Product Description

One of Hollywood's most bankable stars, Dustin Hoffman is a rare acting genius and Hollywood legend. From innocent Benjamin Braddock to autistic savant Raymond Babbit, his stellar movie performances have won him numerous awards, ecstatic popular acclaim and worldwide fame.

Well-known celebrity biographer Jeff Lenburg tells the inside-story of this award-winning actor in this fully revised, revealing biography. With great attention to detail, the author examines the man and his work Hoffman's coming of age, his brilliant career, his bravura acting style, his classic films and behind-the-scene stories- as well as the marriages and personal life of this demanding and difficult actor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1392081 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Review
"As biographies go, this is a nifty effort." -- Los Angeles Daily News

About the Author
Jeff Lenburg is a celebrity biographer and entertainment historian. He is the author of 13 popular non-fiction books, including the biographies of Larry Gatlin, Dustin Hoffman, Steve Martin, The Three Stooges. Nominated for several awards, including the American Library Association?s ?Best Non-Fiction Award,? Jeff?s books have been reprinted in various foreign languages.

Customer Reviews

Basic info on Hoffman
This biography is not as much a biography as a review of interviews made to Hoffman and reviews of Hoffman's movies (too bad there isn't one single word from critic-guru Pauline Kael). In fact, I didn't see much research here, the author never gets in one single day in Dustin's life with phrases such as "in 1967 he made this play and this movie and got these reviews". (And this book ends in 1984, with 'Tootsie'.) Certainly, it must be difficult to get into Hoffman's life, friends and relatives but this book doesn't seem to have tried that at all. The resolution of the pictures is like a xerox copy (this book is a reprint).

********Dustin Hoffman*********
On August 8, 1937 a second son was born to Harry and LillianHoffman. A son who would change many peoples lives through his humorand wits. In 1952 Dustin took up classical piano, dreaming aboutmaking it some day as a professional classical pianist. He was alsocalled on to play in school assemblies whenever the scheduled speakersfailed to show, even though he knew only one song, "BumbleBoogie." Besides piano Dustin was very industrious. As a memberof his high school's tennis team and also track team, where he wasspecialized in marathon running. In the book there is a passage, thatHoffman explains: "I was the Bumble Boogie ace in the hole. Atparties, the first thing I did was find the piano. I would sit on theedge of the bench, leaving room for the right girl to sit down next tome, and say, 'Boy, do you have sensitive hands.' She never did."Hoffman also explains his earlier years as: "a kid who was alwaystoo short, wore braces on his teeth, and had one of the worst cases ofacne in Los Angeles." In early 1957, Dustin again had a change ofheart because he came to realize acting was his greatest joy. Lateron while Hoffman got into acting and got some off-broadway roles, healso got some side jobs. His first being a psychiatric attendant in amental hospital. On his first day there, he explained: "I wasscared silly! Charging down the hall was a middle-aged guy. He saidto me, 'I'm getting out next Sunday...my wife's an old Dutchcleanser... you got nice teeth, sonny boy, are they yours?' Ramblingon senselessly, the man, without warning, suddenly started making thenoise of an electric razor, unnerving Hoffman considerably. Thispassage shows Hoffman's great sense of humor... To say more aboutthis book would be too much. Jeff Lenburg includes many of thedetails that you want to know about Dustin Hoffman. I liked this bookbecause you can follow a great comedian through his hardships, andvictories in his life.