Jonathan Goldsmith (born September 26, 1938 in New York City) is a prolific actor, mainly in TV series. He was billed for a number of years as Jonathan Lippe and also made a couple of appearances as Jonathan Goldsmith Lippe.
His career started in 1962 with a small part on Naked City. For the next few decades, Goldsmith would make countless TV appearances, usually in cop shows and usually as the henchman for the main villain, though he would eventually get to play the main villain a few times later in his career.
Goldsmith's TV career ended properly with a role on the Dragnet revival in 2003, but he gained belated fame a few years later when he started appearing in TV ads for Dos Equis beer as the character of The Most Interesting Man in the World. Combining a neat head of grey hair, a nicely trimmed beard and an accent and persona he took from long-time friend Fernando Lamas, Goldsmith created a memorable character who spouted aphorisms and oozed charm. The success of the commercials elevated him from prolific character actor to icon status, even posing for selfies with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence and even being invited to Barack Obama's birthday party, and of course, his picture has formed the basis of many a Facebook meme.
After nine years of doing the Dos Equis ads, Goldsmith stepped down in 2016. He made his first acting appearance in 15 years in the film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again.
TV Series with Jonathan Goldsmith that have TV Tropes pages:
- Perry Mason (one episode as Marvin Palmer, 1964)
- Dr. Kildare (one episode as Charlie, 1965)
- The F.B.I. (four episodes, 1965-72)
- My Three Sons (one episode as Photographer, 1966)
- Gunsmoke (14 episodes, 1966-74)
- The Invaders (1967) (one episode as Kevin Ryan, 1967)
- The Fugitive (one episode as Phil, 1967)
- The Wild Wild West (one episode as Capt. Adam Dushan, 1967)
- Cimarron Strip (one episode as Kerwin Vardeman, 1967)
- Hawaii Five-O (two episodes, 1968-77)
- Adam-12 (one episode as Nick Gentry, 1969)
- The Virginian (one episode as Lou White, 1969)
- Ironside (1967) (two episodes, 1969-72)
- Mannix (three episodes, 1969-73)
- Bonanza (one episode as Kyte, 1970)
- Mission: Impossible (one episode as Father Sebastian, 1970)
- Sarge (one episode as Henry, 1971)
- The Bold Ones (one episode as Merrill Hyland, 1971)
- Longstreet (one episode as Dunstan, 1972)
- Love, American Style (two episodes, 1972-73)
- Barnaby Jones (five episodes, 1973-79)
- The Streets of San Francisco (four episodes, 1973-76)
- The Rookies (two episodes, 1973-75)
- Movin' On (one episode as Officer Terry, 1974)
- Petrocelli (three episodes, 1975-76)
- The Rockford Files (two episodes, 1975-78)
- Cannon (one episode as Gleason, 1975)
- Eight is Enough (one episode, 1977)
- Switch (two episodes, 1977-78)
- Chips (two episodes, 1978-81)
- Charlie's Angels (one episode as Vic Devlin, 1980)
- Dallas (3 episodes as Joe Smith in 1982, 16 episodes as Bruce Harvey, 1986-1989)
- T.J. Hooker (three episodes, 1982-85)
- St. Elsewhere (two episodes as Dr. Julian Markes, 1983-85)
- The Fall Guy (one episode as Grant, 1983)
- Manimal (one episode as Felix Manning, 1983)
- The Littles (13 episodes, 1983)
- Dynasty (1981) (three episodes as Sgt. Cooper, 1984)
- Trapper John, M.D. (four episodes, 1984-86)
- Hardcastle and McCormick (two episodes, 1984-1986)
- Knots Landing (five episodes as Frank Elliot, 1985)
- The A-Team (one episode as Preston, 1985)
- Knight Rider (one episode as Ronald Becker, 1986)
- Magnum, P.I. (one episode as Flynn, 1986)
- MacGyver (one episode as Jack, 1987)
- Highway to Heaven (one episode as Fitzroy, 1987)
- Murder, She Wrote (two episodes, 1989-1993)
- Dragnet (one episode as Neil, 2003)
- Grey's Anatomy (one episode as Hal, 2023)
Movies Featuring Jonathan Goldsmith with TV Tropes pages:
- Hang 'Em High (as Tommy, 1968)
- Ice Station Zebra (as Russian Aide, 1968)
- The Shootist (as Book's Victim, 1976, uncredited)
- Go Tell the Spartans (as Sgt. Oleonowski, 1978)
- Phantom of the Mall: Eric's Revenge (as Harv Posner, 1989)
- Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (as Brother Cienfuegos, 2018)
