He then studied at Actors Studio and became a dedicated method actor. In 1960 Hoffman was cast in a role in an Off-Broadway production and followed with a bit part in a Broadway production, "A Cook for Mr. General" (1961). In 1962, appeared in Rabbit Run Theatre's summer stock production of "Write Me A Murder" in Madison, Ohio and served as an assistant director to Ulu Grosbard on "The Days and Nights of Beebee Fenstermaker" at Off-Broadway's Sheridan Square Playhouse. In 1964, Hoffman appeared in "Three Men on a Horse" at Princeton's McCarter Theatre and in 1965, in Off-Broadway's "Harry, Noon and Night" with Joel Grey. Grosbard and Hoffman reunited for a 1965 recording of "Death of a Salesman" starring Lee J. Cobb and Mildred Dunnock, with Hoffman playing Bernard. He assistant directed Grosbard's 1965 Off-Broadway production of "A View from the Bridge" starring Robert Duvall and Jon Voight and in late 1965, stage managed and appeared in Grosbard's "The Subject Was Roses" on Broadway. Hoffman's "sharply outlined and vividly colored" performance in Off-Broadway's "The Journey of the Fifth Horse" in April 1966 was followed by another critical success in the play "Eh?", by Henry Livings, which had its U.S. premiere at the Circle in the Square Downtown on October 16, 1966. Sidney W. Pink, a producer and 3D-movie pioneer, discovered Hoffman in one of his off-Broadway roles and cast him in "Madigan's Millions". Through the early and mid-1960s, Hoffman made appearances in television shows and movies, including "Naked City", "The Defenders" and "Hallmark Hall of Fame".