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Tootsie
original film poster
Directed by	Sydney Pollack
Produced by	Sydney Pollack Dick Richards
Written by	Larry Gelbart Barry Levinson (uncredited) Elaine May (uncredited) Murray Schisgal from the story by Larry Gelbart and Don McGuire
Starring	Dustin Hoffman Jessica Lange Teri Garr Dabney Coleman Charles Durning
Music by	Dave Grusin Songs by Stephen Bishop Lyrics by Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 17, 1982
Running time	119 min
Language	English
IMDb profile

Tootsie is a 1982 comedy film, which tells the story of a talented, but volatile actor whose reputation for being difficult makes him unemployable. In desperation, he goes to extraordinary lengths to land a job. It stars Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Lange, Teri Garr, Dabney Coleman, Charles Durning, Bill Murray, Sydney Pollack, George Gaynes, Lynne Thigpen, and Geena Davis.

The movie was adapted by Larry Gelbart, Barry Levinson (uncredited), Elaine May (uncredited) and Murray Schisgal from the story by Gelbart and Don McGuire. It was directed by Pollack. Rated PG for sexual references and coarse language.

In 1998 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry. Additionally, it was listed as #62 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years, 100 Movies" [1] and #2 on its "100 Years, 100 Laughs." [2] This film is number 82 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Academy Awards 3 Trivia 4 See also 5 External link

Michael Dorsey (Hoffman) is a respected and perfectionist actor on the verge of turning forty. Nobody in New York wants to hire him anymore because, due to his antagonizing creative differences, he is so difficult to work with. Not having worked in four months, he eventually hears of an opening in a soap opera set in a hospital from his friend Sandy Lester (Garr), who initially tries out for the role but doesn't get it. In desperation, he cross-dresses, auditions as 'Dorothy Michaels' and eventually gets the part.

Michael thinks it is just a temporary job to pay the bills, but he proves to be so popular as a feisty hospital administrator that, to his dismay, the producers sign him up to a long-term contract. Dorothy is such a hit that she is even featured on the covers of a number of well-known magazines.

Complicating things even further, he is strongly attracted to one of his co-stars, Julie Nichols (Lange). She is already in an unhealthy relationship with the amoral, sexist director, Ron Carlisle (Coleman). When Michael (at a party, out of his Dorothy guise) pitches a line to Julie that she previously told Dorothy she'd be thrilled to receive, she throws a drink in his face. Yet when he makes tentative advances (as Dorothy), Julie is shocked to think Dorothy might be a lesbian, and later tells "her" that she likes her, but not in a romantic way. This complicates things so that Michael (as himself) cannot even attempt to pursue a relationship with her. Meanwhile, Dorothy has her own admirers to contend with, an older male cast member, John Van Horn (Gaynes), and Julie's widowed father, Les (Durning). Michael's roommate, writer Jeff Slater (Murray), and his agent, George Fields (Pollack), are in on the masquerade and watch in amazement as the situation barrels out of control.

Michael finds an clever way to extricate himself. In a scene on the soap they are forced to perform live, he unmasks himself, revealing that he is actually the character's evil twin brother, who took her place to avenge her, just the sort of weird plot twist for which soaps are noted. This gives everybody a more-or-less graceful way out. Julie is so shocked and outraged, she slugs him in the stomach (after the cameras are turned off). Some weeks later Michael waits for her outside the studio and and he touchingly confesses that "...I was a better man with you as a woman than I ever was with a woman as a man." and she eventually forgives him.

Award	Person
Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Jessica Lange
Nominated:
Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Teri Garr
Best Actor	Dustin Hoffman
Best Director	Sydney Pollack
Best Cinematography	Owen Roizman
Best Editing	Fredric Steinkamp William Steinkamp
Best Original Song (It Might Be You)	Dave Grusin Alan Bergman Marilyn Bergman
Best Picture	Sydney Pollack Dick Richards
Best Sound	Arthur Piantadosi Les Fresholtz Rick Alexander (as Dick Alexander) Les Lazarowitz
Best Original Screenplay	Larry Gelbart Murray Schisgal Don McGuire

• The idea of having director Sydney Pollack playing Hoffman's agent George Fields was Hoffman's. He wasn't originally supposed to play the role and initially resisted the idea, but Hoffman eventually convinced him to do the role.

• Scenes in the New York City restaurant Russian Tea Room were filmed in the actual restaurant.

• Kathy Whitmire, who was the mayor of Houston when the film was released, was often said to bear an uncanny resemblance to Hoffman's character. This later led Whitmire to appear on an episode of "I Love the 80s" on VH1.

• Cross-dressing in film and television
• List of Films about Television

• Tootsie at the Internet Movie Database