The Film History of Dustin Hoffman Quiz

Answer: Braddock

At a rather young age, Dustin had already established himself as a marketable star and a serious actor. The 29-year old Hoffman was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Benjamin Braddock, a recent, directionless college graduate. This was one of seven nominations for the film.

Answer: No

As with his first in 'The Graduate', Hoffman missed out on the Oscar in his second nomination as the street-smart Rizzo, opposite the naive country boy Joe Buck, played by Jon Voight. John Schlesinger did win the award for Best Director, which was accepted on his behalf by Voight.

This X-rated film also won for Best Picture! (The rating system was different at the time...the X-rating meant no one under 16-years old could attend.)

Answer: Straw Dogs

Peckinpah's other work included 'The Getaway' with Steve McQueen, and 'The Wild Bunch'. His only collaboration with Hoffman was in the 1971 thriller 'Straw Dogs'. This was probably Hoffman's most violent film role, though by today's standards it seems rather not so shocking.

Answer: Henri Charrière

Henri Charrière's autobiographical novel 'Papillon' (French for 'butterfly') tells the story of Charrière's escape attempts from a Guyanese penal colony, and later from the notorious French prison called Devil's Island. Hoffman plays Charrière's companion Louis Dega, who shares in the escape attempts.

Answer: False

Sadly, Lenny Bruce died in 1966, several years prior to the production of this picture that took a close look at his struggles with the censorship standards in the United States during the 1950s. It was directed by Bob Fosse and the title role was brilliantly portrayed by Hoffman; both were nominated for Oscars (but did not win). It was Hoffman's third nomination.

Answer: Robert Redford

Based on the book by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the film also starred Jack Warden, Hal Holbrook and Jason Robards. Alan Pakula directed the film, which won four Oscars, including a Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for Robards. Hoffman was not nominated for this role.

Answer: True

After three nominations and no wins, Hoffman finally struck Oscar gold on his fourth try with his role as divorcé Ted Kramer. The film also garnered Oscars for Meryl Streep for Best Supporting Actress and Robert Benton for Best Director. It also garnered the big award of the evening, the Best Picture Oscar.

Answer: Emily Kimberly

Emily Kimberly became Edward Kimberly in the final scene filmed for the soap opera by the Dorothy Michaels character just before she revealed that her real name was Michael Dorsey, all portrayed by Hoffman. Confused? Me too! Hoffman was again nominated for an Oscar for this role but he failed to win when the Academy couldn't decide whether to place him in the Best Actor or Best Actress category. Only kidding...he was beaten out by Ben Kingsley for his role as Gandhi.

Answer: Barry Levinson

Hoffman based his character largely on his observations of Kim Peek, an autistic man living in Salt Lake City. He also observed the behavior of other autistic savants in the process of developing his character Raymond. This was Hoffman's second Best Acting Oscar.

Answer: Hook

Based on the 'Peter Pan' story by James Barrie, this was not my favorite Hoffman film. However, his performance was typically excellent, despite the lesser quality of the movie. In 2004 Hoffman plays Charles Frohman in the film 'J.M. Barrie's Neverland', a biopic about the author of 'Peter Pan'. Thank you for having played this quiz, I hope you enjoyed it and will try some of my other stuff.