Christopher McDonald

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**Christopher McDonald** (born February 15, 1955) is an American actor. He played Darryl Dickinson in *Thelma & Louise* (1991), Shooter McGavin in *Happy Gilmore* (1996), Ward Cleaver in the film adaptation of *Leave It to Beaver* (1997), Kent Mansley in *The Iron Giant* (1999), Tappy Tibbons in *Requiem for a Dream* (2000), and Mel Allen in the HBO film *61\** (2001).

## Personal life

McDonald was born in New York City, the son of Patricia, a nursing professor and real estate agent, and James R. McDonald, an educator and high school principal.

Of Irish/Scottish descent and a practicing Catholic, he and his siblings were raised in Romulus, New York. He graduated from Hobart College in Geneva, New York where he played football and soccer. He was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Society. His younger brother, actor and singer Daniel McDonald, died of brain cancer in February 2007. He is a prominent fan of the Buffalo Bills and a friend of former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly.

## Career

McDonald has numerous film and television roles, often as a supporting actor and often portraying villains. In addition to the above, his credits also include *Grease 2*, *Breakin'*, *Where the Boys Are '84*, *The Boys Next Door*, *Thelma & Louise*, *Grumpy Old Men*, *Celtic Pride*, *Quiz Show*, *Flubber*, *The Faculty*, *The Perfect Storm*, *House Arrest*, *Dirty Work*, *American Pie 5: The Naked Mile*, *Broken Flowers*, and *Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams*. He was featured as Ward Cleaver in the movie version of *Leave It to Beaver* and famous baseball broadcaster Mel Allen in *61\**. In 1994, he starred in the film *Terminal Velocity* as an aggressive Russian mafia villain.

In television, along with a starring role on the TV series *Family Law*, and recurring roles on *North Shore*, *Veronica's Closet*, *Good Advice*, and *Harry's Law*, McDonald has also made guest appearances on *Cheers*, *Riptide*, *Knight Rider*, *The Sopranos*, *Psych*, both the 1985 and the 2002 versions of *The Twilight Zone*, *Home Improvement*, *Las Vegas*, the *Law & Order* franchise, *Stargate Universe*, and *Star Trek: The Next Generation* as Lt. Richard Castillo in the season three episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".

McDonald's voice work includes the determined government agent Kent Mansley in the animated film *The Iron Giant*. He also voiced Jor-El in *Superman: The Animated Series* and subsequently an older version of Superman in *Batman Beyond*. He has recalled great affection for these roles, saying that he enjoyed them because he was (and continues to be) such a fan of Superman and because they were in such contrast to the less than sympathetic onscreen roles for which he is known. He subbed for Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg in *The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning*. In 2009, McDonald also lent his voice talents in the Thomas Nelson audio Bible production known as *The Word of Promise*. In this dramatized audio, McDonald played the role of Luke.

McDonald played the eponymous lead in Peter Gabriel's music video for the song "The Barry Williams Show". He also replaced Robert De Niro in the *Midnight Run* movie franchise, playing Jack Walsh in three films: *Another Midnight Run*, *Midnight Runaround*, and *Midnight Run for Your Life*. He portrayed baseball player Joe DiMaggio in the ESPN original series *The Bronx Is Burning*. In October 2013, McDonald started filming for *A Conspiracy on Jekyll Island*. Under the title *The Crash*, it was released direct-to-video in 2017.

McDonald appeared in the Broadway show *The Front Page* at the Broadhurst Theater.

## References

1. ↑ "CHRISTOPHER MCDONALD 09.18.17..mp3". http://www.989therock.com/media/audio-channel/christopher-mcdonald-091817mp3.
2. ↑ 'Happy Gilmore' Actor Christopher McDonald Charged With DUI, popculture.com; accessed July 28, 2018.
3. ↑ "Christopher McDonald Biography". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/12/Christopher-McDonald.html. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
4. ↑ Arar, Yardena (June 11, 1991). "Christopher McDonald plays a good movie heel". Retrieved on July 22, 2013.
5. ↑ "All in the Family". Fltimes.com. 2010-07-22. http://www.fltimes.com/news/article\_b4fa8385-1fb5-551e-93bf-73a6e9aefc71.html.
6. ↑ "Catholic actor McDonald gets high profile on TV's 'Harry's Law'". http://thecatholiccommentator.org/pages/?p=4890.
7. ↑ "Christopher McDonald Flexes His Comedic Muscles Playing a Supervillain in Superhero Movie". PR.com. 2008-04-04. http://www.pr.com/article/1095. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
8. ↑ Harris, Will (2011-11-08). "Christopher McDonald profile". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/christopher-mcdonald,64722. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
9. ↑ "Daniel McDonald, Broadway Musical Actor, Is Dead at 46". http://www.playbill.com/article/daniel-mcdonald-broadway-musical-actor-is-dead-at-46-com-138633. Retrieved July 28, 2018.
10. ↑ "Shooter McGavin hangs out with Jim Kelly and Dan Marino before Bills-Dolphins game". *MSN.com*. October 21, 2019. https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/shooter-mcgavin-hangs-out-with-jim-kelly-and-dan-marino-before-bills-dolphins-game/ar-AAJ4CfB.
11. ↑ "The Word of Promise: Cast". Archived from the original on 29 October 2014.
12. ↑ Groves, Martha (2009-11-16). "Beliefs : Stars lined up for elaborate audio Bible : Michael York, Jason Alexander and many others gave voice to a 79-CD reading of Old and New Testaments", *Los Angeles Times*.
13. ↑ Justin Kroll. "'The Butler' Producer Sets up Next Pic Starring Frank Grillo and Minnie Driver (EXCLUSIVE)". *Variety*. https://variety.com/2013/film/news/frank-grillo-jekyll-island-minnie-driver-1200775773/.
14. ↑ "Frank Grillo Tries To Stop An Economic Cyber Attack In Trailer For 'The Crash'". 13 December 2016. http://theplaylist.net/frank-grillo-tries-stop-economic-cyber-attack-trailer-crash-20161213/.
15. ↑ "Starry Front Page Revival Arrives on Broadway Tonight". *Playbill*. September 20, 2016. http://www.playbill.com/article/extry-full-cast-and-theatre-announced-for-broadway-front-page. Retrieved October 12, 2016.

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