Gordon Goodman
Contents
Early life and education
Goodman grew up on a cattle ranch in a rural area of Southern California. His father was S.L. Goodman, a water department supervisor in Moorpark, California. His mother, Gwyn Goodman, is a real estate broker and local historian. At 15, he began a professional career as a singer, and by 18, received the first full-tuition scholarship in Music at Loyola Marymount University. At LMU, he studied under conductor Paul Salamunovich. He also began vocal studies with Seth Riggs, Nolan Van Way and opera legend Giorgio Totsi. He then went on to study musical theatre at the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera Workshop. He continued to persue his bachelors in business, a Master of Science degree in Psychology, a Master of Arts in Media Psychology, and a Doctorate in Psychology. His background in entertainment led to his research in the field of performance anxiety. In 2011, he conducted the largest study in the world of stage fright in elite musical theatre performers. Goodman continues to teach college at the graduate and undergraduate level.
Career
Music Artist
Goodman began composing music at 11 years of age. His first published song was published by Samuel French for the stage musical comedy by Ruth and Alan Hale, April Anne. He was already a professional singer when he entered Loyola Marymount University. Soon, Goodman was appearing as a baritone soloist or recording solo artist with such groups as the London City Symphony, Prague Symphony, West Side Symphony, Pasadena Symphony, Phoenix, Utah, and San Diego Symphonies, and the Los Angeles Baroque Orchestra. Goodman sang for Steve Martin on the movie soundtrack of Pennies From Heaven, and on the movie soundtracks of Flatliners, Dracula, The Postman, Star Trek VI, Star Trek Generations, Twister, Independence Day, Quest for Camelot, Six Days-Seven Nights, Devil's Advocate, Sum of All Fears, A.I, and Triple X, for composers such as John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, Randy Edelman, Bruce Broughton, James Newton Howard, and others. He performed dozens of voiceovers for corporate training films and commercials. He also did cartoon voiceovers such as his role as Rudolfo in the classic Pink Panther cartoon, A Nut at the Opera.
After acquiring his first graduate degree in psychology in the mid 1990’s, Goodman began giving workshops in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) through Advanced Communications Technologies for real estate sales professionals. Although this prompted him to obtain his brokers license, he decided that the field of entertainment was a better fit.
Goodman was hired to help develop the stage character of Gaston in the preliminary mounting of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, opposite Broadway’s Stephanie Block. He also sang for the premiere of Disney’s animated feature, Aladdin. With Henry Mancini at the piano, he performed for the tribute to Audrey Hepburn hosted by Roger Moore. He was later the Singing Gondolier at the tribute to Cher in a costume created by Bob Mackie.
In early 2000, While playing Jud in a production of Oklahoma, Goodman’s larynx was crushed during a fight scene. Though he continued to sing, he began to look for other career options. He wrote his first book, King of the Northern Lights, and wrote and directed a short animated film in Bulgaria based on the book. He composed and recorded the orchestral soundtrack in Bulgaria as well.
In 2002, Goodman wrote Emma and the Gobbletygoos, a dramatized audiobook, recorded by the stars of Days of Our Lives. Goodman and the The Days of Our Lives stars donated the audiobook to Retinoblastoma International.
Throughout this period, he continued to do roles in various musical theatre productions around the country, including starring in the world premiere of the musical Utah at the now famous Tuachan outdoor theatre.
In 2013, Goodman began working with veteran producer Chris Beade and his wife Carolyn in conjunction with Vin di Bona Productions (America’s Funniest Home Videos). For the next few years, he worked as an Art Director, helping develop pitches for new television game shows. Their final project before Bearde's death in 2017 was translating VR games into standard television 2D format.
In 2017, he began teaching psychology at Young Americans College for the Performing Arts. He is presently an instructor at Wright Graduate University in Chicago.
Actor
During his career, Goodman has worked with Bob Hope, John Raitt, Johnny Depp, Rich Little, Jim Carrey, Tim Curry, Leslie Uggams, Shelly Berman, Ed Asner, and many others. He has starred in over 25 television commercials, including Jack in the Box and Verizon. Goodman made history by becoming the first live-action Aquaman (the DC Comics character). In addition, he has his own animatronic character at a famous Disney amusement park.
| Role | Show |
| Edward Moncrief | On a Clear Day You Can See Forever |
| Tom Tom | Babes in Toyland |
| Lancelot | Camelot |
| Jacob Jamblin | Utah! World Premiere |
| Matt Burke | Anna Christie |
| Charlie | Annie Get Your Gun |
| The Professor | Gilligan’s Island the Musical |
| Sir Evelyn Oakleigh | Anything Goes |
| Cinderella’s Prince/Wolf | Into the Woods |
| Dr. Craven | Secret Garden |
| The Duke | Big River |
| Jud | Oklahoma |
| Captain Von Trapp | Sound of Music |
| Mr. Brownlow | Oliver |
| John Barrymore | Barrymore |
| Maurice | Beauty and the Beast |
| Mr. Lundie | Brigadoon |
| Stephen Hopkins | 1776 |
| John Brown | Journals of Osborne P. Anderson |
Writer
Goodman has written several books and audiobooks.
