Roger has alerted me that today is Jeff Goldblum’s 70th birthday! Huzzah!!!
I’ve been a fan of Mr. Goldblum’s for quite a few years, but looking at his filmography, he’s been on my radar even longer than I’ve been aware that he’s been on my radar. I first encountered him in the movie Thank God It’s Friday, the camp disco classic (and yes, I stand by those words, Thank God It’s Friday is glorious disco camp and it’s a rollicking blast to watch even now and I do not apologize for that opinion for one damned second).
Goldblum worked slowly and steadily up the Hollywood food chain, until he was finally a viable lead, probably starting with The Fly, which is an undisputed horror classic and, for my money, the greatest of the 1980s splatter-gross-out horror movies. (I will take The Fly over Alien one hundred times out of one hundred chances. I know, technically Alien isn’t an 80s movie, but I said what I said.)
Finally in the 90s, Goldblum hit it big and was seemingly everywhere. And I was always happy to see him in stuff! Jurassic Park, obviously. Independence Day, which always makes me happy, since it’s like if you took a golden retriever and made them into a goofy sci-fi alien-invasion blockbuster popcorn flick. Goldblum wasn’t just about quirky characters in effects blockbusters, though; he’s done a lot of serious and darker work, too. I’m still sad that his NBC noir-procedural show Raines didn’t score good ratings, because Goldblum was very effective in that show as a troubled detective.
More recently–very recently, actually–we’ve been watching Goldblum’s DisneyPlus show, The World According to Jeff Goldblum. If you haven’t seen this, figure out a way to see this! So far there are two seasons (I hope they do more!) of episodes that are always around 25 minutes long, and each is a min-documentary about some aspect of popular culture. Topics addressed thus far include sneakers, denim, dogs, puzzles, and motocycles. Each episode is a delight as Goldblum does his “quirky cheerful weirdo” thing. We’ve been loving this show. More and more, we need cheerful content that reminds us that our world, with all its problems, really can be a cool place, too.
Two final amusing Goldblum-related items. If you remember his first scene in Jurassic Park, there’s a moment where Goldblum gives this laugh that instantly, and perfectly, establishes his character as being just this side of a madman. (It’s about 25 seconds into the clip that I just linked.) Well, some brilliant soul actually took that almost-maniacal cackle and turned it into a song sample. Sometimes I just love the Internet.
And finally, there is apparently some occasional confusion as to how Mr. Goldblum’s surname is pronounced. Well, here he clears it all up:
Happy birthday,
