Age: 88
male
Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his versatile portrayals of antiheroes and emotionally vulnerable characters. Actor Robert De Niro described him as "an actor with the everyman's face who embodied the heartbreakingly human". At a young age Hoffman knew he wanted to study in the arts, and entered into the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music; later he decided to go into acting, for which he trained at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles. His first theatrical performance was 1961's A Cook for Mr. General as Ridzinski. During that time he appeared in several guest roles on television shows like Naked City and The Defenders. He then starred in the 1966 off-Broadway play Eh? where his performance garnered him both a Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Award. His breakthrough role was as Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols' critically acclaimed and iconic film The Graduate (1967), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. His next role was "Ratso" Rizzo in John Schlesinger's Midnight Cowboy (1969), in which he acted alongside Jon Voight; they both received Oscar nominations, and the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. He gained success in the 1970s playing roles that shaped the craft of his acting, crossing genres effortlessly in the western Little Big Man (1970), the prison drama Papillon (1973), playing a controversial and groundbreaking comedian in Bob Fosse's Lenny (1975), Marathon Man alongside Laurence Olivier (1976), and as Carl Bernstein investigating the Watergate scandal in All the President's Men (1976). In 1979, Hoffman starred in the family drama Kramer vs. Kramer alongside Meryl Streep. They both received Academy Awards for their performances. After a three-year break from films, Hoffman returned in Sydney Pollack's show business comedy Tootsie (1982) about a struggling actor who pretends to be a woman in order to get an acting role. He returned to stage acting with a 1984 performance as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman and reprised the role a year later in a television film earning a Primetime Emmy Award. In 1987 he starred alongside Warren Beatty in Elaine May's comedy Ishtar. He won his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the autistic savant Ray Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man, co-starring Tom Cruise. In 1989, he was nominated for a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for playing Shylock in a stage performance of The Merchant of Venice. In the 1990s, he made appearances in such films as Warren Beatty's action comedy adaptation Dick Tracy (1990), Steven Spielberg's Hook (1991) as Captain Hook, medical disaster Outbreak (1995), legal crime drama Sleepers (1996), and the satirical black comedy Wag the Dog (1997) alongside Robert De Niro.
At Christmas, miracles happen, wishes come true and people's destinies change. A trip on the Christmas train can change the whole life of everyone who sits on the train. Former war writer Tom Langdon wants to fulfill the wishes of his recently deceased father. That's why he goes to LA by train to see his girlfriend Lelia before Christmas. Tom's father wanted his son to write a story about a train trip across the US. Washington at the train station, Tom begins to get to know his fellow passengers. The trip will take four days and the passengers will cover 3,000 miles. Tom discovers that he is traveling with the old railwayman Higgins, who now drives only for fun, the fiancés Julie and Steve, who have run away from Steve's parents. They did not agree with their intention to marry, and also the strange lonely elderly lady Agnes, who watches everything and knows everyone. An interesting character on the train is the fortune teller Misty, who predicts human destinies. The crew of the wagon is completed by an old widower, John Kelly, whose wife died and he wants to fulfill her wish - to read Dickens' Christmas Carol while traveling by train. But very important fellow travelers are the famous film director Max Powers and his screenwriter Eleanor. Very soon after getting on the train, Tom starts chatting with Max at the bar, and he introduces Eleanor to him. It's a shock for Tom, but also for Eleanor. They both know each other from their past. They were once partners and lovers.
