Henry Goodman (born 23 April 1950) is a

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

trained

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre.

Early life

He attended the

Central Foundation Boys' School Central Foundation Boys' School is a voluntary aided school, voluntary-aided comprehensive secondary school in the London Borough of Islington. It was founded at a meeting in 1865 and opened the following year in Bath Street, before moving to it ...

and joined the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

, London, in 1969.

Career

Television

Goodman played Dr Robert Silwood in "Secrets of the Dead", a 2001 episode of '' Dalziel and Pascoe''. In 2003 he guest starred in the ITV series '' Foyle's War'' as corrupt American industrialist Howard Paige in “Fifty Ships”, the opening episode of Season 2 of the British TV crime drama set in WWII. In 2013 he played the role of Sir Humphrey Appleby in the remake of '' Yes, Prime Minister'' which was launched on the

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

television channel.

Theatre

In 1991, he originated the role of Roy Cohn in the world premiere of ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

''. He portrayed

Charles Guiteau Charles Julius Guiteau ( ; September 8, 1841June 30, 1882) was an American man who assassinated James A. Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, in 1881. A mentally ill failed lawyer, Guiteau delusionally believed that he had playe ...

in the London premiere of ''Assassins'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

in 1992. He starred as Nathan Detroit in ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Run ...

'' at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

in 1996. The next year, he portrayed Billy Flynn in the West End revival of ''Chicago''. Goodman appeared on Broadway in three shows. He briefly replaced

Nathan Lane Nathan Lane (born Joseph Lane; February 3, 1956) is an American actor. Since 1975, he has been Nathan Lane on screen and stage, on stage and screen in both comedic and dramatic roles. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Na ...

as Max Bialystock in ''The Producers'' in 2002, but was fired after one month due to creative differences with

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

. The following year he returned to Broadway in ''

Tartuffe ''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; , ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy (or more specifically, a farce) by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical theat ...

''. In 2007, he starred as

Tevye Tevye the Dairyman, also translated as Tevye the Milkman (, ''Tevye der milkhiker'' ) is the fictional narrator and protagonist of a series of short stories by Sholem Aleichem, and their various adaptations, the most famous being the musical '' ...

in ''

Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...

'' at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy ...

in London’s West End. In 2010 he played the role of Sir Humphrey Appleby in the stage version of ''Yes, Prime Minister'' at the

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

and later at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

, in London's West End from 17 September 2010. In 2012 he played the title role in ''

The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago mobster, and his attempts to control the cauliflower ra ...

'' in Chichester and then in the West End to critical acclaim. In 2015 he played the title role in Ben Jonson's Jacobean comedy ''

Volpone ''Volpone'' (, Italian for "sly fox") is a comedy play by English playwright Ben Jonson first produced in 1605–1606, drawing on elements of city comedy and beast fable. A merciless satire of greed and lust, it remains Jonson's most-perfo ...

'' at the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, directed by

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is an English theatre director and lyricist. He has been the artistic director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal Haymarket. He has dir ...

and co-starring

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and television presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television sitcom actor, game-show panellist and television prese ...

and Miles Richardson. His previous RSC appearance was in 2003 as

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

. In 2017 he played

Lucian Freud Lucian Michael Freud (; 8 December 1922 – 20 July 2011) was a British painter and draughtsman, specialising in figurative art, and is known as one of the foremost 20th-century English portraitists. His early career as a painter was inf ...

in ''Looking at Lucian'', written by Alan Franks, at the Ustinov Studio at Theatre Royal, Bath. Of this part, he said "I share an intense hunger to want theatre to be as meaningful as he wanted painting to be." In 2022, he played

Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ) is a fictional Belgian detective created by the English writer Agatha Christie. Poirot is Christie's most famous and longest-running character, appearing in 33 novels, two plays (''Black Coffee (play), Black Coffee'' and '' ...

in Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of

Murder on the Orient Express ''Murder on the Orient Express'' is a work of detective fiction by English writer Agatha Christie featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. It was first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club on 1 January 1934. In the U ...

at the

and the Theatre Royal, Bath. He was nominated for a UK Theatre Award for his performance.

Film

In 1999 Goodman played a memorable cameo role as the Ritz concierge in ''

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

''. He portrayed a Hydra doctor in the 2014 film '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'', though he was not listed in the credits. He played the character again, now named Dr.

List A list is a Set (mathematics), set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of t ...

, on the second season of the TV show '' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'', and in the 2015 film '' Avengers: Age of Ultron''.

Radio

Goodman is also a respected radio actor. He portrayed

Pierre Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French playwright and diplomat during the Age of Enlightenment. Best known for his three #Figaro plays, Figaro plays, at various times in his life he was also a watc ...

in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

series ''

Beaumarchais Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (; 24 January 1732 – 18 May 1799) was a French playwright and diplomat during the Age of Enlightenment. Best known for his three Figaro plays, at various times in his life he was also a watchmaker, invent ...

'' in 1996, "Melvin" in '' The Attractive Young Rabbi'' (BBC Radio 4, 1999-2002) and

Leopold Bloom Leopold Paula Bloom is the fictional protagonist and hero of James Joyce's 1922 novel '' Ulysses''. His peregrinations and encounters in Dublin on 16 June 1904 mirror, on a more mundane and intimate scale, those of Ulysses/Odysseus in Homer's ...

in BBC Radio 4's all-day adaptation of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

's '' Ulysses'' for '

Bloomsday Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere on 16 June. The day is named after Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Joyce's 1922 novel ''Ulysses (novel), Ulysses' ...

