Bernie Focker

Bernie is a lawyer who chose to stay home and raise his son. He welcomes the Byrneses to Miami with open arms, hugs, food and plenty of talk. He tells stories about his son that embarrass Greg. Dina gets along with him and Roz. Jack, on the other hand, can't stand his style. Bernie and Roz soon learn that Pam is pregnant, but promise not to tell Jack. It's Bernie who reveals to the guests a secret from his son's past, which becomes the center of the feud between the families.

Bernie hurts Jack's back in a touch football game, and the feud grows. His dog Moses is flushed down the RV toilet, and Bernie wrecks the toilet to rescue him. Later he and Greg chase Jack by car and all three end up arrested. In the cell Jack tells Bernie about his CIA career, and the hostility between them eases. When Greg and Bernie go after Jack, Officer Vern LeFlore stops them for speeding and arrests them with a Taser. Later Jack tries to defend them and is arrested too. A judge, a client of Roz's, frees all three.

In the third film, Bernie and Roz return for the grandchildren's birthday. Hoffman only returned after a long negotiation, and the part is much smaller. At Christmas Bernie announces he and Roz have sold their Miami home and will move to Chicago, two houses down from Greg and Pam. The return is low-key: Bernie and Roz appear at the twins' party, when Jack collapses after the fight with Greg, and are back at Christmas with news of the move. Compared with the previous film, the role is much smaller.

Dustin Hoffman only confirmed his return as Bernie in August 2010, after shooting wrapped, which forced the studio to film alternate scenes.