Filed under: Cinematical
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***Stars in Rewind **is a feature that looks at what our favorite movie stars were doing before they were our favorite movie stars. You can find it here every other Monday.*
Veteran actor Dustin Hoffman has been a distinctive and perennially welcome persona in movies for the past 40-something years, most recently appearing as Ben Stiller’s dad in big-budget comedy ‘Little Fockers’](Little Fockers (2010) - Movie | Moviefone) and as Paul Giamatti’s father in the deeper dramedy ‘Barney’s Version.’](Barney's Version (2011) - Movie | Moviefone)
But once upon a time (the '60s), Mr. Hoffman was struggling like most young actors, and so he supplemented his undoubtedly meager income by appearing in a TV commercial. What’s interesting about this 1966 ad for Volkswagen is that it was made right before Hoffman shot to stardom in ‘The Graduate.’](The Graduate (1967) - Movie | Moviefone) His Volkwagen pitchman isn’t that far removed from the movie’s Benjamin Braddock character, which is to say, it’s classic Hoffman.