Donovan Patton

**Donovan Patton** (born March 1, 1978) is an American host, actor, voice actor, and singer. Patton graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and acted in Shakespeare plays such as _Much Ado About Nothing_ and _Romeo and Juliet_ before he replaced Steve Burns as Joe, the second host of Nickelodeon's children's television program _Blue's Clues_ in 2002. Series co-creator Angela Santomero stated that Patton brought Joe, his character, closer to the preschool viewer, as Joe was more willing to "jump into a problem rather than figure it out first like Steve". After _Blue's Clues_ ended Patton voiced Bot on Nickelodeon's _Team Umizoomi_, for his work on children's television series, Patton has been described as a "household name" and an "unqualified star to the 5-and-under set and their parents".

Although most of his career has been in children's television, Patton has also appeared in independent films, such as _Awake_ and _Lies I Told My Little Sister_, and in television shows.

He also appeared in video games, such as _Grand Theft Auto V_, _Lego Jurassic World_, _Star Wars: The Old Republic - Knights of the Fallen Empire_ and _Halo 5: Guardians_.

## Early career

Donovan Patton graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in northwest Michigan. His first acting roles were in Shakespeare plays such as _Much Ado About Nothing_ and _Romeo and Juliet_.

## _Blue's Clues_

Patton's "big break" came in 2002, when he was cast to replace Steve Burns as Joe, the second host of the Nickelodeon children's television program _Blue's Clues_.  He was up for a part in _Blair Witch Project 2_ at the time, but considered the role as Joe "a happy accident".  Patton became a "household name"  and has been called "an unqualified star to the 5-and-under set and their parents".  He was subjected to "the same kind of scrutiny" as Burns, who was involved in Patton's selection and helped train him, to earn the role.  Patton was selected out of 1,500 auditions.  He had never seen the show before his audition, but like Burns was the favorite with preschool test audiences.  He said, "I am convinced that I got that part because of a Christopher Walken impression I sometimes do.  There's a tape out there, somewhere, with both Steve Burns and myself doing a _Blue's Clues_ scene both as Christopher Walken, which we did at the screen test. I haven't seen the tape, but I know somewhere it still exists".  Beginning in September 2000, Burns trained Patton to take over the host spot and advised him not to "think of [the show] as children's TV", but rather as "acting and telling the truth".

According to Traci Paige Johnson, one of the producers and creators of _Blue's Clues_, Patton's character was more like a preschooler and more innocent than Steve. Angela Santomero, another producer and creator, stated that Patton's characterization as Joe brought him closer to the preschool viewer as Joe was more willing to "jump into a problem rather than figure it out first like Steve". Patton liked working on _Blue's Clues_ because, as he stated, "I got to go be a kid for twelve hours a day".  He called the show's crew "a real fun little family" and a "well-oiled machine" by the time he joined the show. Patton remained on the show for 50 episodes, until it ended its run in 2006, and also appeared in its spin-off, _Blue's Room_, which premiered in 2004. Several years later, Patton said he had not yet grasped the enormity of replacing Burns, even after he became a parent and witnessed the show's effect on his own children.  He admitted that he preferred when his two-year-old daughter watched the Steve episodes.

## Later roles

In 2012, Patton appeared in the short films _Awake_ and _Pharmboy_, the latter of which was directed by his longtime friend Lawrence Feeney.  Mark Finguerra, the director of _Awake_, was able to look past the potential typecasting of Patton's role in _Blue's Clues_ to cast him in a darker role.  Patton had impressed him in an audition for an earlier feature film.  Finguerra called Patton a "complete professional [and a] tremendous actor", and enjoyable on set.  He appeared in the soap opera _One Life to Live_, in which he played, in a departure of his previous roles, "a very angry man".  In 2014, he appeared in a small movie shot mostly in New Jersey, entitled _Lies I Told My Little Sister_, directed by William Stribling and starring Lucy Walters.

Patton called his career, with its mixture of children's television and darker roles in independent films, "an odd experience" and told a reporter that he had spent half his life at Nickelodeon.  In 2009, he was cast as Bot, the robot superhero, on the children's show _Team Umizoomi_ through the relationships he had made at Nickelodeon on _Blue's Clues_.  He found working on _Team Umizoomi_ "comforting" because many of the same crew, producers, and creators had also worked on _Blue's Clues_.  It was the first time he had worked as a voice-over artist, unlike on _Blue's Clues_, when he was able to be more physical acting in front of a blue screen.  He said, about _Team Umizoomi_, "the work the animators have done on it has been superlative".  He stated that he enjoyed working on _Team Umizoomi_ because it gave him the opportunity to participate in a show from its inception, which he had missed with _Blue's Clues_.  Patton said his voice performance of Bot, which he modeled on Brent Spiner's performance as the android Data on _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ and was influenced by Mel Blanc's work in the classic Warner Bros. cartoons, "ended up sounding more like my natural voice, with a teeny bit of superhero in there".  Despite both roles in _Blue's Clues_ and _Team Umizoomi_ requiring him to sing, he did not consider himself a natural singer and felt that he had to work hard at it.  He said, about being cast as Bot, "I get to be a superhero. Who doesn't want to be a superhero"?.

