Dustin HoffmanRaymond · 29 March 1989
Tom CruiseCharlie · 29 March 1989
Kim PeekThe real inspiration · 2007
The Roebling bridgeCincinnati · 2021
1988 · Cincinnati to Los Angeles, the long way
One brother will not fly, so two brothers drive a 1949 Buick Roadmaster west. Its front wings carry four chrome portholes; here each one looks out on a stretch of the road, and on the people who made the film.
1000 St. Anne Drive, Melbourne, Kentucky
St. Anne’s Convent stood in for Wallbrook, the care home where Raymond lives.
The film’s poster shows the two brothers on its long, oak-lined drive. Many of those oaks were cut down in December 2007 because of poor health and falling limbs.
It was built in 1919 by Howard McClorey, on Route 8 south-east of Cincinnati.
The home of the Congregation of Divine Providence, not a visitor attraction. See the building from St. Anne Drive and leave the grounds to the sisters.
For about a year before filming, Dustin Hoffman spent time with autistic people and their families, and with researchers in San Diego and at UCLA. The writer Barry Morrow had two real men in mind.
Hoffman studied autistic people, especially savants, for about a year before filming.
He consulted researchers in San Diego and at UCLA and met autistic people and their families.
Met Barry Morrow in 1984 at a meeting of the Association of Retarded Citizens in Arlington, Texas. Hoffman met him too, and borrowed some of his mannerisms.
Met Barry Morrow in 1984 at a meeting of the Association of Retarded Citizens in Arlington, Texas. Hoffman met him too, and borrowed some of his mannerisms.
Morrow’s close friend, the subject of his television film Bill (1981), and the second man behind Raymond.
Morrow’s close friend, the subject of his television film Bill (1981), and the second man behind Raymond.
An autistic man Hoffman thanked in his Oscar speech. His mother, Dr Ruth Sullivan, a founding president of the Autism Society of America, advised on the film.
An autistic man Hoffman thanked in his Oscar speech. His mother, Dr Ruth Sullivan, a founding president of the Autism Society of America, advised on the film.
An autistic man, brother of the Princeton footballer Kevin Guthrie, also thanked by Hoffman that night.
An autistic man, brother of the Princeton footballer Kevin Guthrie, also thanked by Hoffman that night.
Advisers named in the credits research
The AFI Catalog names six consultants on autistic behaviour, with their institutions.
Worth saying plainly. Raymond is one man, written as an autistic savant. Savant abilities are very rare among autistic people, and the film has been criticised for leading many viewers to think otherwise and for leaning on stereotypes.
The characterisation has been criticised for stereotypes, and for leading viewers to assume autistic people generally have savant abilities, a rare combination.
VentiPorts, 1949
The father’s car is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible. Buick put four chrome portholes on each front wing of the Roadmaster that year, and three on the cheaper Super and Special. Open one to look out on a stretch of the drive.
The car is a 1949 Buick Roadmaster convertible; two were used in filming.
Wikipedia: Rain ManAFI Catalog of Feature Films: Rain Man (1988)
Buick introduced VentiPorts in 1949: four on the Roadmaster’s front fenders, three on the Super and Special.
Porthole 1 of 4 open: Cincinnati and Kentucky, 8 places.
Porthole 1
The first four weeks of the shoot, from 2 May 1988.
The first four weeks of the shoot, from 2 May 1988.
1000 St. Anne Drive, Melbourne, Kentucky
St. Anne’s Convent stood in for Wallbrook, the care home where Raymond lives.
The film’s poster shows the two brothers on its long, oak-lined drive. Many of those oaks were cut down in December 2007 because of poor health and falling limbs.
It was built in 1919 by Howard McClorey, on Route 8 south-east of Cincinnati.
The home of the Congregation of Divine Providence, not a visitor attraction. See the building from St. Anne Drive and leave the grounds to the sisters.
Fourth Street at Walnut Street, Cincinnati
The lobby was dressed as a bank, the “Cincinnati Trust”, where Charlie learns where his father’s money has gone. There were no banks in the building at the time.
It was completed in 1921 as a streetcar terminal, with a long arcade lined with shops. Buses stopped using it in 1998.
An office building with shops. Its arcade runs through from Fourth Street.
25 Alexandria Pike, Southgate, Kentucky
The father’s funeral was filmed in 1988 on open grass between the Smalley monument and a stone angel.
The Smalley monument and the angel are real and still stand; Rolf Monuments of Newport made the other headstones in the scene out of Styrofoam.
A working cemetery. Visit quietly and give way to any funeral.
400 Oak Street at Burnet Avenue, Avondale, Cincinnati
The brothers spend their first night away from Wallbrook here. Only the hotel’s outside was used; the rooms were a set built at WCET’s studios.
