John Goodman - Career

Career

In 1985, Goodman originated the role of Pap Finn in the Broadway musical Big River. For his role, he received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical; he also is 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 show's "First Guest Medal" (Goodman joked that he would pawn the medal for a bottle of cheap Scotch). He has hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live 12 times, while also making seven cameo appearances as Linda Tripp during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Goodman auditioned to be a cast member for Jean Doumanian's tumultuous 1980–1981 SNL season, but was rejected.

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 the Tony-winning Broadway musical Big River from 1985 to 1987. He landed his big break into movies in 1986, when he had a significant comedic role in the David Byrne mockumentary True Stories. In that 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. He is also known for his role as the head football coach for Adams College in the movie Revenge of the Nerds. In 1997, John Goodman was added to the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

He 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) and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" (2000). In 2011 it was announced he'd return to working with them on "Inside Llewelyn Davis" - his fifth film with them and his first for a decade Only Steve Buscemi (6) has appeared in more Coen work, though Frances McDormand and Jon Polito have also appeared in five of their films.

Goodman is most famous for his role as Dan Conner on the American sitcom Roseanne, which aired on ABC from 1988 to 1997.

Goodman had guest roles on 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 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 Flintstones movie.

He voiced Robot Santa in the character's first appearance on Futurama. Beginning in 2007, Goodman has been the voiceover in Dunkin' Donuts commercials.

He appeared as a federal judge in the 1999 HBO production, The Jack Bull, bringing some semblance of order and justice to the story. He also appeared in the 2000 motion picture Coyote Ugly. In 2000, Goodman provided the voice of Pacha in the Disney film The Emperor's New Groove and, a year later, the voice of Sulley in the Disney/Pixar film Monsters, Inc.

In 2007, Goodman starred as the antagonist in the movie Evan Almighty (directed by Tom Shadyac), opposite Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman.

A recent project was the film version of the Sophie Kinsella novel, Confessions of a Shopaholic, where he played Becky's father, Graham Bloomwood. The movie was released February 13, 2009. In the same year he starred in the epic drama Pope Joan as Pope Sergius II.

Goodman played the Ghost of Christmas Present in the 2008 Kodak Theatre production of A Christmas Carol, starring Christopher Lloyd as Ebenezer Scrooge. He is set to play the role of Pozzo in a Studio 54 revival of the play Waiting for Godot, opposite Bill Irwin and Nathan Lane. Goodman's voice can also be heard on an automated message system at Lambert St. Louis International airport. In 2009, Goodman lent his vocal talents to Disney's The Princess and the Frog, where he played "Big Daddy" La Bouff.

In 2011, Goodman was a guest star on the third season of NBC's Community. He also voiced a character in id Software's game RAGE voicing Dan Hagar, and played movie studio chief Al Zimmer in the Academy Award-winning live action film The Artist.

In February 2012, it was reported that Goodman would reunite with Roseanne Barr for a new NBC pilot titled Downwardly Mobile. The show will be set in a trailer park and use a multiple-camera setup and Goodman will play one of the residents of the community.

In November 2012, Goodman appeared in the film Flight, starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, and Melissa Leo. The film marked the third collaboration between Goodman and Leo, after starring together on the HBO series Treme and in the Kevin Smith film Red State.