:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2):format(webp)/danny-goldman-f71c23010a0a4b3ca46caea3daca9b15.jpg)
Danny Goldman, known as the memorable med student who questions Gene Wilder in the 1974 comedy classic Young Frankenstein, has died. He was 80.
Goldman, a New York native with a long career in entertainment, died on Sunday, his longtime agent and friend Doug Ely announced on Facebook.
“It’s with great sadness that I must tell you that Danny Goldman has passed away. He passed peacefully at home today amongst family and friends, after having suffered a couple of strokes around New Years,” Ely wrote. “I’ve known Danny since 1980 when I first became an agent and he 1st started casting on his own. We became fast friends and have been for the last 40 years.”
He added, “Danny was truly one of a kind. He always had strong opinions and didn’t mind telling you about them. He was incredibly funny. He loved to root for the little guy and help wherever he could. He had a huge heart. We lost a good one today. He will be missed.”
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Goldman got his start as a guest actor in several shows during the 1970s, starting with his first role in The Good Life before going on to appear in The Partridge Family, That Girl, Room 222 and others.
His first regular role came in the 1977 sitcom Busting Loose, three years after his memorable appearance as a questioning student in the opening of Young Frankenstein.
Goldman went on to have a successful voice acting career in The Smurfs as Brainy Smurf from 1981 to 1989, and several subsequent episodes of Robot Chicken.
The actor also worked on the other side of the camera as a commercial casting director for 30 years. Some of the actors he casted commented on Ely’s post mourning his death.
“As any actor knows who was brought in to audition by Danny, he’d always come out and connect with us. He was one of us. He understood. He was an actor himself and knew exactly what it felt like to be where we were. HE CARED. Danny was a uniquely wonderful man who was most definitely true to himself and who he was. We were all a family back then and we’ve lost a very special man. God bless you my friend,” Jerry Houser wrote.