D.ustin Hoffmanliving monument of world cinema, turns 85 today, 8 August. TV celebrates it by sending broadcast tonight on Iris at 9pm and on Sky Cinema Due at 9.15pm the film that made him famous: The bachelor. A 1967 masterpiece that is still very relevant today.
Dustin Hoffman: Parents’ Journey from Ukraine to Los Angeles
Born in Los Angeles, Dustin Hoffman he is the son of a Jewish family of Ukrainian and Romanian origins. The dad Harry, furniture salesmanwho previously was in charge of setting up sets for Columbia Pictures, and her mother Lillian Gold, jazz pianistare due flee the Ukrainian territories to save themselves from Bolshevite anti-Semitism (a story that sadly repeats itself now with Ukraine besieged by Putin).
Dustin Hoffman: at 30 the consecration with The bachelor
The move to the US, however, proved to be a fortune for the very young Dustin Hoffman who, giving up his medical studies, managed to enter at the Actors Studioschool that baked stars like Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Marilyn Monroe, Jane Fonda.
In ’67 his first important occasion arrives with the film The bachelor. The film is such a hit that it leads to Mike Nichols the Oscar for Best Director and holds a Dustin Hoffman in his thirties for Best Actor nomination. Hoffman does not win the statuette, but wins the Golden Globe for Best Debut Actor.
Dustin Hoffman is Benjamin Braddock in the ’67 film “The Graduate”. (Getty Images)
Two Oscars and a career as a star
It is the beginning of a career that leads Dustin Hoffman to win two Oscars (for Kramer versus Kramer, with Meryl Streep of ’79 and for Rain Man – The Rain Manwith Tom Cruise of 88).
Many of the films he starred in have made cinema history for decades, making generations of people dream: from A man from the sidewalk by John Schlesinger from 1969, a The little big man by Arthur Penn of ’70, a Dick Tracy by Warren Beatty from 1990, a Hook – Captain Hook of ’91 by Steven Spielberg, a Lethal virus of ’95 of Wolfgang Petersen, a Sleepers by Barry Levinson of ’96.
Dustin Hoffman he often found himself interpreting very different rolesalways with seriousness and transport, e always managed to excelwinning the esteem and affection of the Hollywood world and the public.
The bachelor: the plot of the masterpiece of ’67
Neither The bachelorDustin Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock, young man from a good family who, after the collage, goes to a party and is spotted by Mrs. Robinson, married lady friend of her parentswith whom a tumultuous relationship begins. But soon the passion is overtaken by intrigues, half-truths, subterfugesand the young man Benjamin falls in love (reciprocated) with Elaine, daughter of Mrs. Robinson (Anne Brancroft).
True love between Benjamin and Elaine is hindered in every way by her mother, Mrs. Robinson. But Benjamin’s stubbornness manages to overcome any difficulty. The boy’s crazy ride on the legendary Alfa Romeo Duetto is unforgettablethe frenzied search of the Church where Elaine is about to marry a man she doesn’t want. Epic and liberating the escape from everything and both of the two boys on a bus. Social conventions, impositions and family diktats are broken. Love and happiness prevail over everything.
The bachelor it’s a kind of fairy tale with a happy endingwhich gives an injection of optimism, and perfectly describes the society of the Sixties harnessed in its bourgeois duties and limits.
Dustin Hoffman, a myth with an anti-star character
Dustin Hoffman today he is tied in second marriage to the American entrepreneur Lisa Gottsegen with which he had four children. And also father of two other children with his first wife Anne Byrne. Always reserved, myth of cinema with the character of the anti-star, now leads a life away from the spotlight. She tries to let people know as little about herself as possible. A couple of years he only revealed that he had managed to overcome a tumor.
Dustin Hoffman with wife Lisa Gottsegen (Getty)
The whole world today cheers and remembers him with affection. Best wishes!
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