A native of New Brunswick, New Jersey, Goldman witnessed his first Broadway show in the summer of 1929, and from that day forward, the theatre was his passion. For 10 years he worked as a tire salesman at a family-owned business. Then, through his friend Arnold Weissberger, a noted lawyer, Goldman was offered a job as a theatrical agent at no base salary, but with a $25 weekly expense account and a 25 percent interest in any clients he signed up. Success came to him almost at once.
A lifelong bachelor, Goldman today shares an apartment with Weissberger on the Upper East Side. His favorite local restaurant is the Four Seasons. "I go there all the time for lunch; that's my main meal of the day. I think it's the best restaurant in the world."
The actor's life, he believes, "is a sad and a difficult one. Every time you get a good part, the next part has to be bigger -- more money. As you reach the top, it becomes tougher and tougher to get those parts." Nevertheless, Goldman does not find his own job at all frustrating.
"Pressures? Yes, there are many pressures. But I have said this before: there are so many rewards for me when I see a client in whom I believe get a great break in the theatre or films of television. It's a source of great satisfaction. And with the number of clients I represent, each day brings some rewards. That's why I've often said to clients: 'I have many lives to live.'"
EASTSIDER TAMMY GRIMES Star of _Father's Day_ at the American Place Theatre
Tammy Grimes is one of the few Broadway stars to have received Tony Awards in two categories -- for best Musical Comedy Actress in _The Unsinkable Molly Brown_ (1961), and for Best Dramatic Actress in Noel Coward's _Private Lives_ (1969). In a sense, she is Molly Brown personified -- a powerful stage presence whose charm, beauty, and pure talent make her shine in every production she takes part in, regardless of the overall merit of the show itself.
Her disappointments have been, at times, as spectacular as her triumphs. For example, there was her shot at network television in the early 1960s, _The Tammy Grimes Show_, which lasted only 11 episodes because, she says, "the writing, the concept, and the talent never really got together. And I blame myself for that. Because if your name's up there, you are responsible for the product."