A big, amiable character actor with dozens of movies to his credit, John Goodman is still perhaps best known for his portrayal of the blue-collar husband and father on TV's
Roseanne (1988-97). A Missouri native, he moved to New York in the late 1970s to work as an actor. Goodman was on Broadway and getting parts in movies, TV commercials and television shows by the mid-1980s, and the long-running role of Dan Connor on
Roseanne made him famous and earned him six Emmy nominations. His turn as an escaped felon in the
Coen brothers' comedy
Raising Arizona (1987, with
Nicolas Cage) proved he was just as likable on the big screen, even while playing characters of questionable integrity. Since 1989 he has been a frequent host and guest on
Saturday Night Live, and has had great success doing voice work in such animated features as
The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and
Monsters, Inc. (2001, with
Billy Crystal). A frequent player in the Coen brothers' movies, he has appeared in
Barton Fink (1991),
The Big Lebowski (1998) and
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000, starring
George Clooney). Although he is known mostly for comedy, Goodman has had dramatic roles as well, including as
Babe Ruth in
The Babe (1992), as Nicolas Cage's paramedic partner in
Bringing Out the Dead (1999, by
Martin Scorsese) and as Bobby Darin's pal in
Beyond the Sea (2004, with
Kevin Spacey as Darin). His other film roles include
Evan Almighty (2007) and
Speed Racer (2008), and in 2010 he appeared in the cable TV series
Treme.
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