Dody Goodman

Dody Goodman Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: October 28, 1914

Death Date: June 22, 2008

Birth Place: Columbus, Ohio

Dolores "Dody" Goodman was a natural flake and parlayed that unserious, fun loving nature into a comedy career that lasted over five decades on stage, screen, and television. She started as a dancer on Broadway in the late 1940s and early '50s, gaining fame for her rendition of a novelty song called "Someone's Been Sending Me Flowers" in off-Broadway's "Shoestring Revue." This brought her to the attention of talk show host Jack Paar, whose "Tonight Show" talk show had begun in 1957 to great enthusiasm. Goodman became a semi-regular on the show but had a falling out with Paar in the second season due to what the host claimed was Dody's constant attempts to upstage him. Undaunted, Goodman used her goofy looks, high-pitched voice, and silly demeanor to carve out a niche for herself on stage and TV throughout the 1960s.

She made a splash in the mid 1970s as the mother of Louise Lasser's main character on the soap opera spoof "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman." Feature film roles in the musicals "Grease" and "Grease 2" followed, as well as the occasional return to the "Tonight Show," now hosted by Johnny Carson. She had recurring roles on the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" and did voice work for the animated series "Alvin & the Chipmunks" in the 1980s. Her madcap persona was a perfect fit for the stage show "Nunsense," where she played both Sister Amnesia and Mother Superior in traveling companies nationwide in the 1990s. She died at the age of 93.

Credits

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Alvin's Thanksgiving Celebration

Voice
Show
2008

Boston Common

Guest Star
Series
1996
33%

Family Reunion: A Relative Nightmare

Actor
Grandma Dotty Dooley
Movie
1995

Frozen Assets

Actor
Mrs. Patterson
Movie
1992

Samantha

Actor
Mrs. Higgins
Movie
1991

Cool as Ice

Actor
Mae McCallister
Movie
1991

The Chipmunk Adventure

Voice
Miss Rebecca Miller
Movie
1987

I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later

Actor
Scheherazade
Movie
1985

Private Resort

Actor
Mrs. Rawlings
Movie
1985

Murder, She WroteStream

Guest Star
Beverly Hills
Series
1984

Punky BrewsterStream

Actor
Mrs. Morton
Series
1984

Punky BrewsterStream

Guest Star
Mrs. Morton
Series
1984

SplashStream

Actor
Mrs. Stimler
Movie
1984
91%

Max Dugan ReturnsStream

Actor
Mrs. Litke
Movie
1983
71%

Grease 2Stream

Actor
Blanche Hodel
Movie
1982
35%

Valentine Magic on Love Island

Actor
Ida Kramer
Movie
1980

Diff'rent StrokesStream

Guest Star
Series
1978

Fantasy Island

Guest Star
Series
1978

GreaseStream

Actor
Blanche
Movie
1978
78%

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman

Actor
Mrs. Martha Shumway
Series
1976

TattletalesStream

Guest
Game Show
1974

Bedtime Story

Actor
Fanny Eubank
Movie
1964

What's My Line?Stream

Guest
Game Show
1950