The hotel closed in March 2009 and the building became Cincinnati Children’s Hospital offices.
Now offices for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. See the front from Oak Street.
Between Cincinnati and Covington, over the Ohio
The 1949 Buick convertible crosses it in a driving scene.
It opened to traffic on 1 January 1867, then the longest suspension bridge in the world, and reopened in November 2021 after nine months of repairs.
Walk across from the Cincinnati riverfront to Covington; the Dixie Terminal is a few minutes away.
600 Washington Avenue, Newport, Kentucky
Charlie rings Dr Bruner from the restaurant’s pay phone; Bonnie Hunt plays the waitress.
The decor has changed, but the floor tiles and the pay phone are still there.
Still an Italian restaurant. Check its hours before you go.
Hebron, Kentucky
Raymond will not board the plane: he knows the airlines’ crash records, and the brothers decide to drive.
The airport scenes were filmed in Terminal 2, with Raymond sitting under Winold Reiss’s mural of the American Laundry Machinery works.
A working airport. Terminal 2, where the scenes were filmed, is closed to the public.
Beech Crest Lane, off Madison Road, East Walnut Hills, Cincinnati · private, not mapped
Charlie’s childhood home is a Tudor-style house on Beech Crest Lane, off Madison Road.
WCPO lists the house among the Cincinnati shooting locations.
A private home. It is named here and not mapped; please leave the people who live there alone.
El Reno, Oklahoma, signed as Amarillo
“Rain Man” was how Charlie, as a very small boy, said “Raymond”. He grew up remembering an imaginary friend. Slide the name back to where it came from.
Rain Man was Charlie’s infant way of saying Raymond; he remembered the Rain Man as an imaginary friend, who was really his brother.
Raymond, as his brother says it now.
The two in-between spellings are drawn for this page; the film gives only Raymond and Rain Man.
East Highway 66 (old Route 66), El Reno, Oklahoma
The road-trip motel scene was filmed at El Reno’s Big 8 Motel, though its sign reads “Amarillo’s Finest”.
It is here that Charlie realises Raymond is the Rain Man. The film’s sign was kept after the shoot.
The motel later became the DeLuxe Inn and has since been demolished.
The motel has gone. El Reno’s old Route 66 runs past where it stood.
Salt Lake City, 1951–2009
Kim Peek was born in Salt Lake City in 1951. Barry Morrow met him in 1984 in Arlington, Texas, and built Raymond partly on him. Peek was not autistic; he is now thought to have had FG syndrome, a rare genetic condition. He toured schools and halls with his father, Fran, who looked after him.
Born 11 November 1951 in Salt Lake City; died 19 December 2009 in Murray, Utah. Thought to have had FG syndrome. Toured with his father Fran, his carer.
Morrow met Peek in 1984 in Arlington, Texas; Peek was not autistic; Morrow used him as the basis for Raymond.
Morrow’s Oscar for the screenplay, on his own shelf.
Morrow gave Peek his statuette to carry at appearances; it became known as the Most Loved Oscar. After Peek’s death Morrow put it on permanent loan to Salt Lake City, and funds the Peek Award.
Main Library, 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City
Kim Peek spent a great deal of his time reading at the Salt Lake City library.
The Main Library, by Moshe Safdie, opened on 8 February 2003, with a roof garden and a five-storey atrium.
Free and open to all; the roof garden is at the top.
29 March 1989
Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise were photographed at the Shrine on the night itself. No free photographs of Barry Levinson or Valeria Golino from 1988 have turned up, so theirs say when they were taken.
Eight nominations and four Oscars: Picture, Director, Actor and Original Screenplay; the Golden Bear at Berlin; a $25 million budget; the highest-grossing film of 1988.
665 West Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles
The 61st Academy Awards were held here on 29 March 1989. Rain Man had eight nominations and won four, including Best Picture.
The Shrine opened in 1926 and has held the Oscars ten times.
A working concert hall. See the domed front from Jefferson Boulevard.
15 places you can visit or see from the street, from a Kentucky convent to a Salt Lake City library. The Babbitt house is private and the Big 8 Motel has gone, so neither is on the map.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The home of the Congregation of Divine Providence, not a visitor attraction. See the building from St. Anne Drive and leave the grounds to the sisters.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An office building with shops. Its arcade runs through from Fourth Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working cemetery. Visit quietly and give way to any funeral.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Now offices for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. See the front from Oak Street.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Walk across from the Cincinnati riverfront to Covington; the Dixie Terminal is a few minutes away.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Still an Italian restaurant. Check its hours before you go.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: area · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working airport. Terminal 2, where the scenes were filmed, is closed to the public.
1000 St. Anne Drive, Melbourne, Kentucky
St. Anne’s Convent stood in for Wallbrook, the care home where Raymond lives.
