A somewhat interesting man

He’s not really “the Most Interesting Man in the World,” but Jonathan Goldsmith has done some living, said Nick Paumgarten in The New Yorker. The actor, 72, has achieved some late fame playing the “most interesting’’ character in TV ads for Dos Equis beer. For most of his career, he’s had bit parts as deep-voiced bad guys, getting killed off on shows like T.J. Hooker.

Off-camera, Goldsmith has led an unusual life; he once saved a drowning woman, rescued a fellow mountain climber, and as a handsome young actor, would lie in wait in the lobby of the Beverly Wilshire hotel, intercepting the beautiful women who arrived nearly daily for assignations with Warren Beatty. “Warren sent me down,” he would lie. “I’m terribly sorry, but he had to cancel the meeting.” Goldsmith would then seduce the women himself.

Currently, he lives on a sailboat, where he likes to read “the old philosophers.” He admits to being baffled at the news that his “most interesting” character had more than 180,000 “likes” on Facebook. “I don’t even know what that is,” Goldsmith says.