Trivia: Owing to the film's success, many jurisdictions abolished the "tender years" doctrine in divorce law, which gave custodial preference to the mother.
Trivia: Meryl Streep won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role as Joanna Kramer, even though she only had 15 minutes of screen time.
Trivia: Dustin Hoffman is a notorious method actor. According to Meryl Streep, in one scene, Hoffman threw a wine glass at a wall near her. The glass shattered and got into her hair. Hoffman told the cameraman what would happen but not Streep. She told Hoffman to tell her next time before he did anything similar. Hoffman also frequently insulted Streep to get a better performance out of her.
Trivia: Justin Henry was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role as Billy Kramer. At the age of eight, Henry became the youngest person to be nominated for the award.
Trivia: The ice-cream scene in which Billy challenges his father by skipping dinner and going straight for dessert was completely improvised by both Dustin Hoffman and Justin Henry. Director Robert Benton liked the scene so much that he decided to keep it in the film.
Trivia: Kate Jackson was the first choice for the role of Joanna Kramer, but had to decline due to her commitment to "Charlie's Angels".
