Robert Francis "Bobcat" Goldthwait (born May 26, 1962) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, and voice performer. Born in Syracuse, New York, he began performing stand-up as a teenager and developed a highly distinctive stage persona built around an agitated physical style, a raspy high-pitched voice, abrupt shifts in tone, and dark, often confrontational humor. He initially performed with his school friend Tom Kenny, later known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, under the names Bobcat and Tomcat.
Goldthwait became widely known during the 1980s comedy boom. His stand-up combined absurd premises, black comedy, social criticism, and an intentionally unstable character that made him stand out among the era's emerging comics. Television specials including An Evening with Bobcat Goldthwait: Share the Warmth and Bob Goldthwait: Is He Like That All the Time? established him as a memorable alternative to more polished mainstream comedians. His comedy album Meat Bob, released in 1988, further documented the abrasive and unpredictable style that defined his early career.
His best-known acting role came with the Police Academy series. Goldthwait played Zed, a volatile gang leader who becomes a police officer, in Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (1985), Police Academy 3: Back in Training (1986), and Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987). The role brought him a large international audience, although it also encouraged the perception that he was primarily a broad comic actor. He later appeared in films such as Scrooged (1988), in which he played Eliot Loudermilk, and made numerous television appearances.
Goldthwait gradually expanded from performing to writing and directing. His feature directing debut, Shakes the Clown (1991), was a caustic comedy about an alcoholic birthday-party clown working in a bizarre professional subculture. Goldthwait wrote and starred in the film, which received a mixed response on release but later developed a cult following. His work as a director often retained the outsider perspective of his stand-up while giving greater space to uncomfortable characters and emotionally serious themes.
He also became an active voice performer. Among his television credits are Capitol Critters, The Moxy Show, Unhappily Ever After, Hercules: The Animated Series, and Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. His voice was particularly suited to eccentric or unstable characters, but his animation work also showed that the persona that made him famous could be adapted beyond live-action comedy.
In the 2000s, Goldthwait increasingly concentrated on directing. He directed the mockumentary Windy City Heat (2003), which won a comedy film award at the Just for Laughs festival, and worked for several years as a director on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. His later films included Sleeping Dogs Lie (2006), World's Greatest Dad (2009), and God Bless America (2011). These projects moved further from conventional comedy, addressing alienation, grief, media culture, violence, and the frustrations of ordinary life with a mixture of satire and bleak sentiment.
Goldthwait continued directing television and comedy specials, including projects for contemporary stand-up performers. His career is notable for its movement from a highly recognizable 1980s comic persona toward more personal, critical, and formally varied work behind the camera. Although many audiences first encountered him as Zed or as the shrieking comic of late-night television, his broader achievement lies in turning that outsider identity into a sustained career as a filmmaker and storyteller.