Finally get to read about this guy. Love the point on what he was asked to say as tagline for end of his audition.

It must be strange to be recognized as interesting anywhere he goes:

"I was sitting in a little Mexican restaurant with my wife ... and a gentleman came over with his young son in tow and said, 'The other day I asked my son what he wanted to do when he grew up.' " Goldsmith says. "And he said 'I want to be the most interesting man in the world.' He was 7."

It's unclear how much of his seeming interesting is acting. He really looks the part.

Agree--though it would be *amazing* if the auditioners ever released the video tape of him improvising his lines to get the part! It sounds from reading this that he made up a bunch of lines to get to the punchline "and that's how I arm wrestled Fidel Castro." I wonder if his audition in a sense gave the creators the clarity of what they could do and how they could extend it. In any case, a really fun piece.

It's striking how much the NPR interview resembles his New Yorker expose.

People magazine says he used to run a marketing company, so he was clearly good at pitching in his audition.

And he recently hosted an Obama fundraiser, which means in real life he's smooth and can navigate political waters.

Still, I couldn't find much of the real Jonathan Goldsmith on YouTube.

This is him at his birthday party with his wife Barbara:

And this is what his voice really sounds like: