Even at 16, Jeff Goldblum wanted to knock em dead. In 11th grade when his life at Pittsburg's West Mifflin North High School was, he says "as dreary as you can imagine," he began scanning the Yellow Pages for cocktail lounges that might need a piano player. "I couldnt even drive yet," he says. But he had already shot up to 6'4" and boasted both a repertoire that included "misty" and "satin doll" and plenty of moxie to match. "Id say 'Hi I hear youre looking for a pianist.' Occasionally someone would say 'Come out and see what you can do'" Unfortunately he almost never landed a gig.
But his audacity eventually paid off. Goldblum, 39, rocketed to prominence, thanks to a gallery of memorable loopy portraits, including the horny PEOPLE reporter in THE BIG CHILL, the scientist insect who buzzed through David Cronenberg's gory 1986 remake of THE FLY, and the desperately down at the heels actor in the romantic comesy THE TALL GUY. Amid his flourishing career, two marrages Paticia Gaul and Geena Davis failed.
Currently Goldblum is enjoying his single guy status (although he is seeing Davis again) as well as appearing in two new movies. He poses as Jesus look alike for photographer Bob Hoskins in the offbeat comedy THE FAVOR, THE WATCH, AND THE VERY BIG FISH, which opens on May 8 in limited release, and stars as a menacingly affable dope dealing attorney in the action movie DEEP COVER. "Its not like he does a scene and then hes not the character." says COVER director Bill Duke. "He walks around in that intense state until he goes home and takes off those clothes."
On a recent afternoon, swathed in black jeans, his long frame folded onto a patchwork couch in profusely colourful living room of his bubblegum pink Hollywood Hills hoouse, the actor admits he got a kick out of the tough guy action. "It was fun," he says of the scene in which he shoves another dealer from a speeding limousine. "I dont live a life like that. I dont fight with people. So its a nice release."
Early on, acting offered a much needed release from the anxieties of childhood. The third of four children of a Pittsburg internist, Dr. Harold Goldblum, a stern disciplinarian, and his wife, Shirley, Jeff was raised on a diet of fear. "There were beatings with belts, and there was always the threat of beating," he recals. "It was terrible and abusive. I hate the whole system of being quiet and..... |
