Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Bob Balaban, Jennifer Salt and Barnard Hughes. Set in New York City, Midnight Cowboy depicts the unlikely friendship between two lost and lonely hustlers: naïve prostitute Joe Buck (Voight) and ailing con man Rico Rizzo (Hoffman), referred to as "Ratso". Best Picture at the 42nd Academy Awards, April 7, 1970 — hosted by rowspan=3 at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. Most awards that night: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Wiki link Wiki link Poster: TMDB (this product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB).