His breakthrough role was as Benjamin Braddock in Mike Nichols' critically acclaimed and iconic film "The Graduate" (1967), for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. His next role was "Ratso" Rizzo in John Schlesinger's "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), in which he acted alongside Jon Voight; they both received Oscar nominations, and the film went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. He gained success in the 1970s playing roles that shaped the craft of his acting, crossing genres effortlessly in the western "Little Big Man" (1971), the prison drama "Papillon" (1973), playing a controversial and groundbreaking comedian in Bob Fosse's "Lenny" (1975), "Marathon Man" alongside Laurence Olivier (1976), and as Carl Bernstein investigating the Watergate scandal in "All the President's Men" (1976). In 1979, Hoffman starred in the family drama "Kramer vs. Kramer" alongside Meryl Streep. They both received Academy Awards for their performances.