Biographie
John F. Goff stands out as an exceptionally prolific, adaptable, and unjustly overlooked talent in the gritty world of 1970s Grade B exploitation cinema. Born on May 24, he grew up in the small Gulf Coast town of Kreole, Mississippi. He also attended Mississippi Southern College on a scholarship.
Large and sturdy, with gray hair, a soft twangy voice, and a relaxed demeanor, Goff closely resembles a robust Hal Holbrook. While in college, he chose to abandon a promising athletic path in favor of acting. He began performing in summer stock theater and wrote film reviews for "Variety" and "The Hollywood Reporter" before entering the film industry. Some of Goff's most notable roles include a ruthless henchman to Ralph Meeker in the intense revenge thriller "Johnny Firecloud," the abusive and alcoholic sea captain father of Millie Perkins in the unsettling "The Witch Who Came from the Sea," an enthusiastic railroad worker in the clever sci-fi film "The Alpha Incident," a supportive psychiatrist in Al Adamson’s "Nurse Sherri," the Nashville music producer who gets punched by Gary Busey in "The Buddy Holly Story," a redneck hunter in "The Capture of Bigfoot," a doomed fisherman in John Carpenter’s eerie "The Fog," a sleazy lawyer in "Maniac Cop," a sarcastic police psychiatrist in "Relentless" (a role he reprised in its first sequel), the arrogant alien at a newsstand who is rude to Roddy Piper in "They Live," and Tracy Griffith’s weary rancher father in "Skeeter." Goff played significant supporting roles in the first two notorious "Ilsa" films: as a Nazi prison camp guard who suffers a fatal throat injury in the original and as an oil sheik in the sequel. His television appearances include guest roles on "L.A. Law," "The Dukes of Hazzard," and "The Big Valley." Goff and his longtime friend George "Buck" Flower co-starred in many cult trash films, portraying brothers in both "Berserker" and "The Devil and Leroy Bassett." Together, they co-wrote the scripts for "Death Falls," "In Search of A Golden Sky," "Joyride to Nowhere," "Drive-In Massacre," and "Teenage Seductress." Goff also co-wrote screenplays for Matt Cimber’s films "Fake-Out," "Butterfly," "A Time to Die," "Hundra," and the recent "Miriam," frequently appearing in small roles in these movies. Additionally, he co-wrote William Lustig’s action film "Hit List," in which he had a minor role as a prosecuting attorney. Beyond acting and writing, John F. Goff worked as a grip on two Cimber films and served as second unit director on both "My Boys Are Good Boys" and "Bad Georgia Road.
