Age: 74
male
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Vanity Fair has called Goodman "among our very finest actors." Goodman is known for his collaborations with the Coen brothers, acting in films such as Raising Arizona (1987), Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), and Inside Llewyn Davis (2013). He took on leading roles in King Ralph (1991), The Babe (1992), Matinee (1993), The Flintstones (1994), and 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016). Goodman also had supporting roles in Revenge of the Nerds (1984), True Stories (1986), Sea of Love (1989), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Storytelling (2001), Speed Racer (2008), The Artist (2011), Flight (2012), Argo (2012), The Hangover Part III (2013), and Atomic Blonde (2017). He has voiced roles in The Emperor's New Groove franchise (2000–2008), the Monsters, Inc. franchise (2001–present), The Jungle Book 2 (2003), and Bee Movie (2007). On television, Goodman gained recognition by playing the family patriarch Dan Conner in the comedy series Roseanne (1988–1997; 2018) and The Conners (2018–present). Goodman had regular roles in the HBO drama series Treme (2010–2011), the legal drama series Damages (2011), the political comedy series Alpha House (2013–2014), and the HBO comedy series The Righteous Gemstones (2019–present). He has been a frequent host of Saturday Night Live (1989–2013) and has guest starred in The West Wing (2003–2004), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006), and Community (2011–2012). Goodman started his career at The Public Theatre, acting in numerous productions, including Henry IV, Part 1 (1981), The Skin of Our Teeth (1998), and The Seagull (2001). He made his Broadway debut in Big River (1985), for which Goodman received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical nomination. He returned to Broadway in revivals of the Samuel Becket play Waiting for Godot (2009) and the newspaper comedy The Front Page (2016). Goodman debuted his West End in a revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo (2015).
1967. Jack Hart, a young, wandering musician, travels the American backroads with nothing but his guitar and his best friend, Theo Ramires, a bassist with a sharp wit but a big heart. They play tiny bars, diners, and roadside venues — barely scraping by, but living freely. Jack dreams of something bigger; where Theo is very content. At a smoky bar, a frequent for Jack and Theo, run by the warm‑hearted Jim Hardy, Jack meets Allison “Allie” Pond, a drifting soul recovering from heartbreak and searching for purpose. She’s empathetic, funny, and a little lost — someone who tends to fall into other people’s dreams instead of chasing her own. She joins the boys on the road, and the three form a makeshift family. Their chemistry is electric. Their music grows richer. Jack and Allie fall deeply in love. But everything changes when Dan Cole, a once‑failed musician turned talent scout, hears Jack perform. Dan sees potential — and dollar signs. He introduces Jack to Evelyn Stone, a razor‑sharp record executive who prioritizes profit over people. She promises Jack the world, and he takes it. Suddenly Jack is swept into a whirlwind of fame: studio sessions, interviews, image makeovers, endless touring. Theo is pushed aside. Allie is left behind. Jack becomes the star he always dreamed of being — but at the cost of the people who made him whole. Allie returns home to her older sister Amelia, who loves her fiercely but never understood her wandering. Amelia’s partner, Victor Harwell, is kind and grounded — a picture of the stable life Allie could choose. With them, Allie confronts the question she’s avoided for years: Does she want a life on the road, or a life with roots? Meanwhile, Jack spirals. The industry reshapes him into something unrecognizable. Critics who once mocked him — like the fickle Colin Cornely — now praise him. But the applause feels hollow. He’s lost Theo. He’s lost Allie. He’s lost himself. When Jack finally breaks under the pressure, he returns to Jim Hardy’s bar — the place where it all began. Jim, with his quiet wisdom, tells Jack the truth he’s been running from: Dreams mean nothing if you lose the people who believed in you before you believed in yourself. Jack sets out to find Allie. Their reunion isn’t easy. Allie has grown. She’s learned to stand up for what she wants — and what she won’t sacrifice. Jack apologizes, not with promises, but with honesty. He doesn’t ask her to follow him again. He asks if they can build something together. Years later, in the film’s final scene, we see Jack and Allie in a sunlit yard, playing with their young daughter, Piper Hart. Theo visits, bass in hand, ready to jam. The music begins again — not for fame, but for joy.