' in 2012. He has also played author and chemist

Primo Levi Primo Michele Levi (; 31 July 1919 – 11 April 1987) was a Jewish Italian chemist, partisan, Holocaust survivor and writer. He was the author of several books, collections of short stories, essays, poems and one novel. His best-known works i ...

and a large number of other, often Jewish, characters on Radio 4. Goodman is the narrator in the premiere recording by the Hallé Orchestra of the complete stage music Vaughan Williams wrote for the 1909 Cambridge University production of ''

The Wasps ''The Wasps'' () is the fourth in chronological order of the eleven surviving plays by Aristophanes. It was produced at the Lenaia festival in 422 BC, during Athens' short-lived respite from the Peloponnesian War and shortly before the death o ...

'' by

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

Awards and reputation

His awards include the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical playing Charles Guiteau in ''Assassins'' at the

directed by

Sam Mendes Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours ...

in 1993, and the Olivier Award for Best Actor for Shylock in ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' at the National Theatre directed by

in 2000. He has also been nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1998 for ''Chicago'', London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actor (''The Merchant of Venice''), and Theatre Awards UK for Best Performance in a Play in 2012 (''

''). In his autobiography, Antony Sher says Goodman's Shylock is "quite simply the best". He reprised his role for a television film which was released in 2004.

Personal life

Goodman is Jewish. He has five siblings. He is married to Sue Parker, a choreographer and dance director.

Filmography

Television

*'' The Golden Bowl'' *''Bust'' *'' This is David Lander '' *'' London's Burning'' *'' Three Up, Two Down'' *'' Gentlemen and Players'' *'' Rules of Engagement'' *''After the War'' *'' Act of Will'' *''

Capital City A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...

'' *'' Screen Two'' *'' El C.I.D.'' *''Chain'' *''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' *''The Gravy Train Goes East'' (1991) *'' Maigret'' *''

Zorro Zorro ( or , Spanish for "fox") is a fictional character created in 1919 by American Pulp magazine, pulp writer Johnston McCulley, appearing in works set in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles in Alta California. He is typically portrayed as a dashin ...

'' *''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'' *'' Rides'' *''99-1'' *''Performance, BBC'' — ''Measure for Measure'', 1994 *'' Smith & Jones'' *'' Cold Lazarus '' (1996) *''American Voices'' *'' Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes'' *''

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on PBS on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed British productions. Many of these ...

'' — '' Broken Glass'', TV film, 1996 *'' Dalziel and Pascoe'' *''

Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' (2000) – Sultan Billah *'' Spooks'', (2002, "The Lesser of Two Evils") *'' Trust'' *'' Foyle's War'' (2003) *'' Keen Eddie'', (2004, Rabbi Mendelssohn, "Who Wants to Be in a Club That Would Have Me as a Member?", Episode 11) *'' M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team'' *'' Murder in Suburbia '', "The Wedding", Series 2 – Episode 3 *'' Mumbai Calling'', (2007, Pilot) *''

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Some small species of falcons with long, narrow wings are called hobbies, and some that hover while hunting are called kestrels. Falcons are widely distrib ...

'' *'' Yes, Prime Minister'', (2010) 6 episodes *''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'', (2013) *''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

'', (2013, "Cry Me a River", Series 10, Episode 5) *''

Playhouse Presents ''Playhouse Presents'' is an anthology series of self-contained TV plays, made by British broadcaster Sky Arts. The series started airing on 12 April 2012, on Sky Arts. Each episode is written by a different writer and stars a different cast. The ...

'', ''Nixon's the One'', (2014) *''

Penny Dreadful Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular Serial (literature), serial literature produced during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typical ...

'', (2014, "Grand Guignol") *'' Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' – Dr.

*'' Snatch'' – Saul Gold *'' The Reckoning'' - Sir Ludwig Guttman

Film

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes TCM AllMovie * '' Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story'' * '' Secret Weapon'' * '' Son of the Pink Panther'' * ''Degas and Pissarro Fall Out'' * '' Mary Reilly'' * '' Private Parts'' * '' The Saint'' * ''

'' * ''

'' * '' Dirty Tricks'' * '' The Final Curtain'' * ''Hamilton Mattress'' * ''

The Mayor of Casterbridge ''The Mayor of Casterbridge: The Life and Death of a Man of Character'' is an 1886 novel by the English author Thomas Hardy. One of Thomas Hardy's Wessex, Hardy's Wessex novels, it is set in a fictional rural England with Casterbridge standing ...

'' * '' The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' * '' Churchill: The Hollywood Years'' * '' Green Street'' * ''Shakespeare's Happy Endings'' * '' Colour Me Kubrick: A True...Ish Story '' * ''Out on a Limb'' * ''

The Damned United ''The Damned United'' is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel '' The Damned Utd'' – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Cl ...

'' * '' Taking Woodstock'' * '' The Last Days of Lehman Brothers'' * '' The Road to Coronation Street'' * '' Codebreaker'' * ''The Half-Light'' * ''Wonder'' * '' The Challenger Disaster'' * '' Captain America: The Winter Soldier'' – Dr.

* '' Woman in Gold'' * '' Avengers: Age of Ultron'' – Dr. List * '' De Surprise'' * '' Altamira'' * ''Love is Thicker Than Water'' * '' El Elegido'' * '' Their Finest'' (2016) * '' The Limehouse Golem'' (2016) * ''Two Words'' (2018) * '' Sundown'' (2021)

References

External links

Interview with Henry Goodman on SomethingJewish
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Henry 1950 births Living people Actors from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Male actors from London People educated at Central Foundation Boys' School Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English male musical theatre actors English male stage actors Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners Laurence Olivier Award winners Royal Shakespeare Company members Jewish English male actors People from Whitechapel