Goldblum’s greatest characters
Twenty years ago he was arguably the biggest star on the planet, his movies occupying the top two spots on the ‘‘biggest box office of all-time’’ chart.
However, Oscar, Emmy, Genie and Drama Desk Award winner Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum has always been known as more of a character actor, bringing a succession of weird and wonderful beings to life.
Here are 10 of his best:
Jack Bellicec (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1978)
A struggling writer who owns a bathhouse with his wife, Nancy (Veronica Cartwright), he is one of the first to discover that the invading ‘‘pods’’ are able to transform into humans.
Best line: The rest of the world is trying to change people to fit the world. I’m trying to change the world to fit people.
Michael Gold (The Big Chill, 1983)
A sex-obsessed People magazine journalist, he’s one of seven former college friends reuniting for a weekend together after a death of another of their mates.
Best line: I don’t know anyone who could get through the day without two or three juicy rationalisations. They’re more important than sex.
Seth Brundle (The Fly, 1986)
A brilliant, but eccentric scientist whose teleportation project goes somewhat awry when a bug gets into the equipment.
Best line: Insects . . . don’t have politics. They’re very . . . brutal. No compassion, no compromise.
Mac (Earth Girls Are Easy, 1988)
A blue alien who falls in love with manicurist Valerie Gail (Geena Davis) only to discover the path to interspecies relationships is never smooth. Best line: Are we limp and hard to manage?
Dexter King (The Tall Guy, 1989)
An unpleasant comedian’s former straight man whose nascent relationship with a nurse is threatened by his leading role in a musical version of The Elephant Man. Best line: God take my testicles and fry them up with bacon!
Dr Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park, 1993)
Mathematician and chaos theorist who is convinced that controlled breeding of dinosaurs will never work.
Best line: Yeah, but, John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.
Donald Ripley (Powder, 1995)
High school physics teacher who befriends the eponymous albino boy with special powers and is one of the few people to understand him, his potential and his plight.
Best line: It has become appallingly clear that our technology has surpassed our humanity.
MacArthur Parker (The Simpsons, 1996)
Actor Troy McClure’s agent who suggests he needs to marry Marge’s sister, Selma, to help his career, then lands him a role on the Planet of the Apes musical.
Best line: They want you to star in a buddy comedy with Rob Lowe and Hugh Grant.
David Levinson (Independence Day, 1996)
MIT graduate and an environmentalist who is working for a satellite cable company when the aliens invade.
Best line: It’s like in chess: First, you strategically position your pieces and when the timing is right – you strike.
Alistair Hennessey (The Life Aquatic, 2004)
The arch-nemesis of and a comparatively more successful oceanographer than Bill Murray’s Steve Zissou.
Best line: We’ve never made great husbands, have we? Of course, I have a good excuse. I’m part gay.