Jeff Goldblum

Jeff Goldblum
at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974 – present
Spouse(s)	Patricia Gaul (1980-1986) Geena Davis (1987-1990)

Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum (born October 22, 1952) is an American actor. He often portrays quirky, intense, or eccentric characters. He is also known for his distinctive appearance and staccato delivery of lines.

On the 25th of June 2009 he was the subject of an internet hoax claiming he fell to his death while on set in New Zealand. These reports originated at a site presenting faux news and are most likely wholly false.

Early life

Goldblum was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of West Homestead, Pennsylvania, the son of Shirley, a radio broadcaster who later ran a kitchen equipment sales firm, and Harold Goldblum, a doctor. He has a sister, Pamela and an older brother, Lee. Another older brother, Rick, lived only to age 23. His family is Jewish and belonged to an Orthodox synagogue; Goldblum's paternal grandfather emigrated from Russia and his maternal grandfather from Austria. Goldblum's parents were interested in show business. Goldblum moved to New York City at 17 to become an actor. Goldblum worked on the stage and studied acting at the renowned Neighborhood Playhouse under the guidance of acting coach Sanford Meisner. He made his Broadway debut in a production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is also an accomplished jazz pianist and declared that if he did not act, he would be performing musically as a career. His film debut was playing a thug in the 1974 Charles Bronson film Death Wish. He briefly appeared as a protester in the TV movie Columbo: A Case of Immunity (1975).

Career

Jeff Goldblum, c. 1985

In 1974, Goldblum appeared in Death Wish as Freak # 1. Later in his career, as "Lacey Party Guest" in Annie Hall (1977), Goldblum is seen saying into the telephone at a Hollywood party, "I forgot my mantra." Goldblum has had leading roles in films such as The Fly, Independence Day, The Lost World (1997), Earth Girls Are Easy and The Tall Guy. Goldblum's strong supporting roles include those in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Big Chill (1983), Into the Night (1985), Jurassic Park (1993), and He also had strong supporting roles in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and the cult films The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984) and Igby Goes Down (2002).

For several years, Goldblum was the voice for most of the U.S. Apple commercials, including advertisements for the iMac and iBook. He also voices some of the U.S. Toyota commercials as well as Procter & Gamble's facial cream line. He has recently appeared on Irish TV in commercials for the National Lottery.

Goldblum taught acting at Playhouse West in North Hollywood, along with Robert Carnegie. It was with several actors from this acting company that he improvised and directed the live action short film Little Surprises, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1996. According to gossip columnist Caffeinated Clint (as of September 2006), Jeff Goldblum will retain his role as Ian Malcom in Jurrasic Park IV

Goldblum got the role of Adam in the upcoming film Adam Resurrected, a film adaptation of the Yoram Kaniuk novel about a former German entertainer who becomes the ringleader to a group of Holocaust survivors in an asylum after World War II.

In September 2006, it was announced that Goldblum was one of the founding members of a new theater company in New York called The Fire Dept. According to press materials, "The Fire Dept is made up of established and emerging writers, directors, actors and designers who have come together to create and produce work that cannot be replicated inside a television box or on a movie screen...The work of The Fire Dept combines the rigor and structure of great narrative storytelling with the vitality of formal experimentation to immerse audiences in a total experience that leaves them awake, alive and transformed." The company will devote energy into developing new live theater works as well as interpreting old favorites.

His guest appearance was on Sesame Street in 1990 as Bob's long-lost brother Minneapolis (parody of Indiana Jones) where Big Bird's friend Snuffleupagus had "the golden cabbage of Snuffertiti" hidden in his cave. He has also appeared on Tom Goes to the Mayor and Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!.

Goldblum replaced Chris Noth as a Senior Detective on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the series, Goldblum plays the role of Detective Zach Nichols.

Personal life

Goldblum with Geena Davis in 1990

Goldblum has been married twice. He was married to Patricia Gaul from 1980 to 1986. He was later married to Geena Davis, with whom he starred in three films (including the comedy Earth Girls Are Easy and the science fiction/horror film The Fly) from November 1, 1987 to October 1990. He claims to have maintained a good friendship with her in the ensuing years, saying, "she's a wonderful person and a wonderful actress." He was engaged to Laura Dern, with whom he co-starred in Jurassic Park. Goldblum was engaged to Catherine Wreford, a Canadian dancer, as documented in his 2006 mockumentary/documentary Pittsburgh, but the two are no longer seeing each other. He is currently dating 21 year-old television actress Tania Raymonde.

