Henry Goodman
In Memoriam
Goodman, Ph.D., Henry November 21, 1919 – April 15, 2012 Henry Goodman, Ph.D., faculty emeritus at UCLA, who fulfilled a distinguished career as a college director and professor of theater, died early Sunday morning in Los Angeles. He was 92 years old.
A native of Minneapolis, Henry earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree (the latter in 1948) from the University of Minnesota. He then taught at Carleton College in Northfield, MN for one year before returning to the University of Minnesota for his Ph.D., which he earned in 1952. From 1953-1956, he taught at Rockford College in Illinois, then at Reed College in Oregon. He obtained his dream job in 1957 when he joined the faculty of UCLA, where he taught and directed until his retirement in 1990 at age 70.
Henry served in the Army during World War II and was stationed in Berlin with the 78th Infantry Division of the Allied Occupational Forces. Among his many accomplishments, he introduced and directed the world premiere of Bertolt Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Carleton College. Fifty years later, he returned to the campus with members of the original cast and staff to recall and celebrate the occasion. Though he was a sophisticated academic who studied and shared his rich knowledge of the world’s great dramatists, he was cherished by his family for his delightful, irreverent and even corny sense of humor, his kind heart and his generous nature.
Henry was born Nov. 21, 1919 to Jewish-Russian immigrant parents, tailor Alex and homemaker Lilly Goodman. He was preceded in death by his two older brothers, Joseph Goodman and Max J. Goodman, M.D., and his sister, Gloria Goodman Rotman. He is survived by his two nieces, Stephanie Schoenfeld, of Los Angeles, and Estelle Goodman Saltzman, of Sacramento; a nephew, Spencer Rotman, of Los Angeles; a great nephew, Joseph Kornbrodt, and his wife, Alison Crees-Kornbrodt, of Los Angeles; and a beloved pet mongrel named Boychik.
Image and Obituary Credits: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/henry-goodman-obituary?id=19640382
