One of Hollywood’s most adored and productive actors is John Goodman.
Goodman has had an incredible career that is still going strong, starting with his breakout role on the hit sitcom Roseanne and continuing with countless other great movies.
For Goodman, that great woman is his wife Anna Beth Hartzog, to whom he has been blissfully married for more than three decades. Of course, behind every great man stands a great woman.
Through good and bad times, Anna has been a source of support for Goodman. At a difficult point in his life, she gave him the motivation to stop drinking, which eventually caused him to lose a significant amount of weight.
The couple is currently commemorating their 33rd wedding anniversary.
While shooting the 1988 movie Everybody’s All-American in New Orleans, Goodman first met the woman who would become his wife. The actor went to a Halloween party and fell in love with Anna there.
“I went to this Halloween party, and she walked up to me and said, ‘Hi.’ I couldn’t figure out why anyone that pretty was talking to me,” Goodman told Elle.
The two didn’t begin dating right away, though; according to Goodman on Seth Meyers, his future wife “thought he was a zombie.” However, after he “stalked her long distance,” the two began dating.
John Goodman was also making a name for himself at this time, thanks to his breakthrough performance in Roseanne. He was nominated for five Emmy Awards and received a Golden Globe for his performance.
But Goodman was having trouble in the background. The actor started drinking heavily, including on the set of the popular show, as the actor’s newfound fame began to wear on him.
He told Today that it was initially exciting. When I lost my anonymity, things became frightening.
“I got complacent and ungrateful. And after nine years—eight years, I wanted to leave the show,” he continued. “I handled it like I did everything else, by sittin’ on a bar stool. And that made it worse… My speech would be slurred.”
After missing a rehearsal after drinking with friends, things hit rock bottom and he realized he needed help.
“I was still drinking, but I was still shaking. I had the clarity of thought that I needed to be hospitalized,” he said, according to The Sun.
He recalls that his wife ultimately saved his life by arranging for him to enter a rehabilitation facility.
“I called my wife, which was like turning myself into the Gestapo. And she made some phone calls; we got me into a treatment center, and I detoxed there and decided I liked the feeling.”
Goodman has reportedly been sober since 2007 after a 30-year battle with alcoholism.
Additionally, his decision to stop drinking alcohol marked the beginning of another significant change in his life: his drastic weight loss.
“I was just eating all the time. I was just eating alcoholically,” he told Peter Travers in 2017. “In the old days, I would take three months out, lose 60 or 70 pounds, and then reward myself with a 6-pack of bud or whatever and just go back to my old habits.”
“Then 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. And it gives me the energy to work, ‘cause work is very draining.”
Goodman reportedly shed 100 pounds. He attributes his success, in addition to giving up drinking, to portion control and working with personal trainer Mackie Shilstone.
Now that Goodman is healthy and sober, his career is flourishing. He recently appeared in the HBO series The Righteous Gemstones as well as the spin-off The Conners. He has continued to make appearances in numerous movies, including blockbusters like 10 Cloverfield Lane and Kong: Skull Island.
Additionally, John Goodman’s personal life is still going well. He and Anna have been married for 33 years as of today.
In addition, his 32-year-old daughter Molly reportedly works in Hollywood as a production assistant.
The actor claimed he relocated to New Orleans to keep his daughter out of the Los Angeles tabloid spotlight and attributes his daughter’s successful upbringing to his wife: “She turned out great. But she had her mother and her grandmother to teach her manners,” Goodman said.
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