Patton is married and has two children.  He is active in several charities in the New York City area, including Literacy Inc., the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, a large children's hospital.

## Filmography

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1997|_Scream 2_|Himself / "Stab" Jerry Prescott||
|2005|_Black Wine_|Todd||
|2009|_Imagine That_|Joe|Uncredited|
|2012|_Pharmboy_|Mr. Morris||
|2013|_Monsters University_|Additional voices||
|2014|_Lies I Told My Little Sister_|Josh Davidson||
|2017|_The Broken Ones_|Tim Kelly||
|2018|_Ralph Breaks the Internet_|JP||

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2002–2006|_Blue's Clues_|Joe|50 episodes|
|2004–2007|_Blue's Room_|Joe|13 episodes|
|2010–2015|_Team Umizoomi_|Bot (voice)|76 episodes|
|2011|_Blue Bloods_|Bellhop|1 episode|
|2011|_Nurse Jackie_|Husband|1 episode|
|2012|_Damages_|Dry Cleaning Boy at Hewes & Associates|1 episode|
|2015–2018|_Clarence_|Jim Reese, additional voices|18 episodes|
|2016–2017|_Creative Galaxy_|Chef Zesty|5 episodes|

|Year|Title|Role|Notes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2013|_Grand Theft Auto V_|Actor|Uncredited|
|2015|_Lego Jurassic World_|Additional voices||
|2015|_Lego Dimensions_|Additional Voices||
|2015|_Star Wars: The Old Republic - Knights of the Fallen Empire|Additional voices||
|2015|_Halo 5: Guardians_|Additional voices||
|2017|_Horizon Zero Dawn_|Gildun||
|2017|_Minecraft: Story Mode - Season 2|Warden||
|2017|_Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds_|Gildun||
|2018|_God of War_|Additional Voices||

|Year|Title|Role|
| --- | --- | --- |
|2012|_Beyond Belief_|Shaina's Dad|
|2013|_Awake_|Eddie|
|2015|_Clarence Shorts: Big Boy_|Mr. Reese (voice)|

|Year|Title|Role|
| --- | --- | --- |
|1996|_Dr. Ice_|Waiter|
|2002|_Blue's Clues: It's Joe Time_|Joe|
|2002|_Blue's Clues: Meet Joe!_|Joe|
|2003|_Blue's Clues: 100th Episode Celebration_|Joe|
|2003|_Blue's Clues: Blue's Big Band_|Joe|
|2003|_Blue's Clues: Get to Know Joe_|Joe|
|2003|_Blue's Clues: Shapes and Colors_|Joe|
|2003|_Blue's Clues: Blue Takes You to School_|Joe|
|2003|_Blue's Clues: Blue's First Holiday_|Joe|
|2004|_Blue's Clues: Blue Talks_|Joe|
|2004|_Blue's Room: Snacktime Playdate_|Joe (Blue's Wishes)|
|2004|_Blue's Clues: Bluestock_|Joe|
|2005|_Blue's Room: It's Hug Day_|Joe (Joe's Clues)|
|2005|_Blue's Room: Beyond Your Wildest Dreams_|Joe (Playdates)|
|2005|_Blue's Room: Alphabet Power_|Joe (The Alphabet Train)|
|2005|_Blue's Room: Holiday Wishes_|Joe|
|2006|_Blue's Room: Fred's Birthday_|Joe (The Fairy Tale Ball)|
|2006|_Blue's Clues: Blue's Jobs_|Joe (2 episodes)|
|2006|_Blue's Clues: Blue's Biggest Stories_|Joe (3 episodes)|
|2006|_Blue's Room: Meet Blue's Baby Brother!_|Joe|
|2007|_Blue's Room: Knights of the Snack Table_|Joe|
|2007|_Blue's Room: Shape Detectives_|Joe|
|2007|_Blue's Room: Little Blue Riding Hood_|Joe|
|2007|_Blue's Room: World Travelers_|Joe|

## Infobox (person)

- **image**: Donovan Patton 2020.jpg
- **name**: Donovan Patton
- **birth place**: Naval Air Station Agana, Guam
- **occupation**: Host, actor, voice actor, singer
- **years active**: 1996–present
- **spouse**: Jackie Patton
- **children**: 2
- **relatives**: Michael Patton (father)
Danene Curtis (mother)