Goodwin was born in London and attended Dulwich College at the same time as Monkhouse, although there is no evidence that the two met at school.
In 1944, his father Laurence Goodwin was killed by a V-1 flying bomb ("doodlebug") while waiting at a bus stop in South London.
In 1948, while working at a department store, Goodwin approached Monkhouse and they formed a writing and comedy partnership that lasted for fourteen years.
[1] Goodwin and Monkhouse wrote scripts for comedians such as Derek Roy, Ted Ray and Arthur Askey.
[2] His creative partnership with Monkhouse gradually disintegrated and finally came to an end in 1962 when he was offered work in the US on Bob Hope's gag writing team.