Gary Michael Goetzman (born November 6, 1952) is an American film and television producer and actor, and co-founder of the production company Playtone with actor

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Life and career

Born in Los Angeles, Goetzman began his career as a child actor. He had starred in the film '' Yours, Mine and Ours'' with

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Gold ...

, appeared on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', and eventually started a waterbed company and

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

arcade. Goetzman at one time delivered a waterbed to Jon Peters's home. His exploits as a performer and a salesman inspired his friend

Paul Thomas Anderson Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26, 1970), also known by his initials PTA, is an American filmmaker. He made his feature-film debut with ''Hard Eight (film), Hard Eight'' (1996). He found critical and commercial success with ''Boogie Nights'' ( ...

's 2021 film '' Licorice Pizza''. In 1984, he produced the

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

concert film '' Stop Making Sense'' with director

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker. Beginning his career under B-movie producer Roger Corman, Demme made his directorial debut with the 1974 women-in-prison film '' Caged Heat'', befo ...

. That initiated a successful run as a music supervisor, on such films as '' Something Wild'', '' Colors'', '' Modern Girls'' and ''

Married to the Mob ''Married to the Mob'' is a 1988 American crime comedy film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Modine, Dean Stockwell, Mercedes Ruehl, and Alec Baldwin. Pfeiffer plays Angela de Marco, a gangster's widow from Bro ...

'', among many others. In 1991, producer Goetzman and director Demme again collaborated to make '' The Silence of the Lambs'', which garnered the top five Academy Awards including Best Picture. In 1993, Goetzman was executive producer of Demme's ''

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

'', starring Tom Hanks, beginning a working relationship with Hanks. Goetzman co-produced Hanks's 1996 directorial debut, '' That Thing You Do!'' The two then co-founded Playtone in 1998. Since then, Goetzman has produced hit films including '' My Big Fat Greek Wedding'', '' The Polar Express'', '' Charlie Wilson's War'' and ''

Mamma Mia! Mama(s) or Mamma or Momma may refer to: Roles *Mother, a female parent *Mama-san, in Japan and East Asia, a woman in a position of authority *Mamas, a name for female associates of the Hells Angels Places * Mama, Russia, an urban-type settlemen ...

'' Goetzman has also received several Emmy Awards for HBO mini-series '' Band of Brothers'', ''

The Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

'', ''

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...

'', '' Game Change'' and '' Olive Kitteridge''. Aside from producing films, Goetzman has been known to play small parts in movies he is connected to. He has also enjoyed a successful parallel career as a music composer and producer, working with such artists as

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chi ...

Natalie Cole Natalie Maria Cole (February 6, 1950 – December 31, 2015) was an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She was the daughter of American singer and jazz pianist Nat King Cole. She rose to success in the mid-1970s as an R&B singer with the ...

Jane Child Jane Richmond Hyslop (born 15 February 1967), known professionally as Jane Child, is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record-producer best known for her hit single "Don't Wanna Fall in Love". She is also known for her unusual fashion style, wh ...

, Thelma Houston, and The Staples Singers. He currently sits on the National board of directors for the

Producers Guild of America The Producers Guild of America (PGA) is a 501(c)(6) trade association representing television producers, film producers and New Media producers in the United States. The PGA's membership includes over 8,000 members of the producing establishment w ...

. Goetzman is executive producer (with Tom Hanks and Mark Herzog) of the CNN exclusive documentary miniseries '' The Sixties'' (2014), '' The Seventies'' (2015), '' The Eighties'' (2016), and ''

The Nineties File:1990s decade montage.png, From top left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope orbits the Earth after it was launched in 1990; American General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, F-16s and McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, F-15s fly over burning o ...

'' (2017).

Filmography

He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.

Film

;As an actor ;Music department ;Soundtrack ;Production manager ;Thanks

Television

;As an actor ;Soundtrack ;Miscellaneous crew ;Thanks

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goetzman, Gary 1952 births American film producers American film studio executives Living people American male child actors