In 1984, [[screenwriter]] [[Barry Morrow]] met Peek in [[Arlington, Texas]]; the result of the meeting was the 1988 [[Academy Award]]-winning film ''[[Rain Man]]''. The character of Raymond Babbitt, although inspired by Peek, was depicted as being an individual with [[autism]]. [[Dustin Hoffman]], who portrayed Babbitt in the film, met Peek and other individuals that displayed savant mannerisms, tostudying gettheir ancharacteristics understandingand ofnature thesein individual's characteristics; nature andorder to play the role as accurately and [[method acting|methodically]] as possible. The movie led to a number of requests for appearances, which increased Peek's self-confidence. Barry Morrow gave Peek his [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] statuette to carry with him and show at these appearances; it has since been referred to as the "Most Loved Oscar Statue"<ref name="nytimesobit">{{cite news|last=Weber|first=Bruce|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/27/us/27peek.html|title=Kim Peek, Inspiration for 'Rain Man,' Dies at 58|work=The New York Times|date=December 27, 2009}}</ref> because it has been held by more people than any other. Peek also enjoyed approaching strangers and showing them his talent for [[calendar calculation]]s by telling them on which day of the week they were born and what news items were on the front page of major newspapers that day. Peek also appeared on television. He traveled with his father, who took care of him and performed many motor tasks that Peek found difficult.<ref name="wms"/>
