A jovial jokester with an edge, John Goodman was born June 20, 1952, in St. Louis. After graduation from Southwest Missouri State, he moved to New York City and worked as a waiter while auditioning.
He first landed on TV in commercials and made an inauspicious film debut in Jailbait Babysitter (1978). C.H.U.D. and Revenge of the Nerds (1984) followed, but his star-making roles were on the way.First came Broadway success in "Big River," then a leading role in 1986's True Stories. With Raising Arizona, Goodman made the first of several appearances in the films of Joel and Ethan Coen (Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski) as well as in Born Yesterday, The Babe and Monster's Inc.His legions of TV fans know him for his Emmy-nominated role as Dan Conner on the sitcom "Roseanne" and for his frequent hosting gigs on "Saturday Night Live." He received his first Emmy for his guest appearance on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip."
Great actor and funny guy! Loved him in "Studio 60 on Sunset Strip", "Rosanne", "O Brother Where Art Thou", and now we get to see him in "Community"!!!