Before Success

Dustin Hoffman is an award-winning actor that’s recognizable everywhere. But here’s a story I just read about in Entertainment Weekly. After filming his breakout role for The Graduate, Hoffman returned to New York City and his former anonymous life. EW says “he survived for a few months on the $4,000 he had saved while working on the picture and then registered for unemployment, lining up on East 13th Street every week to pick up a $55 check while he looked for acting jobs.”

I love success stories like this. He said he had no idea whether his performance (which would earn him an Academy Award) worked or not. Just like any artist, he tried his best and then had no idea how the public would react. But, as we know now, the public liked him. A lot.