Ronald Lyle Goldman (July 2, 1968 – June 12, 1994) was an American restaurant waiter and aspiring actor.

A working volunteer with children who suffered from cerebral palsy, Goldman was hosted by Mark DeCarlo in a 1992 episode of the dating game show Studs.^[2] In 1994, Goldman became a friend of Nicole Brown Simpson, the ex-wife of American football player O. J. Simpson.

On June 12, 1994, Goldman was murdered, along with Brown, outside her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Following a controversial and highly publicized criminal trial, Simpson was acquitted of both charges of murder, despite forensic and eyewitness evidence supporting the prosecution's case, though he was later found liable for committing both killings in a civil lawsuit in 1997, filed by Fred Goldman, Ron Goldman's father.

Goldman was born on July 2, 1968. He grew up in the community of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. After his parents divorced in 1974 and after spending a brief time in the custody of his mother, Sharon Rufo (née Fohrman), he was raised by his father, Frederic Goldman (born December 6, 1940). Goldman lived with his father and his younger sister. Goldman was raised Jewish.

Goldman attended high school at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. He was a student at Illinois State University for one semester, where he planned to major in psychology, and he also had an interest in becoming a pledge in Sigma Nu fraternity. After his family relocated to Southern California when he was 18 years old, however, Goldman discontinued his studies and followed his family.

Prior to relocating with his family, Goldman worked as a camp counselor and had experience volunteering with children suffering from cerebral palsy.^[3][4]

While living in Los Angeles, Goldman took some classes at Pierce College.^[3] He learned to surf and enjoyed playing beach volleyball, rollerblading, and nightclubbing.^[5]

Upon arriving in California, Goldman lived independently from his family and supported himself by working as an employment headhunter, tennis instructor, and waiter.^[3] He worked occasionally as a model for Barry Zeldes, owner of the Z90049 store in Brentwood Gardens.^[6] Not long before his death, he had earned an emergency medical technician license, but chose not to pursue that career.^[3]

Instead, Goldman told friends that he wanted to open a bar or restaurant in the Brentwood area.^[3] He had shared with them his vision for a venue to be known not by a name, but by the ankh, an Egyptian religious symbol of life that matched the tattoo on his shoulder.^[6] According to his friend Jeff Keller, he wanted to learn all facets of the restaurant-bar business, and occasionally worked as a promoter^[6] at a Century City dance club called Tripps.^[3] For Memorial Day, he participated with a group of event promoters in organizing a party at Renaissance, a club and restaurant on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica.^[6]

Goldman had expressed aspirations to act and to be on a show, and he appeared as a contestant on the short-lived game show Studs in 1992.^[7] He had dated Jacqui Bell for nearly two years before she broke off their relationship three months before his death.^[8][9]

Simpson was tried for the killings of both Brown and Goldman. In October 1995, after a public trial that lasted nearly nine months, he was acquitted. In 1997, Fred Goldman (Ron's father) filed a civil lawsuit against Simpson. The jury found him liable for the wrongful death of Goldman and awarded the Goldman family $33 million. Simpson was subsequently jailed for an unrelated armed robbery at a Las Vegas hotel in 2008.^[17][18] Both Fred and Kim Goldman were present at the robbery trial, and after Simpson's conviction, Fred Goldman expressed his satisfaction and referred to it as a "bittersweet" moment.^[19]

The rights to Simpson's book, If I Did It, a first-person account of how he would have committed the murders had he committed them, were awarded to the Goldman family in August 2007. They were granted the proceeds from the book in 2007 as part of the multi-million dollar civil jury award against him they had been trying to collect for over a decade. They own the copyright, media rights, and movie rights.^[20] They also acquired Simpson's name, likeness, life story, and right of publicity in connection with the book, according to court documents, ensuring he would not be able to profit from the book. After renaming the book If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer, the Goldman family published it in September 2007 through Beaufort Books.^[21] Denise Brown, Nicole Brown's sister, criticized the Goldmans for publishing the book and accused them of profiting from Nicole and Ron's deaths.^[22]

Filmmaker Ezra Edelman, who directed and produced the documentary O.J.: Made in America, won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, and dedicated the award to both Goldman and Brown in his acceptance speech. Fred Goldman was among those whom Edelman interviewed in the documentary.

In an interview with Barbara Walters, Fred Goldman said that shortly after Simpson's acquittal, he was approached by a stranger who offered to sell him an untraceable high-powered rifle to kill Simpson or to hire someone to kill Simpson for him, but the appalled Goldman refused.^[23]

In an interview with 20/20, Kim Goldman said that one day some time after Simpson's acquittal, she was driving in her car when she saw him in a parking lot in Los Angeles. She considered running him over to get vengeance, but decided otherwise.^[24]

In 2022, Fred Goldman applied for a renewal of his old judgment against Simpson, claiming Simpson still owed him $96 million.^[25]

When Simpson died in 2024, Fred Goldman called Simpson’s death "no great loss to the world" but also that it was "just a further reminder of how long my son has been gone...how many years, and how much he’s been missed. And the only thing that is important today are (Ron and Nicole). Nothing else is important."^[26] Kim and Fred issued a statement that read, "The hope for true accountability has ended... Thank you for keeping our family, and most importantly Ron, in your hearts".^[27][28]

• Murder of Michael Nigg, unsolved killing (in 1995) of Goldman's friend and fellow Mezzaluna waiter
• Nicole Brown Simpson
• O.J. Simpson robbery case