John Goodman is an American actor and singer known for his roles in film, television, voice work and theatre.
Goodman gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC television series Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018), for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in 1993, and reprised the role in its sequel series The Conners. He is also known as a character actor appearing as a regular collaborator with the Coen brothers. Goodman has appeared in six of their films Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013).
Goodman's other film performances include lead roles in Stella (1990), King Ralph (1991), The Babe (1992), The Flintstones (1994), Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016), and supporting roles in True Stories (1986), Storytelling (2001), Beyond the Sea (2004), Evan Almighty (2007), Speed Racer (2008), Pope Joan (2009), The Artist (2011), Argo (2012), The Hangover Part III (2013), The Monuments Men (2014), Trumbo (2015), Patriots Day (2016), and Atomic Blonde (2017).
Goodman's voice roles include We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993), The Emperor's New Groove (2000), Pixar's Monsters, Inc. franchise (2001–present), The Jungle Book 2 (2003), Clifford’s Really Big Movie (2004), Bee Movie (2007), The Princess and the Frog (2009) and Smurfs (2025).
On television, Goodman has starred in the Amazon Studios political comedy series Alpha House (2012–2013), the first season of HBO's Treme (2010–2011), the NBC sitcom Community, and the HBO comedy The Righteous Gemstones (2019–2025). He is also known as a frequent host of Saturday Night Live having served as a host 13 times.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 1983 Eddie Macon's Run Herbert Commando 1984 Crackers Cracker C.H.U.D. Cop in Diner Maria's Lovers Frank Revenge of the Nerds Coach Harris 1985 Sweet Dreams Otis 1986 True Stories Louis Fyne 1987 Detective Andre DeSoto Raising Arizona Gale Snoats Burglar Detective Nyswander 1988 Duke Earle Punchline John Krytsick Everybody's All-American Edward Lawrence 1989 Sea of Love Detective Sherman Touhey Always Al Yackey 1990 Stella Ed Munn Arachnophobia Delbert McClintock 1991 King Ralph Ralph Hampton Gainesworth Jones Barton Fink Charlie Meadows / Karl Mundt 1992 George Herman "Babe" Ruth 1993 Matinee Lawrence Woolsey Born Yesterday Harry Brock We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story Rex the Tyrannosaurus Rex Voice 1994 Newsreel Announcer Credited as Karl Mundt Fred Flintstone 1996 Pie in the Sky Alan Davenport Mother Night Major Frank Wirtanen 1997 Ocious P. Potter 1998 Fallen Detective "Jonesy" Jones Blues Brothers 2000 Mack "Mighty Mack" McTeer Walter Sobchak Dirty Work Mayor Adrian Riggins Uncredited Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie Santa Claus Voice Mac the Parrot Voice; US version 1999 Deepthroat Bringing Out the Dead Larry Verber Judge Joe B. Tolliver 2000 What Planet Are You From? Roland Jones O Brother, Where Art Thou? Daniel "Big Dan" Teague Oklahoma Highway Patrol Officer Cameo Coyote Ugly William James Sanford Pacha Voice 2001 My First Mister Benjamin Wilson One Night at McCool's Detective Dehling Storytelling Marty Livingston Segment: "Non-Fiction" Happy Birthday Monsters, Inc. James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Voice 2002 Mike's New Car James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Voice; Short film Dirty Deeds Tony Testano 2003 Masked and Anonymous Uncle Sweetheart Baloo Voice 2004 Freshman Orientation Rodney Clifford's Really Big Movie George Wolfsbottom Voice Beyond the Sea Steve "Boom-Boom" Blauner 2005 Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School Steve Mills Kronk's New Groove Pacha Voice; Direct-to-DVD 2006 Cars James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Truck Voice; Cameo Tales of the Rat Fink Ed "Big Daddy" Roth Voice; Documentary film 2007 Death Sentence "Bones" Darley Evan Almighty Congressman Chuck Long Bee Movie Layton T. Montgomery Voice 2008 Speed Racer Pops Racer Gigantic Al Lolly 2009 Confessions of a Shopaholic Graham Bloomwood In the Electric Mist Julie "Baby Feet" Balboni Alabama Moon Mr. Wellington Beyond All Boundaries Captain Edwin Simmons Voice; Short film Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff Voice Pope Joan Pope Sergius II Drunkboat Mr. Fletcher 2010 The Big Uneasy Narrator 2011 Al Zimmer Red State Joseph Keenan Ole War Skule: The Story of Saturday Night Narrator Documentary film Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Stan, The Doorman 2012 ParaNorman Mr. Prendergast Voice Scott Talley Cameo Trouble with the Curve Pete Klein Argo John Chambers Flight Harling Mays 2013 Inside Llewyn Davis Roland Turner Marshall Sammy Boscoe Uncredited Monsters University James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Voice 2014 Captain Walter Garfield Party Central James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Voice; Short film