Jeff Goldblum

Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum born October 22, 1952 is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as Jurassic Park (1993) and Independence Day (1996), as well as their respective sequels, The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018), and Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).

Goldblum also starred in films including Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Big Chill (1983), and Into the Night (1985), before coming to wider attention as Seth Brundle in David Cronenberg’s The Fly (1986), which earned him a Saturn Award for Best Actor. His other films include The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), The Tall Guy (1989), Deep Cover (1992), Powder (1995), The Prince of Egypt (1998), Cats & Dogs (2001), Igby Goes Down (2002), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), Adam Resurrected (2008), Le Week-End (2013), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017).

Goldblum has also starred in several TV series, including the eighth and ninth seasons of Law & Order: Criminal Intent as Zack Nichols. He directed the short film Little Surprises, which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film. His jazz band, Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, released their first album, The Capitol Studios Sessions, in 2018.

Early life

Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum was born to Jewish parents on October 22, 1952, in West Homestead, Pennsylvania. His mother, Shirley Jane Goldblum (née Temeles; October 30, 1926 – January 9, 2012), was a radio broadcaster who later ran a kitchen equipment and appliances sales firm; his father, Harold Leonard Goldblum (April 25, 1920 – February 23, 1983), was a medical doctor and major in the U.S. Army during World War II. His family is from Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with roots in Starobin and Zolochiv. He has a sister, Pamela, and an elder brother, Lee. His other brother, Rick, whom Goldblum has described as a “kind of hero of mine”, died in 1971 at age 23 while travelling in Morocco, having contracted dysentery which led to kidney failure. Goldblum credits his interest in jazz music to Rick’s influence while they were growing up. He has stated that his brother’s early death made him “more focused” and gave him a determination to “save myself and survive”.

During his childhood, Goldblum belonged to an Orthodox synagogue and had a bar mitzvah ceremony. His family also celebrated Christmas, and he was raised to believe in Santa Claus. His parents were interested in show business. His father nearly studied acting before deciding to pursue medical studies, going on to become Chief of Medicine at a Pittsburgh hospital. Goldblum moved to New York City at 17 to become an actor. He 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 the Tony Award-winning musical Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is an accomplished jazz pianist.

Career

Goldblum made his film debut as a home-invading 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). He has a brief part as a party guest in Annie Hall (1977); Goldblum is seen saying into the telephone at a Hollywood party, “This is Mr. Davis. I forgot my mantra.”

Goldblum has had leading roles in films such as The Fly (1986), Jurassic Park (1993), Earth Girls Are Easy, The Tall Guy, Vibes (1988) and Into the Night (1985).

Goldblum’s strong supporting roles include those in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Big Chill (1983), and Independence Day (1996), as well as the Wes Anderson films The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 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 U.S. Apple commercials, including advertisements for the iMac and iBook. He also voices some U.S. Toyota commercials as well as Procter & Gamble’s facial cream line. He has appeared on Irish TV in commercials for the National Lottery.

Goldblum taught acting at Playhouse West in North Hollywood 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.

Goldblum played the role of Adam in 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.

He made a guest appearance on Sesame Street in 1990 as Bob’s long-lost brother Minneapolis (parody of Indiana Jones), in a sketch where Big Bird’s friend Snuffleupagus had “the golden cabbage of Snuffertiti” hidden in his cave. He has appeared on Tom Goes to the Mayor, The Colbert Report, Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job! and Portlandia.

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.

Goldblum replaced Chris Noth as a senior detective on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the series, Goldblum plays Detective Zack Nichols. In August 2010, media outlets reported that Goldblum had decided not to return to Criminal Intent due to persistent concerns about the program’s future.

In 2014, Goldblum’s jazz band, The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, did a weekly show at the Carlyle Hotel. Also in 2014, he appeared in an episode of Last Week Tonight parodying his role in Law & Order. In 2016, he reprised his role of David Levinson in Independence Day: Resurgence, the sequel to Roland Emmerich’s 1996 alien invasion/disaster film Independence Day.

In November 2015, he joined the ensemble cast of Shane Carruth’s third film The Modern Ocean. Goldblum played The Grandmaster in the Marvel superhero film Thor: Ragnarok (2017). He reprised his role as Dr. Ian Malcolm in the franchise’s fifth film Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and will do so again, this time with fellow Jurassic Park alumni Sam Neill and Laura Dern, in Jurassic World: Dominion, currently filming.

On May 29, 2018, Billboard announced that he had been signed by Decca Records to record a studio album for release later in the year. The Capitol Studios Sessions duly appeared on November 9, 2018. This was followed 12 months later by I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This, Goldblum having played Glastonbury that summer.

In July 2018, a 25 ft (7.6m) statue of Goldblum was erected next to London’s Tower Bridge as a temporary installation in order to mark 25 years since the release of Jurassic Park. At Disney’s D23 Expo in 2019, Disney announced the show The World According to Jeff Goldblum would feature Goldblum and be available at the launch of the Disney+ streaming service on November 12, 2019.

Personal life

From 1980 to 1985, Goldblum was married to Patricia Gaul, with whom he appeared in Silverado (1985). From 1987 to 1991, he was married to Geena Davis, his co-star in Transylvania 6-5000 (1985), The Fly (1986), and Earth Girls Are Easy (1988).

In mid-2014, Goldblum became engaged to Emilie Livingston, a Canadian Olympic gymnast 30 years his junior; the couple married on November 8, 2014. On January 9, 2015, Goldblum announced on the Late Show with David Letterman that the couple was expecting a son, who was born on July 4, 2015. Goldblum announced on the January 11, 2017, episode of Conan that Livingston was pregnant with their second child, who was born on April 7, 2017.

Goldblum is an omnivore, but opts to eat vegan on occasion.