The home of the Congregation of Divine Providence, not a visitor attraction. See the building from St. Anne Drive and leave the grounds to the sisters.
Fourth Street at Walnut Street, Cincinnati
The lobby was dressed as a bank, the “Cincinnati Trust”, where Charlie learns where his father’s money has gone. There were no banks in the building at the time.
An office building with shops. Its arcade runs through from Fourth Street.
25 Alexandria Pike, Southgate, Kentucky
The father’s funeral was filmed in 1988 on open grass between the Smalley monument and a stone angel.
A working cemetery. Visit quietly and give way to any funeral.
400 Oak Street at Burnet Avenue, Avondale, Cincinnati
The brothers spend their first night away from Wallbrook here. Only the hotel’s outside was used; the rooms were a set built at WCET’s studios.
Now offices for Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. See the front from Oak Street.
Between Cincinnati and Covington, over the Ohio
The 1949 Buick convertible crosses it in a driving scene.
Walk across from the Cincinnati riverfront to Covington; the Dixie Terminal is a few minutes away.
600 Washington Avenue, Newport, Kentucky
Charlie rings Dr Bruner from the restaurant’s pay phone; Bonnie Hunt plays the waitress.
Still an Italian restaurant. Check its hours before you go.
Hebron, Kentucky
Raymond will not board the plane: he knows the airlines’ crash records, and the brothers decide to drive.
A working airport. Terminal 2, where the scenes were filmed, is closed to the public.
Stay
Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and the Bonaventure in Los Angeles, both still working hotels.
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas
The Strip resort where the Las Vegas scenes were filmed, open since August 1966 and much enlarged since 1988. Book a room with the resort directly; the casino floor is not why you are here.
See the resort404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles
John Portman’s glass towers in downtown Los Angeles, where Dr Bruner makes Charlie his offer by the pool.
See the hotelGo there
Marketplace walking and film-location tours; none is built round this film.
Cincinnati
Live marketplace results for walking and river tours of Cincinnati and Covington. None is built round Rain Man; look for ones that cross the Roebling bridge or pass Fourth Street.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursLos Angeles
Live marketplace results for film-location tours of Los Angeles. None is built round this film; check each itinerary for Hollywood and downtown.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursWhat’s on
The 99th Academy Awards in March 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
An original 1988 one-sheet from our poster store, the soundtrack, and books by Fran Peek and Darold Treffert.
An original 1988 American one-sheet, 27 × 41 inches. Rolled, mint.
In stock
View posterHans Zimmer and various artists · CD, Capitol Records (US), 1989
The 1989 American soundtrack album on Capitol.
Live marketplace search · listings and condition change
Find a copyFran Peek
Kim Peek’s father on his son’s life, first published in 1997.
Find the bookDarold A. Treffert · Jessica Kingsley Publishers
By the psychiatrist who advised on the film, published in 2010.
Find the bookDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
17 of 17 places · 17 of 17 Moments
1000 St. Anne Drive, Melbourne, Kentucky
St. Anne’s Convent plays Wallbrook, where Raymond lives.
Fourth Street at Walnut Street, Cincinnati
Charlie learns at the “bank” where his father’s money has gone.
25 Alexandria Pike, Southgate, Kentucky
The father’s funeral, between a real monument and a real angel.
400 Oak Street at Burnet Avenue, Avondale, Cincinnati
The brothers’ first night away from Wallbrook.
Between Cincinnati and Covington, over the Ohio
The Buick crosses the river.
600 Washington Avenue, Newport, Kentucky
Charlie rings Dr Bruner from the restaurant’s pay phone.
Hebron, Kentucky
Raymond will not fly, so the brothers drive.
Beech Crest Lane, off Madison Road, East Walnut Hills, Cincinnati
The Babbitt family house in East Walnut Hills.
East Highway 66 (old Route 66), El Reno, Oklahoma
In a motel signed “Amarillo’s Finest”, Charlie realises his brother is the Rain Man he remembers.
Cogar, Caddo County, Oklahoma
Charlie makes a call from a country gas station.
Oklahoma Avenue at Division Street, Guthrie, Oklahoma
Charlie takes Raymond to a doctor.
3570 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas
The Las Vegas scenes, the dancing among them.
404 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles
Dr Bruner makes Charlie an offer by the pool.
1824 North Curson Avenue, Hollywood
The meeting about who should look after Raymond.
1000 East Santa Ana Boulevard, Santa Ana
Raymond leaves by train in the last scene.
665 West Jefferson Boulevard, Los Angeles
Four Oscars from eight nominations, including Best Picture.
Main Library, 210 East 400 South, Salt Lake City
Kim Peek, the man who inspired Raymond, reads at the Salt Lake City library.
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
.jpg){kind=link}
