Dean Goodman was born in Heppner, Oregon in 1920. His acting career began in high school and he attended the University of Washington in Seattle where he continued to perform. He studied with Maria Ouspenskaya in Hollywood and participated in productions at the Pasadena Playhouse. During that time he also wrote reviews and features for the Hollywood Citizen News. In 1946 he married Maria Seiber, daughter of Marlene Dietrich (about whom he would later write a book: Maria, Marlene, & Me: Intimate Recollections of a Life in Theatre and Film). Goodman performed all around the United States and Canada and in 1955 moved to San Francisco where he taught in the Department of Drama while continuing to perform in professional theaters in the area. In later years he became active in union activities, notably with Actor's Equity. He helped form the Bay Area Advisory Committee to Equity and was the first chair. In 1982 he was instrumental in presented a motion to Equity to limit its waiver on small theaters using Equity Actors, a controversial issue.

In addition to writing and acting, Goodman was an amateur photographer. Later in his career he continued to act and was involved with other writing projects that included a comprehensive history of Bay Area theatre and his weekly columns for Hollywood Drama-Logue.