High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Midnight Cowboy is a 1969 American drama film based on the 1965 novel of the same name by James Leo Herlihy. It was written by Waldo Salt, directed by John Schlesinger, and stars Dustin Hoffman and then-newcomer Jon Voight in the title role. Notable smaller roles are filled by Sylvia Miles, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro, Bob Balaban, and Barnard Hughes, and the film also features an uncredited cameo by M. Emmet Walsh. The film won three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. In addition, it was the first X rated movie to win the Oscar: later, certain parts of the film were edited and it received an R rating, followed by the MPAA deciding to let the complete original print stay as is: the R rating for this film remains to this day.