- The Knights of Royal Pond
- The Bully and the Castle of Mud
- The Fish Who Had Fingers
- Stage Fright: Who Needs It
- Opera Goats
- King of the Northern Lights
- The Donkey in the Moon
- A Monster in the House
Bibliography
- Goodman, G. (August 2013). Actors And Fear: The Role Of Stage Fright. Poster presented at the APA convention, Honolulu, Hawaii.
- Goodman, G., & Kaufman, J. (2014). Gremlins In My Head: Predicting Stage Fright In Elite Actors.[3] Empirical Studies of the Arts, 32(2):148. DOI: 10:2190/DM.32.2b.
- Goodman, G. (2013 August). Actors And Fear: The Role Of Stage Fright. Poster presented at the APA convention, Honolulu, Hawaii.
- Goodman, G. (2014). Fear And Loathing: Judgment And Anxiety In Elite Professional Actors. Monograph: Fielding Graduate University Press[4]
- Knights of Royal Pond[5]
- The Fish Who had Fingers[6]
- Opera Goats[2]
- The Bully and the Castle of Mud[7]
Goodman’s image was used for the cover of the book I Don’t Want to Talk About It by Terrance Real. His theories on stage fright first appeared as a poster exhibited at the 2013 APA convention. He expanded these theories in a number of papers and a book on the subject. His new course on stage fright is due to be released in 2023. Goodman recently completed his series of paintings based on basic psychological needs, called the Teddy Bear Series, four paintings that carry the themes of creativity, community, empathy, and purpose.
Awards and recognition
- Ovation Award nomination, Best Actor in Barrymore
- Mercury Theatre Award and Stage Company Award
- Scenie Award
- Black Belt in Shotokan Karate
- Certification in Artificial Insemination by Carnation Genetics
- Certification in Hypnotherapy by UCLA Medical School
- California Broker’s License
- Goodman has received commendations from both the California State Senate and the California State Assembly for his contributions to the arts.
Personal life
In 1974, Goodman married Nanette Salamunovich, daughter of conductor Paul Salamunovich. They had two children, Brianne and Zachary. His wife, Nanette, died in 1977. Early in 1996, Goodman married Alison Court, a Rockette at Radio City in New York, and Snow White at many Disney movie premieres. Alison is currently a choreographer at Disneyland.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Ref(s) |
| Actor | |||
| 2017 | Little Bill's Peep Show (Short) | Narrator | [1] |
| 2010 | The Repair (Short) | The Announcer (voice) | |
| 2008 | Man of a Thousand Faces (Documentary) | Major Peteiri | |
| 2006 | Think Tank | Lord Billiards | |
| 2004 | Century City (TV Series) | Ep.: Sweet Child of Mine - Jury Foreperson | |
| 2002 | Family Affair (TV Series) | Ep.: I Know What You Did Last Sunday - Captain LeFarge | |
| 2001 | Shrinking Violet (TV Movie) | CEO | |
| 1992 | In Living Color (TV Series) | Vice President Dan Quayle
Ep.: The Fist That Rocks the Cradle | |
| 1990 | 21 Jump Street (TV Series) | Ep.:How I Saved the Senator - Senator Phillips | |
| 1993 | A Nut at the Opera (cartoon) | Rudolfo/Phantom | |
| 1983 | Silver Spoons (TV Series) | Ep.:The X Team - Charles (voice) | |
| Soundtrack | |||
| 1991 | Animated Stories from the New Testament (TV Series) | Ep.: Forgive Us Our Debts - Performer: "I Forgive" | [1] |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Gordon Goodman" (in en-US). https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1361408/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Opera Goats Tapa blanda – 6 Agosto 2018". https://www.amazon.com/Opera-Goats-Gordon-Goodman/dp/0974602795.
- ↑ Goodman, Gordon; Kaufman, James C. (2014-07). "Gremlins in My Head: Predicting Stage Fright in Elite Actors" (in en). Empirical Studies of the Arts 32 (2): 133–148. doi:10.2190/EM.32.2.b. ISSN 0276-2374. http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.2190/EM.32.2.b.
- ↑ "Stage Fright: Who Needs It?: Getting Rid Of Stage Fright for Good Tapa blanda – 6 Diciembre 2013". https://www.amazon.com/Stage-Fright-Needs-Getting-Good/dp/0615925278.
- ↑ "The Knights of Royal Pond Audible Logo Audible Audiolibro – Versión íntegra". https://www.amazon.com/The-Knights-of-Royal-Pond/dp/B0947FY9T4/ref=tmm_aud_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=.
- ↑ "The Fish Who Had Fingers Tapa blanda – 24 Agosto 2018". https://www.amazon.com/Fish-Who-Had-Fingers/dp/0974602744.
- ↑ Gordon Goodman (2006), Bully & the Castle of Mud, CD Baby, https://www.amazon.com/Bully-Castle-Mud-Gordon-Goodman/dp/B000I5YG1Q, retrieved 2022-12-14
