Basil Hoffman

Career timeline

1. 1938 · Born

   Born in Houston, Texas, USA

2. 1971 · Screen debut

   Columbo (TV)

3. 1977 · Breakthrough

   Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Movie)

4. 2021 · Died

   September 17, 2021

5. 2023 · Latest release

   Discovering Ella (Movie)

Career in numbers

23 1970s

23 1980s

11 1990s

3 2000s

12 2010s

3 2020s

• Drama39
• Comedy35
• Crime15
• Mystery12
• Tv Movie11
• Romance10

Highest-rated title The West Wing 1999 8.3 Most popular title Seinfeld 1989 8.2

Frequent collaborators

People who appear most often alongside Basil Hoffman in our catalogue.

Robert Walden

3 titles together

J. Michael Straczynski

2 titles together

Jane Fonda

2 titles together

Steven Spielberg

2 titles together

Patrick Williams

2 titles together

Jason Robards

2 titles together

Tony Mordente

2 titles together

Thomas Carter

2 titles together

Michael Richards

2 titles together

1. 2023 Discovering Ella as Bob Stephens Movie
2. 2023 Lucky Louie as Wilbert Moser Movie
3. 2022 Third Act as Uncle Paul Movie
4. 2019 Mr. Roberts as Mr. Roberts Movie
5. 2017 The Last Word as Christopher Georrge 6.6 Movie
6. 2017 Mommy I Didn't Do It as Otis Pell 5.9 Movie
7. 2016 The Pineville Heist as Principal Parker Movie
8. 2016 Hail, Caesar! as Stu Schwartz (Accounting) 5.9 Movie
9. 2015 The French American as Monsieur Tissot Movie
10. 2014 Throwdown as Judge Eller Movie
11. 2014 Rio, I Love You as James 4.8 Movie
12. 2013 3 Geezers! as Victor 3.9 Movie
13. 2011 Surreal Estate as Mr. Black Movie
14. 2011 The Artist as Auctioneer 7.4 Movie
15. 2010 When Life Gives You Lemons as Calvin Adams Movie
16. 2009 The Box as Don Poates 5.6 Movie
17. 2003 Down with Love as C. W. (uncredited) 6.1 Movie
18. 2002 For the People as Judge Olsen TV
19. 1999 Hefner: Unauthorized as Lawyer Movie
20. 1999 The West Wing as Congressman 8.3 TV
21. 1997 Culture as Editor Movie
22. 1997 The Practice as Tucker's Atty. Art Hardiman (uncredited) 7.6 TV
23. 1996 Kindred: The Embraced as Charon the Coroner 7.1 TV
24. 1993 The Elvira Show as Dr. Marvin Zislis Movie
25. 1992 The Ice Runner as J.C. Kruck Movie
26. 1991 Eerie, Indiana as Bert (uncredited) 7.5 TV
27. 1991 Mimi & Me as Professor Sauer Movie
28. 1991 Switch as Higgins 5.9 Movie
29. 1990 Lambada as Superintendent Leland 5.5 Movie
30. 1989 Communion as Dr. Friedman 5.4 Movie
31. 1989 Seinfeld as Wig Salesman 8.2 TV
32. 1988 The Milagro Beanfield War as In the Governor's Office 6.6 Movie
33. 1987 Beauty and the Beast as Trask 7.5 TV
34. 1986 Sledge Hammer! as Sam Steinway 8.0 TV
35. 1986 Matlock as Gary Springer 7.0 TV
36. 1985 The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Dr. Michaels 7.2 TV
37. 1985 The Twilight Zone as Mr. Steward (segment "Button, Button") 7.7 TV
38. 1984 The Ratings Game as Frank Friedlander 5.7 Movie
39. 1984 Murder, She Wrote as Milton Overguard 7.5 TV
40. 1984 All of Me as Court Clerk 6.5 Movie
41. 1984 Kidco as Sid Fein Movie
42. 1984 Welcome Home, Jellybean as Mr. Rasmussen Movie
43. 1984 Night Court as Duane Sedgwick 7.3 TV
44. 1983 Ace Crawford, Private Eye as Gentleman Bandit TV
45. 1982 Games Mother Never Taught You as Dwayne Hilson Movie
46. 1982 My Favorite Year as Herb Lee 6.6 Movie
47. 1982 Night Shift as Drollhauser 6.1 Movie
48. 1981 Falcon Crest as Reverend Mustafa 5.6 TV
49. 1981 Maggie as Dr. Louis Milton TV
50. 1981 Hill Street Blues as Ed Greenglass (archive footage) (uncredited) 7.6 TV
51. 1980 Scout's Honor as Alexander Movie
52. 1980 Ordinary People as Sloan 7.5 Movie
53. 1979 The Electric Horseman as Toland 6.1 Movie
54. 1979 Out of the Blue as Herman Donaldson TV
55. 1979 Love at First Bite as Hotel Manager (uncredited) 6.1 Movie
56. 1979 Jennifer: A Woman’s Story as Neil Turner Movie
57. 1978 Comes a Horseman as George Bascomb 6.0 Movie
58. 1978 Love’s Dark Ride as Dr. Kanlan Movie
59. 1977 Close Encounters of the Third Kind as Longly (uncredited) 7.4 Movie
60. 1977 American Raspberry as Presidential Adviser Movie
61. 1976 All the President's Men as Assistant Metro Editor 7.7 Movie
62. 1976 America on Parade Movie
63. 1975 Ellery Queen as Technical Print Man, Harry 7.5 TV
64. 1975 Ellery Queen: Too Many Suspects as Fingerprint Expert Movie
65. 1975 Cage Without a Key as Judge Movie
66. 1975 At Long Last Love as Movie Theatre Manager 5.1 Movie
67. 1975 Barney Miller as Allen Korbel 7.4 TV
68. 1974 The Great Ice Rip-Off as Richards Movie
69. 1974 The Rockford Files as Desk Clerk (uncredited) 7.6 TV
70. 1973 Kojak as Charlie Winston 7.3 TV
71. 1972 M*A*S*H as Major Pfiefer 8.0 TV
72. 1972 The Waltons as Prof Ranney 7.1 TV
73. 1972 Sanford and Son as Store Owner 7.5 TV
74. 1971 Lady Liberty as Willett (uncredited) 5.5 Movie
75. 1971 Columbo as Jason Danziger 8.1 TV

Quick facts