Actor Biography

John Goodman remembers the day in 1975 when he left his native St. Louis for New York, armed only with a degree from Southwest Missouri State University, $1,000 borrowed from his brother and a dream of becoming a professional actor. He didn't want to look back later and say, "I wonder if I could have…" So, he made the rounds, worked odd jobs and just tried to keep busy. He's been busy ever since.

Goodman's recent films include Focus Features' "Atomic Blonde," Warner Bros' "Kong: Skull Island," CBS Film's "Patriots Day" and Bad Robot's thriller "10 Cloverfield Lane."

In 2013, Goodman starred in Ben Affleck's drama "Argo," which won the Academy Award® for Best Picture, and in Robert Zemeckis' thriller "Flight." That same year, he won the 2013 National Board of Review Spotlight Award for his work in "Argo," "Flight" and "Trouble with the Curve." Goodman was also seen in the black-and-white silent feature "The Artist," which won the 2012 Academy Award for Best Picture.

In 2016, Goodman returned to the stage in the Broadway revival of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's "The Front Page," starring alongside Nathan Lane and John Slattery. He also made his West End debut in David Mamet's 1975 play "American Buffalo" at the Wyndham's Theatre in London. Goodman returns to the third season of ABC's hit comedy series "The Conners" this fall. His other TV credits include HBO's "The Righteous Gemstones," Amazon's original series "Alpha House," the Starz miniseries "Dancing on the Edge," DirecTV's "Damages" and NBC's "Community."

Among Goodman's many accolades are a Golden Globe® Award for Best Actor and seven Emmy® nominations for his role in "Roseanne." He also received Emmy nominations for his starring roles in TNT's "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long" and in the CBS production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." He received his Golden Globe nomination for his role in the Coen Brothers film "Barton Fink." In 2007, Goodman won his second Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."

He has lent his voice to many animated films, including "Transformers: The Last Night," "Monsters University," "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets," "Monsters, Inc.," "The Emperor's New Groove," "Tales of the Rat Fink" and "The Jungle Book II." He also voiced a main character in NBC's animated series "Father of the Pride."

Goodman starred on Broadway in "Waiting for Godot," for which he received rave reviews as Pozzo. His other stage credits include many dinner theater and children's theater productions, as well as several off-Broadway plays. His regional theater credits include "Henry IV, Parts I and II," "Antony and Cleopatra," "As You Like It" and "A Christmas Carol." He performed in a road production of "The Robber Bridegroom" and starred in two Broadway shows, "Loose Ends" in 1979 and "Big River" in 1985. In 2001, he starred in the New York Shakespeare Festival Central Park staging of "The Seagull," directed by Mike Nichols. The following year he appeared on Broadway in the Public Theatre's "Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui."

Goodman and his family have homes in Los Angeles and New Orleans.