Biography: Bobcat Goldthwait

by Cory Jackson II


Have you ever heard the short dude with a high pitch voice perform on comedy sketches? Not, Kevin Hart, I'm talking about actor and comedian, Bobcat Goldthwait. Goldthwait was born on May 26, 1962 in Syracuse, New York. From a young age Goldthwait knew he would be a comedian and he started his career at 15, while still in high school. Goldthwait and a classmate, Tom Kenny, performed in a comedy duo, calling themselves “Bobcat and Tomcat”. In the 80s Goldthwait became more popular as a solo stand up comedian with his televised concert specials, Bob Goldthwait- Is He Like That All the Time?, An Evening with Bobcat Goldthwait: Share the Warmth and Meat Bob. Goldthwait is cited for his unique brand of comedy, which combines elements of political satire and often bizarre or somewhat unsettling black comedy. 


Goldthwait's movie debut was in 1985's Police Academy 2, in which he starred as Zed, an obnoxious gang leader that causes trouble for the newly graduated police cadets. Here are some scenes of Goldthwait as Zed. https://youtu.be/LsBugR9dpdU Zed's character was added comedy to the movie but there was some times I felt he was doing too much to be funny in this film. It didn't feel as natural as the other characters in the hysterically funny first movie. Unfortunately I'm not the only one who feels this way because the film received mostly negative reviews compared to the first which was a critical success in the box office. After doing many stand up shows in clubs and bars during the 80s, Goldthwait got a big break when he toured with Nirvana in 1993, which would be their final concert together. Goldthwait caught some negative attention when he made jokes about Micheal Jordan, when the show was in Chicago. In a interview with Westword, Goldthwait describes “No, I think that experience was kind of a breath of fresh air. After doing so many comedy clubs and comedy for so long, it was kind of fun to go off and go, All right, I'm going to be doing comedy in the last place you should be doing stand-up. It was kind of fun.”  

During the 90s,  he made several guest appearances on talk shows as well as comedy programs including The Ben Stiller Show, The Larry Sanders Show, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno show in where he on impulse set a couch on fire. This was a controversial time for Goldthwait because no one knew why he set the couch on fire. Years after the incident Goldthwait says he did because he thought it was funny.  https://youtu.be/JHvScKXuR68 Even though Goldthwait's career up until this point has been an up and down roller coaster, Goldthwait found much success as the voice of various characters on television series. Some of these shows were Capitol Critters (1992); The Moxy & Flea Show (1995); Unhappily Ever After (1995); Hercules (1998) and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command (2000). In the new millennium Goldthwait found success with producing some of his own films one in which Windy City Heat (2003), won a Comedic Award for Best Comedy Film at Montreal's Just for Laughs Film Festival in 2004. That same year Goldthwait began directing ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live!in which he helped ratings raise a whopping two million viewers per night with an increase of 50% in the teenage demographic. He eventually left the show in 2006 to focus on his own directing career but eventually returned to the series. 

Goldthwait has been married twice; first to Ann Luly in 1986 in which he had two children and again in 2009 to Sarah de Sa Rego but they divorced in 2014. Goldthwait credits his inspiration to be the late Robin Williams. The two had a lot in common especially with the use of their voice. This prompted a a strong friendship and business opportunities for the duo when Robin starred in Goldthwait's  2009 dark comedy, World' Greatest Dad. This isn't the first movie of Goldthwait to be considered dark in its tone but funny nonetheless. 


http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001281/bio 
http://reviews.ticketmaster.com/7171/702587/bobcat-goldthwait-reviews/reviews.htm 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHvScKXuR68 

http://www.westword.com/arts/bobcat-goldthwait-on-touring-with-nirvana-and-what-attracts-him-to-the-darkness-5811778