Editing Dustin Hoffman (section)

===1960–1966: Early theatre roles ===
Hoffman's first acting role was at the Pasadena Playhouse, alongside future Academy Award–winner [[Gene Hackman]].<ref>{{cite news |title=The 50-Year Hoffman-Hackman History |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/12/movies/film-the-50-year-hoffman-hackman-history.html |work=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 12, 2003|access-date=February 5, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524205930/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/10/12/movies/film-the-50-year-hoffman-hackman-history.html|archive-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref> After two years there, Hackman headed for New York City, with Hoffman soon following. Hoffman, Hackman, and [[Robert Duvall]] lived together in the 1960s, whilst all three of them focused on finding acting jobs.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Xfinity Entertainment |title=Celebrity Roommates |access-date=December 31, 2011 |url=http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-celebroommates/13/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517035451/http://xfinity.comcast.net/slideshow/entertainment-celebroommates/13/ |archive-date=May 17, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Robert Duvall, Hollywood's No. 1 Second Lead, Breaks for Starlight |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20067777,00.html |first=Laura |last=Stevenson |work=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=May 9, 1977 |access-date=December 9, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104213721/http://www.people.com/people/article/0%2C%2C20067777%2C00.html |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Hackman remembers, "The idea that any of us would do well in films simply didn't occur to us. We just wanted to work".<ref name=AARP/> Hoffman's appearance—Duvall described him as [[Barbra Streisand]] in drag—and small size made him uncastable, ''Vanity Fair'' later wrote.<ref name="meryman200403">{{cite magazine|title=Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, and Robert Duvall: Three Friends who Went from Rags to Riches |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2004/03/gene-hackman-dustin-hoffman-hollywood |magazine=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=September 16, 2018 |first=Richard |last=Meryman |date=March 2004 |publisher=[[Condé Nast]]|location=New York City}}</ref> During this period, Hoffman got occasional television bit parts, including commercials but, needing income, he briefly left acting in order to teach.

Hoffman then studied at [[Actors Studio]] and became a dedicated [[method actor]]. In 1960 Hoffman was cast in a role in an [[off-Broadway]] production and followed with a [[bit part]] in his [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut in production, ''A Cook for Mr. General'' (1961).<ref>{{cite web|title=Dustin Hoffman – Broadway Cast & Staff {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/dustin-hoffman-15122|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=ibdb.com}}</ref> In 1962, he appeared in Rabbit Run Theatre's summer stock production of ''[[Write Me a Murder]]'' in [[Madison, Ohio]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Dustin Hoffman "Write Me a Murder" Frederick Knott 1962 Madison, Ohio Playbill {{!}} #1940689215|url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dustin-hoffman-write-murder-frederick-1940689215|access-date=October 21, 2020|website=Worthpoint}}</ref> and served as an assistant director to [[Ulu Grosbard]] on ''[[The Days and Nights of BeeBee Fenstermaker|The Days and Nights of Beebee Fenstermaker]]'' at off-Broadway's [[Sheridan Square Playhouse]]. In 1964, Hoffman appeared in ''[[Three Men on a Horse]]'' at [[Princeton University|Princeton]]'s [[McCarter Theatre]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Princeton – Weekly Bulletin 04/11/05 – McCarter at 75|url=https://pr.princeton.edu/pwb/05/0411/3b.shtml|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=pr.princeton.edu}}</ref> and in 1965, in off-Broadway's ''Harry, Noon and Night''<ref>{{cite web|title=Dustin Hoffman "Harry Noon & Night" Joel Grey 1965 FLOP {{!}} #101981416|url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/dustin-hoffman-harry-noon-night-joel-101981416|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=Worthpoint}}</ref> with [[Joel Grey]]. On June 23, 1965, he played Mendy in a practice run of [[Philip Roth]]'s abandoned off-Broadway play ''The Nice Jewish Boy'', directed by [[Gene Saks]] and co-starring [[Melinda Dillon]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bailey |first=Blake |title=Philip Roth: the biography |publisher=W.W. Norton & Company |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-393-24072-6 |edition=First|location=New York, NY |pages=269}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Roth |first=Philip |title=Reading Myself and Others |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=1975 |pages=34}}</ref> Grosbard and Hoffman reunited for a 1965 recording of ''[[Death of a Salesman]]'' starring [[Lee J. Cobb]] and [[Mildred Dunnock]], with Hoffman playing Bernard.<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Arthur |url=https://cmc.marmot.org/Record/.b2145629x |title=Death of a salesman |date=2002 |isbn=9780060501785 |access-date=October 18, 2020}}</ref> He was assistant director for Grosbard's 1965 off-Broadway production of ''[[A View from the Bridge]]'' starring Robert Duvall and [[Jon Voight]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Dustin Hoffman|url=http://www.iobdb.com/CreditableEntity/25601|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=iobdb.com}}</ref> and in late 1965 stage-managed and appeared in Grosbard's ''[[The Subject Was Roses]]'' on Broadway.<ref>{{cite web|last=The Broadway League|title=The Subject Was Roses – Broadway Play – Original {{!}} IBDB|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/the-subject-was-roses-3202#Replacements|access-date=October 18, 2020|website=ibdb.com}}</ref> Hoffman's "sharply outlined and vividly colored" performance in off-Broadway's ''The Journey of the Fifth Horse''<ref>{{cite web |title=Theater: Turgenev Tale – Ribman's 'Journey of the 5th Horse' Opens |date=April 22, 1966 |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1966/04/22/issue.html |access-date=October 18, 2020 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> in April 1966 was followed by another critical success in the play ''[[Eh? (play)|Eh?]]'', by [[Henry Livings]], which had its U.S. premiere at the [[Circle in the Square Theatre]] on October 16, 1966. [[Sidney W. Pink]], a producer and [[3D film|3D-movie]] pioneer, discovered Hoffman in one of his off-Broadway roles and cast him in ''[[Madigan's Millions]]''. Through the early and mid-1960s, Hoffman made appearances in television shows and movies, including ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]'', ''[[The Defenders (1961 TV series)|The Defenders]]'' and ''[[Hallmark Hall of Fame]]''.

Hoffman starred in the 1966 [[off-Broadway]] play ''[[Eh? (play)|Eh?]]'', for which he received a [[Drama Desk Award]].<ref name="Playbill">{{cite web|title=Dustin Hoffman|url=http://www.playbill.com/person/dustin-hoffman-vault-0000015166|website=[[Playbill]]|access-date=May 5, 2016}}</ref> He made his film debut in ''[[The Tiger Makes Out]]'' in 1967, alongside [[Eli Wallach]]. In 1967, immediately after wrapping up principal filming on ''The Tiger Makes Out'', Hoffman flew from New York City to [[Fargo, North Dakota]], where he directed productions of [[William Gibson (playwright)|William Gibson]]'s ''[[Two for the Seesaw (play)|Two for the Seesaw]]'' and [[William Saroyan]]'s ''[[The Time of Your Life]]'' for the Fargo-Moorhead Community Theatre. The $1,000 he received for the eight-week contract was all he had to hold him over until the funds from the movie materialized.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}