For his breakout role as disillusioned Ivy League graduate Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate (1967), then-unknown actor Dustin Hoffman (1937–) was paid $17,000—and promptly applied for unemployment insurance when filming wrapped.

“Every day is a rebirth,” he once said.

With a legendary soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel and Anne Bancroft as the unforgettable Mrs. Robinson, The Graduate satirized the generation gap and sexual revolution of the turbulent 60s.

“Don't you find me attractive, Benjamin?” Mrs. Robinson asked in her memorable seduction scene.

“Yes,” replied the naive hero, “You are the best-looking of all my parents’ friends.”

Bancroft was 36 at the time; Hoffman was 30. Charles Grodin was originally considered for the part but declined over salary issues. Robert Redford turned it down, unsure he could convincingly portray Benjamin’s innocence.

Hoffman believed he was entirely wrong for the part—too ethnic, too short, not conventionally handsome. But director Mike Nichols insisted. Reflecting on the film’s first New York screening, Nichols recalled, “For the last five minutes, the audience stood and screamed as if they were at a prize fight. They adored him. They identified with him.”

Hoffman earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination and went on to play Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy (1969)—earning $250,000 for the role.