Dustin Lee Hoffman (born August 8, 1937) is an American actor, producer, director and singer-songwriter. 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 and later he would decide to go into acting where 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 in 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.
For Nickelodeon, he played the Critic in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.