John Goodman's 9 Most Iconic Roles

By John Connor Coulston

John Goodman is one of Hollywood's most recognizable faces and voices working today. While Goodman is a household name nowadays, he was not always that way. He started out as a young man from Missouri who moved to New York City to pursue acting. Along the way he starred in more notable and now-classic roles, leading up to his latest performance, returning to the role of Dan Conner in ABC's Roseanne revival, which was soon relaunched without Roseanne Barr as The Conners.

With The Conners extending the charm of the original Roseanne into a whole new generation, it's easy to see how new fans could be looking for more Goodman. Luckily for them, he's starred in numerous high-quality shows movies and roles through the years, so there's plenty to enjoy. Scroll through to revisit some of Goodman's most iconic performances.

Coach Harris ('Revenge of the Nerds')

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(Photo: 20th Century Fox)

One of the Goodman's earliest roles ended up being a small piece of an '80s classic. Goodman supervised the antagonist jocks in 1984's Revenge of the Nerds as Coach Harris, who is in a handful of scenes. Most notably, he inspires the jocks to go into a rage after the nerds best them in a musical performance competition.

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Gale Snoats (Raising Arizona)

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(Photo: 20th Century Fox)

Goodman's first collaboration with the revered writer-directors Joel and Ethan Coen came in 1987's Raising Arizona. The actor plays Gale Snoats, an escaped criminal and friend of Hi (Nicolas Cage), in this film, which was directed by Joel and written by both Coen brothers

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Dan Conner ('Roseanne' and 'The Conners')

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(Photo: ABC)

Possibly Goodman's most widely known role is as Dan Conner in the ABC sitcom Roseanne. The Golden-Globe-winner starred as the family's patriarch in all nine seasons of the original series, but did take on a limited role in the final seasons due to his movie career. He also returned to the role for the show's revival season in 2018 and the aforementioned spinoff, The Conners.

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Rex the Dinosaur ('We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story')

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(Photo: Universal Pictures)

One of Goodman's first voice roles was in the beloved cartoon film We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story. He played the starring role as Rex, in what would be a performance that set the tone for his later Pixar/Disney work.

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Walter Sobchak ('The Big Lebowski')

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(Photo: Working Title Films)

Another acclaimed Goodman roles is his turn as Walter Sobchak, the best friend of "The Dude" (Jeff Bridges) in The Big Lebowski. Walter is arguably his best-known role in a Coen project, so much so that it even spawned an online meme a decade later.

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Daniel "Big Dan" Teague ('O Brother, Where Art Thou?')

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(Photo: Working Title Films)

Goodman delivers one of best villain roles as "Big Dan" Teague in O Brother, Where Art Thou?, another acclaimed Coen project. As Big Dan, Goodman viciously attacks the film's protagonists with a tree branch, before meeting his fate at a Ku Klux Klan rally later in the film.

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Pacha ('The Emperor's New Groove')

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(Photo: Disney)

Goodman went down in Disney animation history as as Pacha, the mild-mannered villager who helps Emperor Kuzco (David Spade) win back his throne. While The Emperor's New Groove was his first big role in the Disney family, it ended up not being his most memorable turn in Disney project.

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James P. "Sulley" Sullivan ('Monsters Inc.' and 'Monsters University')

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Goodman's signature vocals would be forever tied in with the Pixar universe when he starred as lead creature Sulley in 2001's Monsters Inc. He also voiced the role in the 2013 prequel Monster's University, as well as in other Pixar-related projects.

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Howard Stambler ('10 Cloverfield Lane')

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Deep into his career, Goodman also delivered a memorable performance in the horror genre as Howard Stambler in 10 Cloverfield Lane. Stambler is a survival bunker owner who takes in Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) and Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) when terrifying blackout strike the world.

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