Bobcat Goldthwait

Born in the outskirts of Hollywood (Syracuse, New York) in 1962, Bobcat Goldthwait wrote and directed his first film Shakes the Clown in 1991. A dark cult comedy, "Shakes" was heralded by the Boston Globe as the ‘Citizen Cane of Alcoholic clown movies,’ and lays claim to such fans as Martin Scorsese and Michael Stipe -– in fact, the REM song “Binky the Doormat” was based on a line from Shakes the Clown.

Goldthwait’s next movie Windy City Heat appeared in the Cine Vegas Film Festival in 2004, and won Best Film at the Montreal Comedy Festival that year. Matt Stone (co-creator of South Park) has called Windy City Heat, “beyond genius” and Vice magazine called it, “quite simply the greatest movie of all time.”

Sleeping Dogs Lie marked Bobcat’s third feature film as a director. Written by Goldthwait, and financed by friends and pawn shops, the movie was shot entirely during a two week hiatus from his job directing Jimmy Kimmel Live (2004-2006). It was chosen to compete in Sundance’s 2006 Dramatic competition, and was also in the London, Toronto, and San Sebastian Film Festivals. Sleeping Dogs Lie is Goldthwait’s best reviewed work to date, and was hailed as “earnest and improbably moving” by Esquire magazine and “demonically funny and surprisingly sweet” by Rolling Stone. Bobcat credits his failure to appear in the film as a good part of its success.

World's Greatest Dad stars longtime friend Robin Williams, and was again made independently from the studio system (although this time Process and Darko Entertainment came on board and prevented any pawn shops from having to be involved). Shooting again with a cast made up primarily of close friends, World's Greatest Dad was completed in Fall 2008 and premiered at the Sundance in January 2009. Glenn Whipp from the Chicago Tribune said, “World's Greatest Dad proves unexpectedly moving in its portrait of a middle-age man leaving childish things behind.”

Bobcat has directed for many television shows including Chappelle’s Show, The Man Show, and Crank Yankers. As a comic, he has had three HBO specials and appeared on the David Letterman show by the time he was 20. As an actor he has appeared in an innumerable slew of movies and was huge in the 1980s, all of which has allowed him to live in an impossibly luxurious rental home in the Los Angeles area. He has a new upcoming Showtime special. Yet, everyone knows Bobcat is really best known for his ability to make all women swoon over his piercing blue eyes.