Background and career
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, with Vanity Fair calling him "among our very finest actors".
After appearing in films such as Revenge of the Nerds (1984) and True Stories (1986), Goodman gained wide recognition playing the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC sitcom Roseanne (1988–1997), for which he received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award. The success of the series led to leading roles in films King Ralph (1991), The Babe (1992), Matinee (1993), and The Flintstones (1994). Goodman is also known for his collaborations with the Coen brothers, acting in their films Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). His voice performance roles include Disney's The Emperor's New Groove (2000) and Pixar's Monsters, Inc. franchise (2001–present). Other film roles include Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Speed Racer (2008), The Artist (2011), Flight (2012), Argo (2012), 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), and Kong: Skull Island (2017).
In 2018, Goodman reprised his role as Dan Conner in Roseanne, and continued to play the character in its spin-off The Conners (2018–2025). He also acted in HBO drama series Treme (2010–2011), FX series Damages (2011), and the HBO comedy series The Righteous Gemstones (2019–2025). He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006) and was further Emmy-nominated for Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long (1995), A Streetcar Named Desire (1995), and You Don't Know Jack (2010). He is a member of the Five Timers Club having hosted Saturday Night Live 13 times from 1989 to 2013.
Goodman started his career at The Public Theater 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 Goodman received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical nomination. He returned to Broadway in revivals of the Samuel Beckett play Waiting for Godot (2009), and the newspaper comedy The Front Page (2016). Goodman made his West End debut in a revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo (2015).
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (2026-08-09), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
