Len Goodman


Leonard Gordon Goodman is an English professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach.
He has appeared as head judge on the television dance programmes Strictly Come Dancing, a programme where various celebrities compete for the glitter ball trophy, from its beginning in 2004 until 2016 and Dancing with the Stars since 2005. He also runs a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent.

Early life

Goodman was born in Bethnal Green, London. His birth was registered in Bromley, Kent, the son of Leonard Gordon Goodman, an electrician, and Louisa Adelaide. One of his maternal great-great-grandfathers was a Polish immigrant.
Goodman moved to Blackfen when he was six years old and later attended Westwood Secondary Modern School, where he was a member of the cricket team.

Career

Goodman started dancing at the age of 19, after a short time as an apprentice welder for Harland and Wolff in Woolwich.
Goodman turned professional, won various competitions, and retired from dancing after winning the British Championships at Blackpool in his late twenties. Goodman is a recipient of the Carl Alan Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to dance and, in 2006 and 2007, a show in which he appeared was nominated for the Emmy Award in the Outstanding Reality/Competition Program category.

Strictly Come Dancing

Since Strictly Come Dancing began in the UK in 2004, Goodman has appeared as head judge on the dance competition for BBC One, in all series of the show until the 2016 series, Goodman appeared on the panel with Darcey Bussell, Bruno Tonioli, and Craig Revel Horwood. However, in July 2016, Goodman announced he would be leaving the show at the end of that year's series. His final appearance was on the Christmas Day Special. On 9 May 2017, it was announced that Shirley Ballas would succeed Goodman as head judge.

''Dancing with the Stars''

Goodman has been the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing's American adaptation, Dancing with the Stars, appearing in all seasons of the program since 2005 with Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli, and, since 2014, Julianne Hough. He left the show for season 21, but returned the following season.

Other television work

From 30 March to 9 April 2012, Goodman hosted a three-part BBC One documentary that was broadcast in the United States by PBS for the 100th anniversary of the voyage and sinking of the RMS Titanic. It capitalised on his experience as a welder at Harland and Wolff. Goodman interviewed descendants of survivors and introduced viewers to memorials and significant sites in the United Kingdom.
In 2005, he voiced Professor in the five-time winning Emmy award children's program, Auto-B-Good.
In 2013, Goodman presented the BBC Four programme Len Goodman's Dance Band Days. He also hosted Len Goodman's Perfect Christmas on Boxing Day on BBC One.
In August 2014, Goodman was one of a number of well known faces taking part in ITV's two-part documentary series Secrets from the Clink.
In November and December 2013, Goodman and Lucy Worsley presented the BBC Four three-part show Dancing Cheek to Cheek.
In October 2014, Goodman hosted BBC One show Holiday of My Lifetime. The show returned for a second series in February 2016, where he was featured with Dan Walker, Carol Kirkwood, and many more
In November 2015, Len and chef Ainsley Harriott presented the BBC show Len and Ainsley's Big Food Adventure, a 10-part series exploring world cuisine in England and Wales.
In 2017, Goodman presented a family game show called Partners in Rhyme, based on Matt Edmondson's game, Obama Llama.

Radio

Between 2013 and 2018, Goodman presented a Sunday evening music show on BBC Radio 2 during Paul O'Grady's weeks off. Goodman played music that he grew up with, mostly of an easy nature together with spoken memories of his young life and family.

Other work

In 2006, he appeared on an all singing/dancing version of The Weakest Link and beat Stacey Haynes in the final to win the prize money of £8050 for charity.

Personal life

Goodman married his dancing partner Cherry Kingston but they were later divorced. He then had a long-term relationship with a woman named Lesley, who then fell pregnant. Goodman was 36 at this time. Lesley, he wrote, was the ex-wife of "a bloke called Wilf Pine who had managed the band Black Sabbath. Lesley and Wilf got married in Connecticut...."
Goodman and Lesley's son, James William Goodman, was born 26 January 1981, but at the age of 12 moved with his mother back to her native Isle of Wight after Lesley and Goodman broke up. As of 2012, James teaches Latin and ballroom dancing at his father's Goodman Dance Centre.
On 30 December 2012, Goodman married his companion of over ten years, Sue Barrett, a 47-year-old dance teacher, in a small ceremony at a London dining club Mosimann's.
Goodman is a West Ham United fan and was featured on the BBC football show Football Focus on 26 September 2009. He is also a keen cricket fan, and, in 2009, took part in a celebrity Ashes cricket game.
Goodman was diagnosed with prostate cancer in March 2009, which was treated surgically at a London hospital.
In October 2011, Goodman appeared on the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, in which he discovered that one of his maternal ancestors was a silk-weaver who died a pauper in the Bethnal Green workhouse. Goodman's great great grandfather, Josef/Joseph Sosnowski, came from Poland, where he fought in the anti-tsarist November uprising for which he was awarded Virtuti Militari, Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage. After finding out about his ancestry, Goodman said: "I feel no different, I look no different, I am no different and yet I’m not what I thought I was. I thought that I was truly an Anglo-Saxon, English through and through."

Filmography