| Oscar Goldman | |
 | |
| Played by Richard Anderson | |
| Occupation | OSI Director |
| Family | Sam Goldman, brother Jim Goldman, nephew |
| Appearances | |
| SMDM | all except The Moon and the Desert |
| BW | all except Claws The Night Demon African Connection (voice only) Motorcycle Boogie The Antidote (voice only) |
| MOVIES | Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman Bionic Showdown Bionic Ever After? |
Oscar Goldman is the Director of Operations at the OSI. The character was created by Martin Caidin and introduced in the first Cyborg novel (in which he is described as director of the OSO). When the novel was adapted as the first pilot telefilm the character was replaced by another, Oliver Spencer (see "Deconstructed", below). Goldman made his television debut in the second pilot film, Wine, Women and War and appeared in virtually all episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman that followed, as well as the later reunion movies. Richard Anderson is, to date, the only actor to have ever played the character on screen.
Biography
Childhood
Oscar Goldman was born in Newport, Rhode Island on March 25, 1927. (Bionic Showdown) He had an older brother, Sam, and another sibling who later produced a nephew. (Template:TBW; Bionic Showdown) Of the three, he remains the sole surviving sibling. (Bionic Showdown)
Early Career
Oscar got to the OSI through the Navy, where he held the rank of Executive Officer for Intelligence under Admiral Richter. His occasional penchant for decisive and somewhat risky action appear to have been partially honed by his unconventional former commanding officer. (Template:TBW)
OSI Career
Oscar was an important figure in the OSI before Steve's bionic replacement surgery. Even though his precise position before the practical phase of the bionics program remains unclear, he was definitely employed by the OSI at the time of Steve's accident. (Wine, Women and War)
It was Oscar who managed to convince Senator Ed Hill to fast track authorization of the six million dollars required for Steve's operation. Deferring to his stated need for complete secrecy, Hill pushed an appropriations bill through the US Senate which allowed for the money without specifying its intended use. (Template:SMDM)
Envelope containing final orders of Oscar Goldman (Kill Oscar).
Oscar's position as head of the OSI was considered so important that he arranged standing orders to be killed in the event of his capture. This was to prevent him from revealing classified information through modern methods of interrogation. (Template:TBW)
Still, it remains unclear just how "senior" a member he was in the Executive Branch of the United States Government. This is because the precise nature of the OSI was never fully revealed.
Nevertheless, his seniority can be inferred through his actions. Under direct Presidential orders, he participated in nuclear disarmament talks. (Template:SMDM) He had the power to singlehandedly terminate Department of Defense contracts for new weapons. (Template:TBW) He chaired a task force to recover stolen tactical nuclear weapons. (Template:SMDM) He had the ability to intervene in criminal investigations, both domestically and abroad. (Template:SMDM; Template:SMDM) Most notably, he was able to get General Fuller to swiftly authorize Jaime Sommers' bionic replacement surgery. (Template:SMDM)
Perhaps the biggest clue to Oscar's seniority rests with the fact that he directly reported to an un-named cabinet-level Secretary. This seems to place him on a par with the Director of the Secret Service or the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Noteworthy Information
Personal Statistics
- OSI Employee Number: FM87390649 (Bionic Showdown)
- USA Passport Number: A984872231 (Bionic Showdown)
- Height: 6' 2" (Bionic Showdown)
- Weight: 164 lbs (Bionic Showdown)
Primary Code Name
- Snow White (Template:SMDM, Template:TBW)
Mission-Specific Code Names
- Information (Template:SMDM)
- Oscar Bartholomew (Template:BW)
Relationships
Steve Austin
Perhaps due to the fact that he was never seen to have a wife or children, one of Oscar's most important relationships was his friendship with Steve Austin.
At first, his approach to Steve was similar to Oliver Spencer's — cold and all business. But it would not be long before he formed a close friendship with Steve, often referring to the bionic man as "pal".
While they would often disagree about policy matters, he chose his major disputes with Steve. Only rarely did he pull rank with his subordinate.
