John Goodman

John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor.

He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor.

Goodman has received numerous accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

After graduating in 1970, he took a gap year.

He earned a football scholarship to Missouri State University (then called Southwest Missouri State University, or "SMSU") in Springfield, but tore his ACL before ever suiting-up to go onto the field.

Instead, Goodman channeled his energy into the school's theater program.

Goodman pledged Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, though he did not join until several years later.

He discovered the university's drama program, and studied there with future Hollywood stars Kathleen Turner and Tess Harper.

Goodman graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975, and in 2013, the university presented him with an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters.

After graduating from SMSU, Goodman relocated to New York City.

With a small bankroll from his brother, Goodman found an apartment in Hell's Kitchen 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 tagline, "Thanks... I needed that!") in an iconic television ad for Skin Bracer by Mennen.

Goodman also performed off-Broadway and in dinner theaters before landing character roles in film during the early 1980s.

He started his career at The Public Theatre acting numerous productions including Henry IV, Part 1 (1981), The Skin of Our Teeth (1998), and The Seagull (2001).

He made his Broadway debut Big River (1985) for which he received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical nomination.

He is known for his collaborations with the Coen brothers, acting in films such as Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).

On television, he gained recognition playing the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018), and The Conners (2018–present).

He has been a frequent host of Saturday Night Live (1989–2013), and has guest starred in The West Wing (2003–2004), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006), and Community (2011–2012).

Goodman took on leading roles in Stella (1990), King Ralph (1991), The Babe (1992), Matinee (1993), The Flintstones (1994), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), and supporting roles in True Stories (1986), Storytelling (2001), Beyond the Sea (2004), Evan Almighty (2007), Speed Racer (2008), Pope Joan (2009), The Artist (2011), Argo (2012), The Hangover Part III (2013), The Monuments Men (2014), Trumbo (2015), Patriots Day (2016), and Atomic Blonde (2017).

Goodman has voiced roles in The Emperor's New Groove franchise (2000–2008), the Monsters, Inc. franchise (2001–2021), The Jungle Book 2 (2003), Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004), and Bee Movie (2007).

He returned to Broadway in revivals of the Samuel Becket play Waiting for Godot (2009), and the newspaper comedy The Front Page (2016).

Goodman had regular roles in the HBO drama series Treme (2010–2011), the legal drama series Damages (2011), the political comedy series Alpha House (2013–2014), and the HBO comedy series The Righteous Gemstones (2019–present).

He received a Disney Legend Award in 2013.

Vanity Fair has called him "among our very finest actors."

In December 2013, he stated his school friends were his closest ones.

He made his West End debut in a revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo (2015).

Goodman was born in Affton, Missouri.

His father, Leslie Francis Goodman, was a postal worker who died of a heart attack when John was two years old.

Goodman's mother, Virginia Roos (née Loosmore), was a waitress at Jack and Phil's Bar-B-Que, a retail store worker, and also took in laundry to support the family.

Goodman has an older brother, Leslie, who is 14 years his senior, and a younger sister, Elisabeth, who was born six months after his father's death.

He is of English, German, and Welsh ancestry and was raised Southern Baptist.

Goodman described his childhood as alone and withdrawn after his father had died so early and his brother had left to go to college.

He was bullied at school for being overweight.

Until ninth grade, Goodman was in the Boy Scouts, which he said offered him the structure and camaraderie he missed; he additionally looked to Boy Scout leaders, and later, acting coaches, as father figures.

His brother later returned home to help raise Goodman and his sister.

As a child, Goodman spent a lot of time listening to the radio and reading comic books, initially subscribing to DC's Green Lantern and The Atom, before turning to Marvel Comics.

He also read his brother's copies of Mad and would later confess to shoplifting its paperback editions.

Goodman credits his brother with introducing him to comedy and bebop.

Goodman went to Affton High School, where he played football (offensive guard and defensive tackle) and dabbled in theater.