John Goodman

Biography

JOHN GOODMAN is one of the industry's most respected actors. He earned a Golden Globe Award nomination in 1992 for his chilling performance in the Coen brothers' heralded "Barton Fink." Coincidentally, his breakthrough motion picture role was in the Coens' "Raising Arizona." He most recently starred for the Coen brothers in "The Big Lebowski."

His mother raised Goodman in St. Louis after his father died when John was two years old. As a tall, bread-shouldered teenager, he attended Affton High School, where he dedicated himself to football.

He intended to play for Southwest Missouri State, but injured a knee and was forced to sit out a year. He spent that time studying drama with fellow students Kathleen Turner and Tess Harper. He never returned to playing football and graduated in 1975 with a BFA degree in theatre.

He performed in many dinner theatre and children's theatre productions, and in several off-Broadway plays. His regional theatre credits include "Henry IV, Parts I and II," "Antony and Cleopatra" and "As You Like It." His career escalated when he joined a road production of "The Robber Bridegroom." Eventually, he starred in two Broadway shows, "Loose Ends" in 1979 and "Big River" in 1985.

Goodman has also given many highly acclaimed television performances. He received Emmy® Award nominations for his starring role in TNT's "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long" and for his role as Mitch in the CBS production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." For eight seasons, John played Dan Conner in "Roseanne," a role that earned him seven Emmy® nominations and a Golden Globe Award.

Although he prefers to think of New York as a homebase, Goodman, his wife, Annabeth, and their young daughter, Molly, have homes in both Los Angeles and New Orleans.