John Goodman

Early life

Goodman was born in Affton, Missouri. His father, Leslie Francis Goodman, was a postal worker who died of a heart attack when Goodman was two years old; his mother, Virginia Roos (née Loosmore), was a waitress at Jack and Phil's Bar-B-Que, a retail store associate, and took in laundry to support the family. Goodman has a sister named Elisabeth and a brother named Leslie. He is of English, German, and Welsh ancestry.

Goodman went to Affton High School, where he played football and dabbled in theater. He earned a football scholarship to Missouri State University (then-called Southwest Missouri State University, or, "SMS") in Springfield, Missouri. He pledged to Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity but did not join until several years later. He discovered the drama program and studied there with future Hollywood stars Kathleen Turner and Tess Harper. He remains close to his school friends. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975.

Career

After an injury ended his college football career, Goodman decided to become a professional actor and left Missouri for New York City in 1975. With a small bankroll from his brother, Goodman found an apartment near the Theater District and unsuccessfully tried to make money as a bartender and waiter. However, he eventually found modest success in voice-overs, commercials, and plays. He was the person who slapped himself (uttering the famous tagline, "Thanks... I needed that!") in an iconic television ad for Skin Bracer by Mennen. Goodman also performed off-Broadway and in dinner theatres, before landing character roles in film during the early 1980s.

In 1985, Goodman originated the role of Pap Finn in Big River. For his role, he received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical; he is also featured on the Original Broadway Cast Recording. He had a long history of appearances on late night comedy shows and was the first guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, which won him the series' "First Guest Medal" (Goodman joked he would pawn the medal for a bottle of cheap Scotch). Goodman has hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live 13 times, while also making seven cameo appearances as Linda Tripp during the Monica Lewinsky scandal and cameoing on the season 28 finale hosted by former SNL cast member Dan Aykroyd. With little to no prior experience in TV comedy, Goodman auditioned to be a cast member for Jean Doumanian's tumultuous 1980–1981 SNL season and was rejected, along with up-and-coming comedians Jim Carrey, Paul Reubens, and Robert Townsend.

In 1982, Goodman started landing movie roles, beginning with a small role in Eddie Macon's Run. During this period he continued to work on the stage, starring in Big River from 1985 to 1987. Before landing his big break into movies in 1986, with a significant comedic role in True Stories, he had a brief cameo as Otis in Sweet Dreams. In the former film, his character Louis Fyne memorably utters the line: "I'm 6' 3" and maintain a consistent panda bear shape", establishing his trademark size as an important part of many characters he would later play on film and stage - and in the latter film, he plays the 'guy who sold Patsy's husband the car' he would destroy in the Demolition Derby.

He is also known for his role as the head football coach for Adams College in the movie Revenge of the Nerds. In 1997, Goodman was added to the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Goodman is most famous for his role as Dan Conner on ABC's sitcom Roseanne.

Goodman first worked with the Coen Brothers on Raising Arizona (1987). He would go on to appear in their films Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). Only Steve Buscemi has appeared in more Coen works (six films), though Frances McDormand and Jon Polito have also appeared in five of their films.

Goodman had guest roles on the Aaron Sorkin television dramas The West Wing and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. In the former he appeared in four episodes, playing Speaker of the House and eventual acting president Glen Allen Walken. In the latter, he appeared as Pahrump, Nevada Judge Robert Bebe, earning a 2007 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor – Drama Series for his performance. In addition, Goodman starred as Fred Flintstone in the film adaptation of The Flintstones.

He voiced Robot Santa in the character's first appearance on Futurama. Beginning in 2007, Goodman has been the voiceover in Dunkin' Donuts commercials. In 2000, Goodman provided the voice of Pacha in Disney's The Emperor's New Groove and, a year later, the voice of Sulley in Pixar's Monsters, Inc. In 2009, Goodman voiced "Big Daddy" La Bouff The Princess and the Frog. Goodman's voice can also be heard on an automated message system at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

In theater, Goodman played the Ghost of Christmas Present in the 2008 Kodak Theatre production of A Christmas Carol, starring Christopher Lloyd as Ebenezer Scrooge. He played the role of Pozzo in a Studio 54 revival of Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot, opposite Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane. John Heilpern of Vanity Fair called it "the greatest Pozzo I've ever seen." In 2009, he reprised the role of Pozzo at the Roundabout Theatre Company.

