Henry Goodman


Henry Goodman is a RADA trained British actor. He has appeared on television and radio, in film and in the theatre.

Early life

He attended the Central Foundation Boys' School and joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London, in 1969.

Career

Television

Goodman played Dr Robert Silwood in "Secrets of the Dead", a 2001 episode of Dalziel and Pascoe. In 2010, he played Cecil Bernstein - co-founder, with his brother Sidney, of Granada Television - in The Road to Coronation Street, about how the long-running soap was created. 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 television channel.
He played Mr Fischer in the Christmas 2025 episode of Call the Midwife.

Theatre

In 1991, he originated the role of Roy Cohn in the world premiere of Angels in America.
He portrayed Charles Guiteau in the London premiere of Assassins at the Donmar Warehouse in 1992. He starred as Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls at the Royal National Theatre 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 as Max Bialystock in The Producers in 2002, but was fired after one month due to creative differences with Mel Brooks. The following year he returned to Broadway in Tartuffe.
In 2007, he starred as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof at the Savoy Theatre 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 and later at the Gielgud Theatre, in London's West End from 17 September 2010.
In 2012 he played the title role in The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui 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 at the Royal Shakespeare Company, directed by Trevor Nunn and co-starring Matthew Kelly and Miles Richardson. His previous RSC appearance was in 2003 as Richard III.
In 2017 he played Lucian Freud 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 in Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express at the Chichester Festival Theatre 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. 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, 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 in the BBC Radio 4 series Beaumarchais in 1996, "Melvin" in The Attractive Young Rabbi and Leopold Bloom in BBC Radio 4's all-day adaptation of James Joyce's Ulysses for 'Bloomsday' in 2012. He has also played author and chemist Primo Levi and a large number of other, often Jewish, characters on Radio 4.
Goodman is the narrator in the 2005 premiere recording by the Hallé Orchestra of the complete The Wasps that Vaughan Williams wrote for the 1909 Cambridge Greek Play production of The Wasps by Aristophanes.

Awards and reputation

His awards include the Olivier [Award for Best Actor in a Musical] playing Charles Guiteau in Assassins at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Sam Mendes in 1993, and the Olivier Award for Best Actor for Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at the National Theatre directed by Trevor Nunn 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, 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

Film

Sources: Rotten Tomatoes TCM AllMovieMurderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal StorySecret WeaponSon of the Pink PantherDegas and Pissarro Fall OutMary ReillyPrivate PartsThe SaintNotting HillArabian NightsDirty TricksThe Final CurtainHamilton MattressThe Mayor of CasterbridgeThe Life and Death of Peter SellersChurchill: The Hollywood YearsGreen StreetShakespeare's Happy EndingsColour Me Kubrick: A True...Ish Story Out on a Limb The Damned UnitedTaking WoodstockThe Last Days of Lehman BrothersThe Road to Coronation StreetCodebreakerThe Half-LightWonderThe Challenger DisasterCaptain America: The Winter Soldier – Dr. ListWoman in GoldAvengers: Age of Ultron – Dr. ListDe SurpriseAltamiraLove is Thicker Than WaterEl ElegidoTheir Finest The Limehouse Golem Two Words