Jeff Goldblum

Infobox actor

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imagesize =
caption = Jeff Goldblum, c. 1985
birthname = Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum
birthdate = birth date and age|1952|10|22
birthplace = West Homestead, Pennsylvania
yearsactive = 1974 - present
spouse = Patricia Gaul (1980-1986)
Geena Davis (1987-1990)
awards = Saturn Award for Best Actor (film)
1986 "The Fly"

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

Biography

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;cite news|last=Applebaum|first=Stephen|coauthors=|title=Goldblum's spiritual journey|pages=|publisher=Sunday Times.au|date=2007-04-27|url=http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,21630257-5005368,00.html|accessdate=2007-04-27] [cite news|last=Elkin|first=Michael|coauthors=|title=The Odds of March|pages=|publisher=The Jewish Exponent|date=2007-03-15|url=http://www.jewishexponent.com/article/12422/|accessdate=2008-01-29] Goldblum's paternal grandfather emigrated from Russia and his maternal grandfather from Austria.cite news|last=Curtis|first=Nick|coauthors=|title=What Jeff loves about London|pages=|publisher=This is London|date=2008-01-29|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-23434731-details/What+Jeff+loves+about+London/article.do|accessdate=2008-01-29] Goldblum's parents were interested in show business.cite news|last=Knutzen|first=Eirik|coauthors=|title=TV Close-Up: Jeff Goldblum|pages=|publisher=Bend Weekly|date=2007-03-30|url=http://www.bendweekly.com/news/4101.html|accessdate=2008-01-29] 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 an excellent jazz piano singer 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 "" (1975).

Career

Early in his career, he had a short cameo in "Annie Hall" (1977) where he attends a Hollywood party and is shown on the phone admitting, "I forgot my mantra." Goldblum has had leading roles in films such as "The Fly" 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), "Earth Girls Are Easy" (1988), "Jurassic Park" (1993), and "" (1997). He also had strong supporting roles in "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004) and the 1984 cult films "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension and Igby Goes Down" (2002). Goldblum delivers the same line, "must go faster", in very similar situations in both "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day". In "Jurassic Park", he says it when he is sitting in the back of a Jeep with a broken leg while being chased by a "Tyrannosaurus rex". He says it in "Independence Day" when he and Will Smith are in the spaceship trying to escape the mother ship.

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 teaches 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) Goldblum is still rumored to reprise his role as Ian Malcolm in the upcoming film "Jurassic Park IV".

The upcoming film "Adam Resurrected" is a film adaptation of the Yoram Kaniuk novel about a former circus clown who becomes the ringleader to a group of Holocaust survivors in an asylum after World War II. Goldblum was asked to take on the role of Adam, the story's main character, while visiting Israel for the first time in mid 2006.

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" as Bob's long-lost brother Minneapolis (parody of Indiana Jones) where Big Bird's friend Snuffleupagus had a missing golden cabbage in the 1980s. He has also appeared on "Tom Goes to the Mayor" and "Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job!".

On June 26, 2008, it was announced that Goldblum will replace Chris Noth as a Senior Detective on "". [cite web
url=http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-jeffgodlblumlandocriminalintent,0,2869315.story
title=Jeff Goldblum Has 'Criminal Intent,'Chris Noth leaving 'Law & Order' series
publisher=Zap2it
accessdate=2008-06-27] In the series, Goldblum will play the role of Detective Zach Nichols. [cite web
url=http://lawandorder.wikia.com/wiki/Zach_Nichols
title=Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zach Nichols|publisher=Law&Order.wikia.com|accessdate=2008-10-05]

Personal life

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", [Christopher Rawson, [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06125/687601-120.stm Goldblum's 'Pittsburgh' rides line between reality and role playing, A doc or a mock?] , Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 5, 2006] but the two are no longer seeing each other. While as a guest on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", Goldblum said he enjoys shoofly pie.Fact|date=July 2008. Paparazzi photos has confirmed he's now dating singer and songwriter Imogen Heap, after a brief stint with a British Theatre student whilst he was performing in the London West End.

Filmography

*"Death Wish" (1974)
*"California Split" (1974)
*"Nashville" (1975)
*"" (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)
*"Remember My Name" (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)
*"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)
*"" (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)

Theater

Broadway

*"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)
*"Who's The Boss?" (1985)
*"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" (2003) - Guest as Leonard Hayes
*"Tom Goes to the Mayor" (2004)
*"Will and Grace" (2005)
*"Raines" (2007), Lead Role
*"Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" (2007)
*"" (2008-), "TBA"

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

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0000156|name=Jeff Goldblum
* [http://www.geocities.com/jeffgoldblumonline Ultimate Jeff Goldblum] clix.to/jeffgoldblum
* [http://jeffgoldblumonline.tripod.com Jeff Goldblum Online] A Fan Website
* [http://goldblumstandard.blogspot.com An Up-to-date resource for Jeff Goldblum news and links]
* [http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04186/340311.stm Goldblum resurrects fond memories] , a July 2004 article (with accompanying [http://www.post-gazette.com/downloads/20040704goldblum.mp3 audio commentary] ) from the "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette"
* [http://newyorkmetro.com/nymetro/arts/theater/11669/ April 2005 Interview with Goldblum] from "New York" magazine
* [http://findphx.com/Tribecca/Jeff%20Goldblum_Mini's%20First%20Time_Tribeca%202006.mpg Moving Pictures Magazine Interview]
* [http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/video.php?id=1666 Jeff Goldblum Interview] on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos