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About Al Goodman

Al Goodman was born September 21st, 1910 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the uncle of acclaimed film and television director Lesli Linka Glatter.  From a very young age, he was interested in almost all of the major arts. While studying at the prestigious Chicago Art Institute, he also took courses in architecture at the Armour Institute.

After college, and during The Great Depression, Al and his wife Bernice Goodman, née Glatter, moved to Hollywood, California where he became a set artist for Paramount studios. This move launched his 20-year career in the early movie industry. His notable movie credits included Dragonwyck, Quo Vadis?, Show Boat, Up in Central Park, Keys to The Kingdom and Anna and The King of Siam.

In the 1950s, Al became interested in the relatively new medium of Television and left the movie industry to become Head Art Director of ABC Television, Los Angeles. Al helped create many of the special effects and set design methods still being used today. Some notable television shows he worked on were The Rosemary Clooney Show and The Mickey Rooney Show.

Feeling constrained in his abilities, Al left The Entertainment Industry to pursue his passion of Industrial Design and Architecture. His acclaimed work included the first redesign of the ballroom inside of the Del Coronado Hotel in 1961, which was featured in an issue of San Diego Magazine.

At the age of 60, Al and Bernice decided to take a vacation to Spain, which inspired him to create a series oil and watercolor paintings. Their vacation turned into a 12-year stay. where they lived on both The Island of Marorica and in the small town of Almunecar on the Costa del Sol.

His 12 years in Spain inspired his creation of hundreds of paintings. His most notable series was The Great Cathedrals of Spain, which combined his love of architecture and the love of his new home in Spain. For three years, he created almost forty oil paintings and over fifty architectural renderings of Spain's beautiful Cathedrals.

In 1982, he returned home to The United States and started on a journey of abstract painting. His final years were an exploration of imagination as he wanted to stray from the realism of his former architecture paintings. Much of the subject matter of his later paintings included creatures found on totem poles - mostly animals, snakes and birds of prey - mixed with abstract shapes and solid colors.

After Al's passing on March 11th 1997, his son Michael chose to continue his artistic legacy by featuring his work in galleries in Arizona, including The Temple gallery in 1997. His life's work eventually made its way to Detroit, Michigan where Al's grandsons preserve it.

1928 Alexander Goodman sketch of a campsite at Forest Park, Illinois.
1928 Alexander Goodman sketch of a campsite at Forest Park, Illinois.