Filmography

• Death Wish (1974)
• California Split (1974)
• Nashville (1975)
• Columbo: A Case of Immunity (1975)
• Special Delivery (1976)
• St. Ives (1976)
• Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
• Annie Hall (1977)
• Between the Lines (1977)
• The Sentinel (1977)
• Thank God It's Friday (1978)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Made for TV) (1980)
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (Made for TV) (1980)
• Threshold (1981)
• Rehearsal for Murder (Made for TV) (1982)
• The Right Stuff (1983)
• The Big Chill (1983)
• Terror in the Aisles (1984)
• Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (Made for TV) (1984)
• The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
• Transylvania 6-5000 (1985)
• Silverado (1985)
• Into the Night (1985)
• The Race for the Double Helix (1986)
• The Fly (1986)
• Beyond Therapy (1987)
• Life Story (BBC) (Made for TV) (1987)
• Earth Girls Are Easy (1988)
• Vibes (1988)
• The Fly II (1989) (archive footage)
• The Tall Guy (1989)
• El Sueño del Mono Loco (1990)
• Framed (Made for TV) (1990)
• Mister Frost (1990)
• The Favour, the Watch and the Very Big Fish (1991)
• Fathers & Sons (1992)
• The Player (1992)
• Shooting Elizabeth (1992)
• Deep Cover (1992)
• Jurassic Park (1993)
• Lush Life (Made for TV) (1993)
• Powder (1995)
• Hideaway (1995)
• Nine Months (1995)
• Independence Day (1996)
• The Great White Hype (1996)
• Mad Dog Time (1996)
• Goosebumps: Escape from Horrorland (1996)
• The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997)
• The Story of Bean (Made for TV) (1997)
• Welcome to Hollywood (1998)
• The Prince of Egypt (1998)
• Holy Man (1998)
• Playmate Pajama Party (1999)
• From Star Wars to Star Wars: The Story of Industrial Light & Magic (Made for TV) (1999)
• AFI's 100 Years... 100 Stars (Made for TV) (1999)
• Chain of Fools (2000)
• Auggie Rose (2000)
• One of the Hollywood Ten (2000)
• Cats & Dogs (2001)
• Festival in Cannes (2001)
• Perfume (2001)
• Run Ronnie Run! (2002)
• Igby Goes Down (2002)
• Dallas 362 (2003)
• Incident at Loch Ness (2004)
• The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
• Mini's First Time (2006)
• Fay Grim (2006)
• Pittsburgh (2006)
• Man of the Year (2006)
• Adam Resurrected (2009)
• The Baster (2010)
• Morning Glory (2010)

Theater

Broadway

Goldblum in May 2005 after a performance of The Pillowman

• The Pillowman (2005)
• Two Gentlemen of Verona
• The Play What I Wrote
• The Moony Shapiro Songbook
• The Exonerated
• City Sugar
• El Grande de Coca Cola

London and Recklinghausen (Germany)

• Speed The Plow

Television

• Starsky and Hutch - Murder on Stage 17 (1977)
• Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980)
• Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter (1984)
• Who's The Boss? (1985)
• The Ray Bradbury Theater - The Town Where No One Got Off (1986)
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990)
• When Dinosaurs Ruled (2000)
• The Simpsons - A Fish Called Selma (1996)
• King of the Hill - Guest voice as Dr. Vayzosa (2002)
• Friends - Guest as Leonard Hayes (2003)
• Tom Goes to the Mayor (2004)
• Will and Grace (2005)
• Raines (2007)
• Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! (2007)
• Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2009-)

Awards

• 1983: Star of Tomorrow Award. Presented by the National Association of Theatre Owners.
• 1987: Saturn Award for Best Actor in The Fly
• 1996: Academy Award nomination for Live Action Short Film
• 2005: Emmy Award nomination for a guest appearance on Will & Grace

External links

• Jeff Goldblum at IMDb
• Goldblum resurrects fond memories, a July 2004 article (with accompanying audio commentary) from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• April 2005 Interview with Goldblum from New York magazine
• Moving Pictures Magazine Interview
• Jeff Goldblum Interview on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos