Meet Dustin Hoffman's forgotten first wife – the ballerina who fell for him when he was waiting tables and washing dishes

Before becoming a star, Dustin spent a decade struggling to make it as an actor in New York, working odd jobs as a caretaker, waiter and dishwasher to pay rent and continue auditioning for roles. 

He met his first wife, Anne, while living in shared apartments with other struggling actors, including Robert Duvall. Famously, he even slept on Gene Hackman's kitchen floor for three weeks, after promising he'd only stay for three days. 

Reflecting on this time as a struggling actor in a 2009 interview with AARP The Magazine, he said: "I was certainly comfortable living as an actor hanging out with people that were also unemployed and struggling."

Dustin met dancer and aspiring actress, Anne, in 1963 when Dustin's then roommate and opera singer, Maurice Stern, took the ballerina on a date to The Improvisation, a club where Dustin played the piano. 

In a 2004 interview with Vanity Fair, Dustin said: "She was my fantasy girl. The unattainable." 

The pair were introduced and immediately hit it off, spending time reading poetry and visiting art galleries together. Soon after they met, Dustin even bet Robert Duvall $100 that he'd one day marry Anne.

Prior to his breakthrough role in The Graduate, while Dustin was still trying to make it as an actor, Anne had already begun to establish herself as a ballet dancer, performing as part of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company and studying at the American Ballet Theater in New York.

Dustin finally landed his big break as Benjamin Braddock in The Graduate in 1967 and has described the breakthrough role in Mike Nichols' film as a "freak accident".

But while the role changed his life and kickstarted his acting career, it didn't offer him immediate financial security. In fact, after agent fees and living costs, Dustin only pocketed around $4,000 and was even spotted claiming unemployment benefits until the film's premiere. 

When the film premiered, Anne accompanied Dustin to the red carpet at the Coronet Theatre in New York in what was one of his first public appearances.

The couple married in 1969, six years after first meeting and two years after Dustin's breakthrough role on The Graduate. 

Soon after, Dustin adopted Karina, Anne's daughter from a previous relationship. The couple later had their daughter, Jenna, in 1970. During this time, Anne took a step back from her performing career in order to raise their young family. 

After eleven years of marriage, the pair divorced in 1980. 

According to Time magazine, the marriage began to unfurl in 1977 while Dustin was filming Straight Time in Los Angeles. The actor had asked his wife to leave New York and join him in LA, but Anne chose to stay in New York as her own dancing career was beginning to take off again.  

Just six days after his divorce from Anne was finalised, Dustin married Lisa Gottsegen, a 25-year-old Psychology graduate. Dustin and Lisa remain married and have four children together.  

Anne later married actor and producer Ivan Kronenfeld in a marriage that lasted until his death in 2018.