52nd Annual Academy Awards

[accepting the Best Actor award]

Dustin Hoffman: I'm up here with mixed feelings. I've been critical of the Academy... and for reason. I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to be able to work. I *refuse* to believe I beat Jack Lemmon, that I beat Al Pacino, that I beat Peter Sellers. I refuse to believe that Robert Duvall lost. We are a part of an artistic family. There are sixty thousand actors in this Academy - excuse me, in the Screen Actors Guild, and probably a hundred thousand in Equity. And most actors don't work, and a few of us are so lucky to have a chance to work with writing and to work with directing. Because when you're a broke actor, you can't write, you can't paint, you have to practice accents while you're driving a taxicab. And to that artistic family that strives for excellence, none of you have ever lost, and I am proud to share this with you, and I thank you.