John Goodman

Biography

Education

Goodman went to Affton High School. He won an athletics scholarship to play football at Missouri State University as a teenager, but subsequently decided to become an actor, leaving Missouri for New York in 1975. He then appeared on stage off-Broadway, in dinner theatres and on TV advertisements before playing character parts in movies in the early 1980s.

Acting career

Goodman is best known for comic roles, including Roseanne Barr's husband in the TV sitcom Roseanne, the voice of Sulley in Monsters, Inc., and Fred Flintstone in the movie The Flintstones. He has appeared in many roles in movies by The Coen Brothers. Goodman is frequently cast as blue-collar characters and/or as the main character's sidekick, for example in Sea of Love, as Al Pacino's police partner, in The Big Lebowski as Walter Sobchak, Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski's best friend, and Fallen, as police partner to Denzel Washington. Standing 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and weighing nearly 400 lb (180 kg), Goodman had to lose weight in order to play Babe Ruth in the 1992 movie The Babe.

In 2000, Goodman had his own short-lived sitcom called Normal, Ohio, in which he played a gay man who returns to his small hometown to start a new life. Viewers did not respond well and critics panned the show. In 2004, he starred alongside Jean Smart in the CBS sitcom Center of the Universe; it, too, was critically panned and quickly cancelled.

John Goodman has a long history of appearances on latenight comedy shows, being the first guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and receiving the "First Guest Medal". (Goodman promised he would pawn off the medal for a bottle of cheap scotch.) The actor has also been one of the most popular guest hosts on NBC's Saturday Night Live having hosted the show twelve times (he had auditioned to be a castmember for Jean Doumanian's 1980-1981 season, but was rejected). Goodman also had a recurring role on Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing, as fictional former House Speaker Glen Allen Walken, briefly serving as Acting President when President of the United States Josiah Bartlet yielded power temporarily under the terms of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution. He recently played a judge on Sorkin's newest show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. He also played someone who unexpectedly became a head of state in the film King Ralph, after the royal family of the United Kingdom dies in a freak electrical accident.

Goodman replaced John Belushi (Jake Blues) as Dan Aykroyd's partner in the latter's popular Blues Brothers Band. He first appeared as "Mighty" Mack Blues on Saturday Night Live on March 25, 1995 and went on to star in the film Blues Brothers 2000. He continued to perform alongside Aykroyd (Elwood Blues) and Jim Belushi (Zee Blues) through 2001. Soon after that, health problems forced him to shelve the character.

Starting in mid-2006, Goodman has lent his voice to ads for Dunkin' Donuts.

Personal life

Goodman has been married to Annabeth Hartzog since 1989, and together they live in New Orleans. They share one child, daughter Molly Evangeline (born August 31, 1990). With his friend Kevin O'Leary, Goodman co-owns a St. Louis bar and grill named O'Leary's. The bar features memorabilia of the actor. Goodman also is one of the investors of KTRS radio in St. Louis.

Filmography

Madagascar 2 (2008) (voice) as Boom the Rhino

Kung Fu Panda (2008) (voice) as Japaness Fu Chicken

Bee Movie (2007) (voice) as Montgomery

Evan Almighty (2007) as Congressman Long

The Year Without a Santa Claus (2006) (TV) as Santa Claus

Drunkboat (2006) as Mr. Fletcher

Cars (2006) as Monster Truck Sulley (cameo - voice)

Kronk's New Groove (2005) (voice) as Pacha

Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (2005)

Futurama (voice) as the Evil Robot Santa Claus

Center of the Universe (2004) TV Series

Beyond the Sea (2004)

Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004) (voice) as George Wolfsbottom

Home of Phobia (2004) as Rodney

Father of the Pride (2004) TV Series (voice) as Larry the Lion

"The West Wing" (2003-2004) TV Series, Speaker of the House, Acting President, Former President Glen Allen Walken

The Jungle Book 2 (2003) (voice) as Baloo

Masked and Anonymous (2003) as Uncle Sweetheart

Dirty Deeds (2002) as Tony

Mike's New Car (2002) (V) (voice) as Sulley

Monsters, Inc. (2001) (voice) as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan

On the Edge (2001/II) (TV) as The Dean (segment "Happy Birthday")

Storytelling (2001) as Marty Livingston ('Non-fiction')

One Night at McCool's (2001) as Detective Dehling

My First Mister (2001) as Benjamin Wilson

Happy Birthday (2000/I) as The Dean

The Emperor's New Groove (2000) (voice) as Pacha

Saturday Night Live: Best of the Clinton Scandal (2000) (TV) as Linda Tripp

Normal, Ohio (2000) TV Series as William 'Butch' Gamble/Rex Gamble (original pilot)

Pigs Next Door (2000) TV Series (voice)

Coyote Ugly (2000) as Bill

The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) as Oklahoma Cop

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) as Big Dan Teague

What Planet Are You From? (2000) as Roland Jones

The Runner (1999) as Deepthroat

Bringing Out the Dead (1999) as Larry Verber

John Goodman on the red carpet at the Emmys, September 11, 1994

Now and Again (1999) TV Series playing the original Michael Wiseman in two episodes.

The Jack Bull (1999) (TV) as Judge Tolliver

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (1998) (V) (voice) as Santa Claus

The Real Macaw (1998) (voice) as Voice of Mac

Dirty Work (1998) (uncredited) as Adrian Riggins the Mayor

The Big Lebowski (1998) as Walter Sobchak

Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) as Mighty Mack McTeer

Fallen (1998) as Jonesy

The Borrowers (1997) as Ocious P. Potter

Pyst (1996) (VG) as King Mattruss

Mother Night (1996) as Maj. Frank Wirtanen

Pie in the Sky (1996) as Alan Davenport

A Streetcar Named Desire (1995) (TV) as Harold 'Mitch' Mitchell

The Flintstones (1995) as Fred Flintstone

Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995) (TV) as Huey Long

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) (as Karl Mundt) as Rockwell Newsreel Announcer

We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993) (voice) as Rex

Born Yesterday (1993) as Harry Brock

Matinee (1993) as Lawrence Woolsey

Frosty Returns (1992) (TV) (voice) as Frosty the Snowman

The Babe (1992) as George Herman 'Babe' Ruth

Barton Fink (1991) as Charlie Meadows

King Ralph (1991) as Ralph Jones

Arachnophobia (1990) as Delbert McClintock

Stella (1990) as Ed Munn

Always (1989) as Al Yackey

Sea of Love (1989) as Det. Sherman

Everybody's All-American (1988) as Lawrence

Roseanne (1988 - 1997) TV Series as Daniel 'Dan' Conner

Punchline (1988) as John Krytsick

John Goodman and Jerry Seinfeld at the 45th Emmy Awards Governor's Ball, September 19, 1993

The Wrong Guys (1988) as Duke Earle

Murder Ordained (1987) (TV) as Hugh Rayburn

The Big Easy (1987) as Det. Andre DeSoto

Burglar (1987) as Detective Nyswander

Raising Arizona (1987) as Gale

True Stories (1986) as Louis Fyne

Sweet Dreams (1985) as Otis

Maria's Lovers (1984) as Frank

C.H.U.D. (1984) as Cop in Diner

Revenge of the Nerds (1984) as Coach Harris

Heart of Steel (1983) (TV) as Raymond Bohupinsky

Chiefs (1983) (mini) TV Series as Newt 'Tub' Murray

Eddie Macon's Run (1983) as Hebert

The Survivors (1983) as Commando

The Face of Rage (1983) (TV) as Fred

Jailbait Babysitter (1978)

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