}}</ref> Its director, [[John Schlesinger]] also directed Hoffman in ''[[Midnight Cowboy]]'' in 1969. Described as "Schlesinger's thriller", by author [[Gene D. Phillips]], Hoffman plays the hero, Babe Levy, a part-time long-distance runner and graduate student, who suddenly finds himself being pursued by a fugitive Nazi.<ref>Phillips, Gene D. ''Major Film Directors of the American and British Cinema'', Lehigh University Press (1999) p. 236</ref> To put himself in the mindset of someone under severe emotional distress, Hoffman did not sleep for days at a time and let his body become disheveled and unhealthy. Olivier was alarmed when Hoffman turned up on set for the dental torture scene. Hoffman explained what he had done, and Olivier replied: "My dear boy, have you ever tried simply acting? It's much easier."<ref>Cerritos, Marco. "Method of Madness: Why Do Actors Insist on Method Acting?", ''First Showing'', September 13, 2010.</ref>

Goldman describes his inspiration for the novel: "What if someone close to you was something totally different from what you thought? In the story, Hoffman thinks his brother (Roy Scheider) is a businessman where the reality is that the man is a spy, who has been involved with the Nazi, Szell."<ref>Goldman, William. ''Marathon Man: A Novel'', Open Road Media (1974)</ref> However, Hoffman remembers a serious disagreement he had with Goldman, who also wrote the screenplay, about how the story ends:

{{blockquote|I was called on, as the character, to fire point-blank at the Laurence Olivier character, Dr. Szell, and kill him in that last scene. And I said that I couldn't do it. Goldman was quite upset about it, because first of all, how dare I? He wrote the book. "Your job isn't to rewrite — your job is to play it as written."&nbsp;... it got nasty. I said, "Go hire someone else."<br/>
I remember Goldman saying: "Why can't you do this? Are you such a Jew?" I said, "No, but I won't play a Jew who cold-bloodedly kills another human being."&nbsp;... And that's important to me, that I didn't shoot him in the end. Being a Jew is not losing your humanity and not losing your soul.<ref name=Pogrebin>Pogrebin, Abigail. [http://www.thejc.com/arts/arts-interviews/dustin-hoffman-finally-i-can-say-im-jewish "Dustin Hoffman: Finally, I can say I'm Jewish"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100104230411/http://www.thejc.com/arts/arts-interviews/dustin-hoffman-finally-i-can-say-im-jewish |date=January 4, 2010 }}, ''The JC.com'', November 16, 2006</ref>}}

Hoffman's next roles were also successful. He opted out of directing ''[[Straight Time]]'' (1978), but starred as a thief. His next film, [[Michael Apted]]'s ''[[Agatha (film)|Agatha]]'' (1979), was with [[Vanessa Redgrave]] as [[Agatha Christie]], focussing on the missing eleven days of the author's life. The part of Archie Christie was played by [[Timothy Dalton]], then partner of [[Vanessa Redgrave]], and later to star in James Bond movies. Dalton's depiction of cold indifference to his wife produced a perfect foil to Hoffman's portrayal of warm compassion, humor and sensitivity. The film had both romantic and comic moments whilst the overall plot cleverly mirrored one of Christie's detective novels. ''[[Agatha (film)|Agatha]]'' was generally very well received by critics, especially in the UK, and maintains an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Hoffman next starred in ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'' (1979) co-starring [[Meryl Streep]] and directed by [[Robert Benton]]. The film tells the story of a married couple's divorce and its impact on everyone involved, including the couple's young son. Hoffman won his first [[Academy Award]], and the film also received the Best Picture honor, plus the awards for Best Supporting Actress (Streep), Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film required Hoffman to change his attitude, from being a "desensitized advertising art director" into becoming a "responsive and concerned daddy" after his wife (Streep) walks out on him and their six-year-old son, Billy. Hoffman, during the making of the movie, was also going through his own divorce after a ten-year first marriage. Hoffman has said, "Giving myself permission not only to be present but to be a father was a kind of epiphany for me at that time, that I could get to through my work.&nbsp;... I got closer to being a father by playing a father. That's very painful to say."<ref name=Playboy/> The role also reminded him of his own love of children in general saying, "Children are more interesting than anything. I walk my younger child to school every day and I don't like leaving the school. I would like to sit down on those little chairs, at those little tables, and play. And a child's love is like a drug. To have a child throw his arms about you—it's instant stoned. People talk about the rush heroin gives you: I would say children give you that rush".<ref name=Playboy/>

Benton's directing has been praised by Hoffman, who credits him for inspiring the emotional level supporting many scenes: "Perfect directors make you emotional. On ''Kramer vs. Kramer'', Robert Benton made me emotional. He was pulling so hard for me. When I didn't think I could do a scene again I'd say, "I can't give it to you, I haven't got it." Then he'd just get this look on his face and roll the camera and I'd say, "Okay, this is yours." That's what he made you want to do for him—to give him one."<ref name=Orth>Orth, Maureen. "Benton vs. Benton", ''New York'', December 24, 1979</ref>