Until recently, the world wasn’t allowed to know much about Jonathan Goldsmith, the actor behind Dos Equis’ Most Interesting Man in the World. When Yahoo!’s bloggers tried to track him down at a Dos Equis roadshow two years ago, they were told, “he has been detained, counseling tribal mystics in Swaziland, and cannot attend the tour.” Other journalists have hit similar roadblocks.

But now, The New Yorker has finally gained access to the man “whose reputation precedes him like lightning precedes thunder.” Their most recent issue explores the man behind the advertising myth. What did they find? Well, turns out he’s a Jewish guy from the Bronx whose earlier acting career was carved out of playing “that guy who dies early on in the movie.”

Fake accent aside, the man is still pretty freaking interesting:

A montage of highlights from the real life of Jonathan Goldsmith might include (had there been cameras present) footage of him rescuing a stranded climber on Mt. Whitney, saving a drowning girl in Malibu, sailing the high seas with his friend Fernando Lamas (the inspiration for his Interesting persona and, according to Goldsmith, “the greatest swordsman who ever lived in Hollywood”), and starting a successful network marketing business (“I was a hustler, a very good hustler”), which, for a while, anyway, enabled him to flee Hollywood for an estate in the Sierras. Among the outtakes might be glimpses of his stint as a waterless-car-wash entrepreneur. “I love the old philosophers,” he said. “I have a large library. I am not a die-hard sports fan. I love to cut wood.” Don’t like ads? Become a supporter and enjoy The Good Men Project ad free

Check out the whole story here.

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