“I’m not right for this part, sir,” Hoffman’s struggling Broadway actor told director Mike Nichols.

“This is a Gentile. This is a Wasp. This is Robert Redford.” In fact, Nichols had turned down Redford on account of his attractiveness, instead casting the Hoff as the college graduate who, home for the summer, finds himself seduced by Anne Bancroft’s older woman.

With his innocence and droll delivery, Hoffman’s understated but affecting performance launched not only his career but ushered in a new kind of Hollywood leading man.

Greatest Moment: His “You’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?” face.

Also See: Ratso Rizzo (Midnight Cowboy), Lenny Bruce (Lenny), Carl Bernstein (All The President’s Men).