He was mildly jealous — but perhaps more precisely, impressed — with Steve's penchant for romantic success. He once remarked of his friend's prowess: "I should hate him, but I don't." (Template:SMDM)
The two were known to socialize together, and occasionally arranged to go on what were effectively double dates. (Template:SMDM)
It was largely because of his friendship with Steve that he went against his better professional judgment, including taking the risk of making Jaime Sommers bionic. (Template:SMDM) Though this decision led to one of the more profound rifts between the two men, it ultimately led to Oscar becoming Steve's best man at his wedding to Jaime. (Bionic Ever After?)
Exactly when he first became acquainted with Steve remains unclear. In Wine, Women and War, he communicates with Steve from Mission Control in the moments before the crash — an exchange which does not occur in the pilot film. He is familiar enough with Austin at that point to address him by his first name, but it should be pointed out that he does not identify himself by name in this exchange — just "Mission Control".
Although the comic book spin-offs are not necessarily considered canonical with the televised series, the third issue of the Six Million Dollar Man comic book seems to support this by also indicating that Oscar knew Steve prior to the crash.
Jaime Sommers
Oscar's relationship with Jaime Sommers went well beyond the normal confines of a formal "chain of command".
Though he initially saw her in coldly analytical terms as an OSI "asset", he would eventually form an almost paternalistic bond with her. Perhaps because of her bionic rejection, he sometimes seemed reluctant to use her in certain missions. (Template:SMDM)
For her part, Jaime occasionally overruled Oscar's caution, but sometimes demanded that he and the OSI give her space. This tug-of-war between Jaime's rights as an individual and her duties as an OSI agent may have been a large part of the reason she ultimately chose a "middle path" of retiring from active duty as an agent, while continuing to support the bionic program itself through lending her talents to the research of Dr. Rudy Wells. (Return of the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman, Bionic Showdown)
At one point, Oscar professes his love for her, adding: "You're the closest thing to family I'll ever have." (Template:BW)
The idea that he might have had romantic feelings for her has been a subject of fan debate for years. The The Bionic Book by Herbie J. Pilato discusses this issue in some detail.
His secretaries
Oscar had a revolving supply of secretaries, due to his own security arrangements which required their replacement once every 90 days. (Template:SMDM) This meant that he was unable to form any particular bond with his secretaries, and may have even had difficulties remembering their names.
However, once Steve Austin effectively gave Peggy Callahan a Level 6 security clearance by revealing his bionics to her, this policy seemed to be rescinded. (Template:SMDM)
Callahan appeared as his secretary for much longer than 90 days. Throughout that time, she once complained to Jaime Sommers that he never complimented her work. (Template:TBW)
Besides Callahan, Oscar's other secretaries included:
- Julie Farrell (Template:SMDM)
- Miss Drake (Template:SMDM)
- Sally Johnson (Template:SMDM).
Family
Oscar had an older brother, Sam Goldman, who died in the attack on Pearl Harbor. (Template:TBW)
He also has a nephew, Jim Goldman, who eventually became an employee of the OSI. However, this nephew is likely not Sam's son since Sam died in World War II and Jim's parents died five years before the World Unity Games in 1989. The identity of Oscar's other sibling is never revealed. (Bionic Showdown)
Deconstructed
Although Oscar Goldman appeared in the original Cyborg novel, Oliver Spencer was seen as Steve Austin's immediate supervisor in the original 90-minute pilot. Oscar was used exclusively thereafter and for the remainder of the original bionic mythos.
He and Spencer may have been simultaneously employed by the OSI, with stories after the initial pilot choosing to concentrate on Oscar's activities. This seems to be implied by the pilot's dual usage of the acronyms OSI and OSO in Template:SMDM, and apparently confirmed by Template:SMDM. There, it is revealed that Oscar had to lobby Senator Ed Hill for the six million dollars needed for Steve's operation. Neither Spencer's fate, nor Oscar's relationship to him, is ever mentioned in a televised episode.