Transformers: Age of Extinction Hound Voice Frank "Little Frank" 2015 Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle Hal Houston Voice; Direct-to-DVD Trumbo Frank King Love the Coopers Sam Cooper 2016 10 Cloverfield Lane Howard Stambler Ratchet & Clank Grimroth Voice Patriots Day Ed Davis 2017 Bunyan and Babe Paul Bunyan Voice Kong: Skull Island William "Bill" J. Randa Atomic Blonde CIA Agent Emmett Kurzfeld Once Upon a Time in Venice Dave Phillips Transformers: The Last Knight Hound Voice Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Igon Siruss Voice 2019 Captive State William Mulligan Easy Does It "Catfish" Crawford Voice 2022 Take Me to the River: New Orleans Narrator Documentary film 2023 Please Don't Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain Narrator 2025 Smurfs Papa Smurf Voice 2026 Chili Finger Blake Junior Digger President Compson 2027 Filming
Television
Year Title Role Notes 1980 Telegraph Operator Television film / Documentary 1983 Fred Television film Heart of Steel Raymond Bohupinsky Television film Chiefs Newt "Tub" Murray Episode: "Part 3" 1987 Harold Winter Episode: "Re-Entry" Moonlighting Donald Chase Episode: "Come Back Little Shiksa" Murder Ordained Hugh Rayburn Television film 1988–1997, 2018 Roseanne Dan Conner 220 episodes 1989–2013 Saturday Night Live Himself / Host 13 episodes 1990 Grand "Red" Episode: "The Healing" 1992 Dan Conner Episode: "The Joke" Frosty Returns Frosty the Snowman Voice; TV special 1993 Grace Under Fire Police Officer Episode: "Pilot"; Uncredited 1994 Sesame Street Himself 2 episodes 1995 Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long Huey Long Television film Harold "Mitch" Mitchell Television film 1997–1998 Soul Man Captain Stan Hamel 2 episodes 1999 Meathook Voice; Episode: "Take My Wife, Sleaze" Futurama Robot Santa Voice; Episode: "Xmas Story" 1999–2000 Now and Again Michael Wiseman 2 episodes 2000 Pigs Next Door Phil Stymington Voice; 13 episodes Normal, Ohio William "Butch" Gamble 13 episodes 2001 When Dinosaurs Roamed America The Narrator Voice; Television film Ed Rudy "Big Rudy" Episode: "Loyalties" 2003–2004 Speaker Glen Allen Walken 4 episodes 2004–2005 Father of the Pride Larry Voice; 15 episodes Center of the Universe John Barnett 12 episodes 2006 Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip Judge Bobby Bebe 2 episodes Odd Job Jack Garbage Czar Voice; Episode: "The Big Dump" Santa Claus Television film 2007 King of the Hill Tommy Voice; Episode: "SerPUNt" 2007–2008 Pacha Voice; 16 episodes 2010 You Don't Know Jack Neal Nicol Television film 2010–2011 Treme Creighton Bernette 13 episodes 2011 Damages Howard T. Erickson 10 episodes 2011–2012 Community Vice Dean Robert Laybourne 6 episodes 2012, 2019 SpongeBob SquarePants Santa Claus / Himself Voice; Episode: "It's a SpongeBob Christmas!"Live-action; Episode: "SpongeBob's Big Birthday Blowout" 2013 Dancing on the Edge Masterson 5 episodes 2013–2014 Alpha House Gil John Biggs 21 episodes 2016–2018 Saturday Night Live Rex Tillerson 3 episodes 2018 Black Earth Rising Michael Ennis 8 episodes 2018–2025 Dan Conner 112 episodes 2019–2025 Eli Gemstone 35 episodes 2020 Birds of a Different Game: The 80's Cardinals The Narrator Voice; Documentary 2020–present Freddy "Fat Freddy" Voice; 22 episodes 2021–2024 Monsters at Work James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Voice; 18 episodes 2023–2024 Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Older Bill Randa 2 episodes 2027 Joey Guest (season 3)
Video games Year Title Voice role 1994 Fred Flintstone 1996 Pyst King Mattruss (live-action) 2001 Pacha 2002 Mike's Monstrous Adventure James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Monsters, Inc. Scream Arena James P. "Sulley" Sullivan 2007 Bee Movie Game Layton T. Montgomery Cars Mater-National Championship James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Truck 2009 Cars Race-O-Rama James P. "Sulley" Sullivan Truck 2011 Rage Dan Hagar 2018 Lego The Incredibles James P. "Sulley" Sullivan 2023 Disney Dreamlight Valley James P. "Sulley" Sullivan
Theatre
Year Title Role Venue 1975 Destry Rides Again Tom Destry Tent Theatre, SMSU 1981 Henry IV Part I Blunt Delacorte Theater 1983 Triple Feature Winninger (Half) Stage 73 1984–1985 Big River Pap Finn American Repertory TheaterLa Jolla Playhouse, San DiegoEugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway 1998 Mr. Antrobus Delacorte Theater 2001 Shamrayev 2002 Emanuele Giri Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts 2005 Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Big Daddy The Geffen Playhouse, Los Angeles 2008 Ghost of Christmas Present Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles 2009 Waiting for Godot Pozzo Studio 54, Broadway 2015 American Buffalo Donny Wyndham's Theatre, West End 2016–2017 Sheriff Hartman Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway
Music Year Song Album 2018 "Guv'ment" King of the Road: A Tribute to Roger Miller
References