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Basil Hoffman, who starred in the Academy Award-winning films The Artist and Ordinary People, has died. He was 83.
Hoffman died Friday, his longtime friend and personal manager Brad Lemack announced.
He had more than 200 acting credits across film, television and stage. He appeared as Sloan in Ordinary People (1980) and as an auctioneer in The Artist (2011). Both dramas won best picture at the Oscars. Hoffman also had roles in the films My Favorite Year (1982), The Last Word (2017), All the President’s Men (1976) and Rio, I Love You (2014). Some of his television credits include recurring roles on the 1980s series Hill Street Blues and Square Pegs.
He will appear posthumously as the lead in the upcoming feature Lucky Louie, now in postproduction.
Throughout his decades-long career, Hoffman worked with 14 Academy Award-winning actors including Dustin Hoffman, Liza Minnelli and Christopher Walken. He was also directed by Oscar-winning filmmakers Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg.
In between playing characters on screen, Hoffman worked as a coach and acting teacher. He wrote three books titled Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It, Acting and How to Be Good at It and Acting and How to Be Good at It: The Second Edition.
Born and raised in Houston, Hoffman attended Tulane University and graduated with a degree in economics. He eventually traveled to New York City to accomplish his dream of becoming an actor. In the Big Apple, he studied acting and trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He filmed commercials and small roles before moving to Los Angeles to land bigger parts.
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