Active on Broadway from 1934-60.
After being blacklisted in Hollywood, he returned to the New York stage where he acted on Broadway with Audrey Hepburn in "Ondine", the last of only two plays the actress did on Broadway before becoming a movie star.
Involved in staunch left-wing political causes in the 40s and early 50s along with wife/actress Karen Morley. Brought up before the House of Un-American Activities Committee, both invoked the Fifth Amendment and were blacklisted by the Hollywood powers that be, unable to find work for years.
Often playing dastardly villains in films, notably Rancho Notorious (1952), his last name was pronounced "Goff.".
Well-utilized grey-haired, steely-looking Broadway/film actor in the 40s, he turned to strong character work on TV and movies once his blacklist was over.