Anecdotes

In 2005, he was ordered by his doctors to lose a great deal of weight. He referred to this as his biggest challenge since quitting smoking (2003).

On Inside the Actors Studio (1994), he revealed that of all the projects he has worked on, Le grand Lebowski (1998) is his favorite.

He was regarded as being so crucial to the feature film version of Les Pierrafeu (1994) that the project would have been shelved once he had turned down the role of Fred Flintstone.

He was considered for the role of Paul Hennessy on Touche pas à mes filles! (2002), which went to the late John Ritter.

Is one of the favorite hosts on Saturday Night Live (1975), hosting it 13 times and making numerous surprise appearances starting with the 1989 season.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6767 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on March 10, 2017.

Had to lose weight in order to play Babe Ruth.

Was friends with Bruce Willis during their New York City days as struggling actors.

His first television appearance was for a Burger King commercial in which he had no lines. He only had to bite into a Whopper sandwich with glee.

His unique style of throwing darts--holding the pointing tip of the dart with his thumb and index finger and then throwing it with the opposite end pointing to the board so that the dart makes a 180-degree turn in mid air with the pointed end to the stuck board--can be seen in many of his movies such as Ralph Superking (1991).

Became a father for the first time at age 38 when his wife Annabeth Hartzog gave birth to their daughter Molly Evangeline Goodman on August 31, 1990.

His first job was as a bouncer.

In 2007, he quit drinking and has vowed to remain sober.

He was considered for the role of Buck Russell in Oncle Buck (1989), which went to the late John Candy.

Was the first guest on Late Night with Conan O'Brien (1993) when the show premiered on September 13, 1993.

Bought his home in New Orleans, LA, from Trent Reznor, the brain behind the rock band Nine Inch Nails.

Dan Conner, Goodman's character on Roseanne (1988), was ranked #13 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [June 20, 2004 issue].

Began his career in a small theater in Springboro, Ohio called the Miami Valley Dinner Theater now called La Comedia Dinner Theater. He appeared in the musical "1776" (1975).

Moved to New York City shortly after college and lived in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Worked as a waiter and bouncer while trying to break into the acting business.

Wife Anna Beth Goodman owns a children's clothing store called Pippen Lane on Magazine Street in New Orleans, LA.

He is known for frequently playing roles in animated films more than any other celebrity actor in film history, like Frosty the Snowman in Frosty Returns (1993) Rex in Nous sommes de retour: Une Histoire de Dinosaures (1993), Santa Claus in Rudolph le petit renne au nez rouge (1998), Pacha in Un empereur nouveau genre (2000), Un Kronk nouveau genre (2005), and The Emperor's New School (2006), James P. "Sulley" Sullivan in Monstres, Inc. (2001) Mike's New Car (2002), Baloo in Le livre de la jungle 2 (2003), George Wolfsbottom in Clifford's Really Big Movie (2004), Sulley Truck in the closing credits sequence of Les Bagnoles (2006), Layton T. Montgomery in Drôle d'abeille (2007), 'Big Daddy' La Bouff in La Princesse et la Grenouille (2009), Santa Claus (again) in It's a SpongeBob Christmas! (2012), Mr. Prenderghast in ParaNorman (2012), and young James P. "Sulley" Sullivan in L'Université des monstres (2013).

Drama classmates at Missouri State University included Kathleen Turner and Tess Harper.

Received his Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO (1975).

Born to Leslie Goodman Sr, a postal worker (died 1955), and his wife Virginia, a store clerk and waitress, he has a sister, Elisabeth (born after father's death), and a brother, Leslie Jr (14 years senior to John).

Though he has been nominated multiple times for a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards (two common indicators for an Academy Award nomination), he has never been nominated for an Oscar.

Has played both the King of England (in Ralph Superking (1991)) and the President of the United States (in certain episodes of The West Wing (1999)).

He was awarded a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame at 6508 Delmar Boulevard in St. Louis, Missouri on May 18, 1997.

Is a huge fan of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

He has appeared in one film that has been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Le grand Lebowski (1998).

Attended and graduated from Affton High School in Affton, MO, where he played football and dabbled in theater.

Has appeared in each and every episode of Roseanne (1988) until the ninth (and final) season, missing out on (in other words being written out of) a dozen episodes that season.

He has appeared in three films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: L'artiste (2011), Extrêmement fort et incroyablement près (2011) and Argo (2012). The Artist and Argo won in the category.

Enjoys fishing and playing golf.

He was raised Southern Baptist, his grandmother would take him to tent revivals.

Has appeared with Steve Buscemi in four films: Barton Fink (1991), Le grand Lebowski (1998), Monstres, Inc. (2001) and L'Université des monstres (2013).

He auditioned to join the cast of Saturday Night Live (1975) for the sixth season in 1980 but was turned down.

Was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon national fraternity (Missouri Eta chapter, Southwest Missouri State University).

Has appeared with Richard Jenkins in four films: Rencontre fatale (1989), De quelle planète viens-tu? (2000), Un soir au bar McCool's (2001) and Kong: Skull Island (2017).

Has worked with eight directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Mike Nichols, Barry Levinson, Michel Hazanavicius and Robert Zemeckis.

Bought a $4.6-million home in Pacific Palisades, CA. That burned down in the January 2025 Los Angeles fire. (2008)

Has English, German and Welsh ancestry.

Has appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire (1995) with Alec Baldwin. Baldwin, who played the role originated by Marlon Brando, has played Robert De Niro on Saturday Night Live (1975). Goodman has played Brando and De Niro on "Saturday Night Live" (1975).

Has provided the voice of two computer-generated characters named Sullivan: James P. "Sulley" Sullivan in Monstres, Inc. (2001) and Sullivan Truck in Les Bagnoles (2006).

His daughter, Molly Evangeline Goodman, was conceived during his honeymoon.

Did advertisements for Austrian Schnapps.

Goodman's and his Roseanne (1988)/The Conners (2018) co-star Alicia Goranson's birthdays are two days apart. To be more specific, Goodman's birthday is June 20, and Goranson's birthday is June 22.

Used to be a bouncer.