Many actors and actresses choose to forgo formal higher education and go into acting outright, but some say a degree in theatre arts, acting, or drama could greatly help your chances. Jeff Goldblum is a celebrity whose education status may be unknown to most.
“Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day” star Jeff Goldblum went to both a summer Carnegie Mellon University program and New York City’s Neighborhood Playhouse. He did not follow a direct college route, but still received education and formalized training.
Learn more about Jeff Goldblum’s path to fame by reading more below.
Early Education and Life
Jeff Goldblum was born to Harold Goldblum and Shirley Temeles in 1952. His father almost took an acting career path before deciding on medical studies, and his mother was a radio broadcaster, so his introduction into acting was not random.
He attended high school in Northern Pennsylvania and kept his desires to be an actor private for many years. He was so nervous about revealing his dreams, that he would write affirmations on the shower wall as a child about how much he wished to be an actor.
Carnegie Mellon University
After concealing his goal to be an actor as a child, Goldblum decided to study drama during the summer at Carnegie Mellon University after high school. This is a private university and is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Carnegie Mellon is also listed as number thirteen in a list of the top fifteen colleges that the most Hollywood actors attended. This shows just how much of an impact attending this program probably had on his future career.
There are still summer programs similar to the one that Jeff attended at Carnegie Mellon. The acting focused one is designed for high school seniors, and prepares students for audition prep, self tape, acting, voice and speech, dramatic literature, Shakespeare, and dramatic writing.
To watch a video on Carnegie Mellon’s Pre-College Summer Program, see below.
The New York City Neighborhood Playhouse
After the age of seventeen, Jeff Goldblum decided to make a big change in his life and move out to New York City. It was here that his career really took off.
He studied acting at the New York City Neighborhood Playhouse under the direction of Sanford Meisner. This remains the only conservatory where the faculty were all exclusively trained by him.
Sanford Meisner was an actor and acting teacher who taught via “the reality of doing.” He stressed the importance of organized improv, heightened concentration, and stimulated impulses through his own “Meisner technique”.
Goldblum’s biggest move occurred in 1974 with getting his first movie role, at his first audition in “Death Wish.” He also made his Broadway premiere in “Two Gentlemen of Verona” in 1971.
To see a video of Jeff Goldblum explaining his career timeline, beginning with “Death Wish,” watch the video below.
Goldblum’s Passion
It is clearly in Goldblum’s veins and a result of his unique education experience, that he incurred such success and passion in his work. In an interview to “The Guardian” posted by Kira Cochrane, Goldblum was instructed from a young age, by his theatre coach, to approach his whole career as an acting class.
He has continued to do this, and even branch out further into even music. He even stated that if he was not an actor he would have been a professional musician, which could be largely attributed to his experiences in the Carnegie Mellon summer program.
As a teenager he would play piano in bars and has been part of his group since the 1990s.
To see a video showcasing his music of Jeff Goldblum & The Mildred Snitzer Orchestra, watch the clip below.