In 2011, Goodman was a guest star on the third season of Community. He also voiced a character in the video game Rage voicing Dan Hagar, and played movie studio chief Al Zimmer in the Academy Award–winning live action film The Artist, as well as Best Picture nominee Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close the same year. Also in 2011, Goodman starred in Kevin Smith's foray into horror in Red State playing ATF Agent Joseph Keenan. In February 2012, it was reported that Goodman would reunite with Roseanne Barr for a new NBC pilot titled Downwardly Mobile. The series would have had Goodman portray a bachelor mechanic and all-around clown as a resident in a trailer park and would have used the standard multiple-camera setup traditionally found in sitcoms; however, the series' option was not picked up by the network. Other prominent roles include performances in Flight (2012) and The Monuments Men (2014). With his well-received supporting roles in The Artist (2011) and Argo (2012), Goodman accomplished the rare feat of appearing in back-to-back winners of the Academy Award for Best Picture.

On August 10, 2013, Goodman was inducted as a Disney Legend.

In 2013, Goodman received rave reviews for his performance as North Carolina Senator Gil John Biggs in Amazon's Alpha House, a political comedy written by Garry Trudeau. The show centers around Goodman's character, a retired UNC basketball coach, and three other Republican senators living in a house on Capitol Hill. Goodman spent the summer of 2014 shooting Season Two.

In April 2015, Goodman made his return to the stage, making his West End debut in the process while starring as Donny in American Buffalo at the Wyndham's Theatre alongside Damian Lewis and Tom Sturridge.

On March 10, 2017, Goodman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in motion pictures, located at 6767 Hollywood Boulevard.

On April 28, 2017 it was announced that a revival of Roseanne was in the works and that Goodman along with most of the original cast and some of the producers would return for the limited series that was being shopped around with ABC and Netflix the frontrunners to land the show. On May 16, 2017 it was confirmed that 8 episodes would air mid-season in 2018 on ABC.

Charity work

Since Hurricane Katrina, Goodman has appeared on several recovery commercials aired in Louisiana.

In 2010, Goodman appeared in a commercial to raise awareness for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Also starring in the commercial were Sandra Bullock, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Jack Del Rio, Drew Brees, Emeril Lagasse, James Carville, and Blake Lively.

Goodman was cast in In the Electric Mist (2009) as Julie "Baby Feet" Balboni. At one time, he was slated to play the role of Ignatius Reilly, the main character of A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. The story takes place almost entirely in New Orleans. However, the movie was never put into production. The Princess and the Frog where he lent his voice as Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff also takes place in New Orleans. Goodman was featured in Treme. Treme focuses on a group of interconnected people trying to rebuild their lives in post–Hurricane Katrina New Orleans. Goodman played Creighton Bernette, a Tulane English professor.

Personal life

Goodman married Annabeth Hartzog in 1989. They are longtime residents of New Orleans, Louisiana. Their daughter, Molly Evangeline Goodman, works as a production assistant in the film industry.

In a 2009 interview, Goodman opened up about his alcoholism, saying, "I don't know how much the old Jackie Daniel's franchise ruined my memory, which is going anyway, because of my advancing decrepitude. I had a 30-year run, and at the end I didn't care about anything. I was just fed up with myself. I didn't even want to be an actor anymore." In October 2012, he said, "If I'd picture in my mind a drink – usually straight out of the bottle – I couldn't not do it." He said that, while acting in plays, "I'd have the shakes so bad I'd have to have a drink to get through the show. I'm lucky I never got fired." Eventually, he "bottomed out" and has been sober since 2007. He tries to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting every morning.

Goodman was formerly known by his sizable frame, at one point weighing close to 400 lb (180 kg). However, by August 2010, he had lost 100 lb (45 kg). He lost the weight by exercising and keeping a journal of what he was eating. He has lost even more weight since then. His new figure attracted much attention when he appeared at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015 and the BFI London Film Festival in October 2015.