Dick Goldberg is known primarily for his long-running drama Family Business (1978), a severe portrayal of a contemporary Jewish family confronting many crises as the father dies. Opening at the Off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre on 12 April 1978,Family Business ran for 477 performances. Rex Reed termed the opening of the play "one of the finest playwriting debuts I've witnessed in the New York Theatre in years ... a triumphant beginning that raises the quality of the New York theatre season several notches in the direction of profound and genuine artistry." Family Business was included in the Best Plays of 1977-1978 annual, and in 1978 it was also nominated for the best American play by the New York Drama Critics Circle.

Goldberg was born and reared in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. His father had studied the violin and in his youth played during intermissions at the movie theatre owned by Goldberg's grandfather. The economic conditions...