John Goodman Through The Years: See The ‘Roseanne’ Star’s Healthy Transformation

By:

Elissa Anderson

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John Goodman Through The Years: See The Actor From His Start

John Goodman Through The Years: See The Actor From His Start — Primetime! John Goodman has been a favorite since hitting small screens across America on ‘Roseanne’ in 1988. The essence of “Big Guy With A Big Personality”, John was a casting agent’s dream. The jolly star went on from ‘Roseanne’ to star in cult classics like ‘The Big Lebowski’, ‘Raising Arizona’ and ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ as well as hits like ‘The Flintstones and ‘Monsters Inc’, among others.

John returned to his role as Dan Conner on the 2018 spin-off ‘The Connors’. Stepping in front of the camera, he looked much slimmer than in the original days. John later revealed he dropped over 200lbs over several years.

He joked with People in 2010, “It takes a lot of creative energy to sit on your a** and figure out what you’re going to eat next. I wanted to live life better.”

John Goodman takes the stage during the 1986 movie ‘True Stories’, directed by Talking Heads frontman David Byrne.

Ready for a good time? Click through to see more photos of John Goodman through the years.

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John Goodman In ‘Sea Of Love’

John Goodman In ‘Sea Of Love’ — John Goodman stands tall in 1989’s ‘Sea Of Love’. He played Detective Sherman Touhey opposite Al Pacino’s Frank Keller in the neo-noir thriller, directed by Harold Becker.

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John Goodman In ‘Roseanne’

John Goodman In ‘Roseanne’ — John Goodman smiles in promo photos for ‘Roseanne’.

John opened up about his audition for the show in 2018 with 20/20, admitting he came into it kind of blind. “All I knew about Roseanne Barr, that she was a rising comedian and she was on a Pizza Hut commercial,” Goodman said. “That’s the only time I’d ever seen her.”

But the two hit it off. Roseanne remembered, “We kind of bonded over making each other laugh, and he has a working-class background too — so I knew he was the guy. As soon as I read with him, I knew we had a hit show.”

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John Goodman At House of Blues Oscar Party

John Goodman At House of Blues Oscar Party — John Goodman shows up in style to the House Of Blues Oscar Party on Mar. 27, 1995 in Hollywood. He looked snazzy in a tux and colorful bow-tie.

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John Goodman In ‘The Big Lebowski’

John Goodman In ‘The Big Lebowski’ — Let’s roll. John Goodman gets ready to bowl in ‘The Big Lebowski’, which stars Jeff Bridges and Steve Buscemi.

Talking about the film’s cult status with Rolling Stone in Aug. 2012, he said, “People had always come up to me and said they appreciated it, but I noticed more and more in the past few years that people were younger, and that kind of scared me because I was afraid it would suffer some kind of odd fate like being a cult film and then being forgotten again. I’m really glad that people appreciate it. I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to it.”

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John Goodman Walks Around New York

John Goodman Walks Around New York — John Goodman walks down 5th Avenue in New York on Aug. 19, 2002. He donned a blue tee-shirt and cargo shorts while carrying a backpack.

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John Goodman Attends The ‘Speed Racer’ Premiere

John Goodman Attends The ‘Speed Racer’ Premiere — John Goodman looks handsome at the premiere of ‘Speed Racer’ in Los Angeles on Apr. 26, 2008. He played Pops in the 2008 live-action remake of the ’60s cartoon.

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John Goodman Attends The AFI Life Achievement Awards Honoring Mike Nichols

John Goodman Attends The AFI Life Achievement Awards Honoring Mike Nichols — John Goodman is dapper in a suit at the AFI Life Achievement Awards event honoring filmmaker Mike Nichols. The event took place on Jun. 10, 2010.

John quit drinking alcohol in 2007, which he says helped him get on a path to health. He told The Guardian in Oct. 2012, “It was getting to be too much.” He went on, “It was 30 years of a disease that was taking its toll on everyone around me and it had got to the point where, every time I did it, it was becoming more and more debilitating. It was life or death. It was time to stop.”

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John Goodman In ‘Flight’

John Goodman In ‘Flight’ — John Goodman struts down the terminal in the 2012 Robert Zemeckis movie ‘Flight’. He looked ready to rock in the film, which stars Denzel Washington as a pilot with addiction issues who ends up at the center of an investigation after a plane crash.

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John Goodman At The 70th Annual Golden Globe

John Goodman At The 70th Annual Golden Globe — John Goodman looks slim and trim at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Jan 13, 2013. He wore a classic tux.

John talked about getting past his yo-yo dieting habits with ABC in 2017. He said, “In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds, and then reward myself with a six-pack or whatever and just go back to my old habits. This time, I wanted to do it slowly. Move, exercise. I’m getting to the age where I can’t afford to sit still anymore.”

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John Goodman At SNL’s 40th Anniversary

John Goodman At SNL’s 40th Anniversary — John Goodman looks snazzy as he attends the SNL 40th Anniversary Special at Rockefeller Plaza, in New York on Feb. 15, 2015. The comic was a frequent SNL host, taking the mic 12 times from 1989 and 2001.

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John Goodman Throws The First Pitch

John Goodman Throws The First Pitch — John Goodman throws out the first pitch at the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game in St. Louis, Missouri in Jul. 2016. It looked like he got a good throw in.

John said his diet was simple with AARP in 2018. “It was basically just portion control and ‘I don’t need it,'” he said. “I was just shoving everything into my mouth.”

He explained that before, “I was just shoving everything into my mouth.” John continued to kid, saying, “But I don’t want to be an example to anybody when the weight comes thundering back on — when I start eating Crisco out of the can with a spoon and a side of confectioner’s sugar.”

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John Goodman Poses For The ‘Roseanne’ Reboot

John Goodman Poses For The ‘Roseanne’ Reboot — John Goodman poses to promote the 2017 reboot of ‘Roseanne’. The show was cancelled after Roseanne Barr made a series of controversial tweets, but later revived as ‘The Connors’ without Roseanne in the cast.

Talking about the first season without Roseanne with Seth Meyers in 2019, he said, “We used to have a lot of fun on the show, and I really missed her this year.”

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John Goodman At The ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Premiere

John Goodman At The ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ Premiere — John Goodman smiles on the red carpet of ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ premiere on Jul. 25, 2019. The HBO show is black comedy about a dysfunctional family of televangelists.

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John Goodman At ‘The Freak Brothers’ Experience

John Goodman At ‘The Freak Brothers’ Experience — John Goodman is all smiles at Tubi’s ‘The Freak Brothers’ Experience at Fred Segal in Los Angeles on Dec. 6, 2021. The out-there animated series is based off a ’60s underground comic by Gilbert Shelton and also features the voices of Tiffany Haddish, Pete Davidson and Woody Harrelson.

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