50 Fun Facts About Rain Man

Who plays Charlie Babbitt?

Agents originally pictured Hoffman in Charlie's role, with Bill Murray as Raymond.

Who plays Raymond Babbitt?

He spent a year preparing and thanked three men in his Oscar speech.

Who directed Rain Man?

Spielberg had been attached for five months before leaving to make Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

Which real-life savant inspired the character of Raymond?

Writer Barry Morrow met him in Arlington, Texas, in 1984.

What is Charlie's business at the start of the film?

The EPA has impounded four cars for failing emissions tests, and his buyers want their deposits back.

To which city does Charlie travel to settle his father's estate?

Nine weeks of filming took place there and across Northern Kentucky.

What does Charlie inherit from his father, apart from some rosebushes?

The rest of the $3 million estate goes to a trustee for Raymond's care.

Roughly how large is Sanford Babbitt's estate?

Charlie later turns down $250,000 to walk away from Raymond.

Who plays Charlie's girlfriend Susanna?

Bonnie Hunt plays the waitress Sally Dibbs.

What is the name of Raymond's doctor at the institution?

He refuses Charlie's demand for half the estate and later offers him $250,000.

Why do the brothers drive to Los Angeles instead of flying?

He recites airline crash statistics, and considers only Qantas safe.

Which TV show must Raymond watch every day?

His routines also include being in bed by 11 p.m. and never travelling in the rain.

Why does Raymond object to travelling on the Interstate?

That, plus no travel in the rain, is why the trip takes so long.

Where does the name 'Rain Man' come from?

Charlie had remembered the Rain Man as an imaginary friend.

Why was Raymond sent to the institution as a child?

In fact Raymond had saved the infant Charlie from hot bathwater but could not explain himself.

Which Las Vegas casino do the brothers hit for blackjack?

They win $86,000 counting cards before the bosses ask them to leave.

How much does Charlie win in Las Vegas?

It covers the debts left when his Lamborghinis are repossessed.

How much does Dr. Bruner offer Charlie to walk away from Raymond?

Charlie refuses, saying he now wants a relationship with his brother, not the money.

How does the film end?

Charlie promises to visit in two weeks; an alternative ending was dropped by writer Barry Morrow.

Which real pair of brothers were considered for the two lead roles?

Mel Gibson and Mickey Rourke were also offered roles and declined.

Which comic actor did agents originally envision as Raymond, with Hoffman as Charlie?

CAA sent the script to both men with those roles in mind.

Which film did Steven Spielberg leave Rain Man to direct?

He later regretted the decision.

Which actor turned down the role of Raymond?

Mickey Rourke was offered a part too and also said no.

Which earlier Barry Morrow TV movie about his disabled friend fed into Raymond's character?

Morrow drew on his own friendship with Sackter for the Charlie-Raymond bond.

Where did Hoffman work when younger, giving him experience with disabled people before the role?

He also observed and mimicked Kim Peek before deciding Raymond should be autistic as well as savant.

Which industry walkout was under way during almost all of the filming?

Co-writer Ronald Bass delivered his last draft hours before it began and never visited the set.

Who composed the film's score?

It earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score.

Which band's version of 'Iko Iko' from the soundtrack was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award?

The soundtrack mixed pop songs with Zimmer's synthesizer score.

Which top prize did Rain Man win at the 1989 Berlin International Film Festival?

It went on to win four Oscars from eight nominations.

How many Academy Awards did Rain Man win?

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay.

Which of these Oscars did Rain Man NOT win?

It was nominated for the score, art direction, cinematography and editing without winning.

What was Rain Man's box-office distinction for 1988?

It made more than $172 million domestically on a $25 million budget.

Which film beat Rain Man to number one on its opening weekend?

Rain Man reached the top spot over the New Year weekend.

Which critic dismissed the film as 'a piece of wet kitsch'?

Ebert and Siskel each gave it three and a half stars out of four.

Which airline was the only one to show the flying scene uncut on its flights in 1989?

Raymond names it in the film as the only airline that has never crashed.

What misconception about US law is Rain Man credited with popularising?

Casinos can ask counters to leave, but counting is not a crime.

Which actors starred in the 2008 West End stage adaptation?

It played the Apollo Theatre; Stiller and Carvey had spoofed the film on SNL in 1989.

For how much did Hoffman's Buick Roadmaster from the film sell at auction in 2022?

He had kept the unmodified car for 34 years; Levinson took the camera car.

What unusual technique did Kim Peek use to get through books?

He could finish a book in about an hour and remember almost all of it.

Why is Barry Morrow's Oscar called 'the most loved Oscar statue'?

It has been held by more people than any other, and now sits on loan in Salt Lake City.

Which condition, rather than autism, did researchers later conclude Kim Peek had?

He was born with agenesis of the corpus callosum, the link between the brain's hemispheres.

Where was Kim Peek born, and where did he spend his life?

He earned $40 a week doing payrolls for the Salt Lake City School District.

Who co-wrote the Rain Man screenplay with Barry Morrow?

Morrow drew Raymond from two real men he knew, savant Kim Peek and his intellectually disabled friend Bill Sackter.

Besides Kim Peek, which intellectually disabled friend of Barry Morrow's helped shape Raymond Babbitt?

Morrow later said the film was less about Raymond's disability than about the brothers' relationship.

Roughly how many weeks of location filming took place in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky?

The desert scenes were shot near Palm Springs, California.

Under which label did MGM/UA release Rain Man in the US on December 16, 1988?

The premiere had come four days earlier at Loew's Astor Plaza in New York City.

Which studio executive green-lit Rain Man immediately after hearing Morrow's pitch?

Martin Brest, Steven Spielberg and Sydney Pollack were all attached as director at various points before Barry Levinson.

Whom did Hoffman thank first in his Oscar speech, the autistic brother of a Princeton football player he knew?

Hoffman spent a year preparing, seeking out autistic people and savants before playing Raymond.

Why did Morrow drop his original, different ending for Rain Man?

He chose instead to send Raymond back to the institution by train.

At what position did the American Film Institute place Rain Man on its 2006 list '100 Years...100 Cheers'?

The film is also credited with a surge in public awareness of autism, though its savant portrayal has been criticised as a stereotype.