Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955)
is an American actor.
McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy ''
Happy Gilmore'', a role he’d later reprise in 2025’s sequel ''
Happy Gilmore 2''. Other notable starring roles for McDonald in film include "T-Birds" member Goose McKenzie in ''
Grease 2
''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy film, and a standalone sequel to the Grease (film), 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 Grease (musical), musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Orig ...
'' (1982), Darryl Dickinson opposite his former fiancée
Geena Davis in ''
Thelma & Louise'' (1991),
Ward Cleaver in the film adaptation , and Tappy Tibbons in ''
Requiem for a Dream'' (2000). Along with numerous independent and small-budget film roles, he played supporting characters in box-office hits , , , ''
The House Bunny'' (2008) and .
On television, McDonald was a series regular on network TV shows ''
Walter & Emily'' (1991–1992, NBC), ''
Good Advice Good Advice may refer to:
*Good Advice (film), ''Good Advice'' (film), a 2001 film
*Good Advice (album), ''Good Advice'' (album), by Basia Bulat, 2016
*Good Advice (TV series), ''Good Advice'' (TV series), 1993
*Good Advice (song), "Good Advice" (s ...
'' (1993–1994, CBS), ''
Family Law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriag ...
'' (1999–2002, CBS), ''
Cracking Up'' (2004, FOX) and ''
Harry's Law'', (2011–2012, NBC).
McDonald has portrayed several notable real-life people, including game show host
Jack Barry in , mountaineer
Jon Krakauer in ''
Into Thin Air: Death on Everest'' on ABC (1997), sportscaster
Mel Allen in the HBO film ''
61*'' (2001), Yankee legend
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...
in ESPN's ''
The Bronx Is Burning'' (2007), U.S. Attorney General
Harry M. Daugherty on HBO's ''
Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2012), Texas revolution soldier
Henry Karnes in
History Channel
History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
's ''
Texas Rising'' (2015), and Clinton lawyer
Robert S. Bennett on FX's ''
Impeachment: American Crime Story'' (2021).
In 2022, McDonald was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as casino CEO Marty Ghilain on the
HBO Max show ''
Hacks''.
Personal life
McDonald was born in New York City, to Patricia, a nursing professor and
real estate agent, and James R. McDonald, an educator and high school principal.
Of Irish descent and a practicing Catholic, he and his siblings were raised in
Romulus, New York. He graduated from
Romulus Central School in 1973 and later earned a degree from
Hobart College in
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...
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
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...
and a friend of former Bills quarterback
Jim Kelly.
McDonald was engaged to future ''
Thelma & Louise'' co-star
Geena Davis for a period in the mid-80s until 1985, when she left him for
Jeff Goldblum. He met actress Lupe Gidley in 1989 when they performed together in a theatre production in New Mexico. They married in 1992 and have three daughters and one son.
Career
In 1978, McDonald appeared, as a contestant, on ''
The Dating Game''. McDonald has numerous film and television roles, often as a
supporting actor and often portraying villains. His credits include ''
Grease 2
''Grease 2'' is a 1982 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy film, and a standalone sequel to the Grease (film), 1978 film ''Grease'', adapted from the 1971 Grease (musical), musical of the same name by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Orig ...
'' (1982), ''
Breakin'
''Breakin (also known as ''Breakdance'' in the United Kingdom and ''Break Street '84'' in other regions) is a 1984 American breakdancing-themed musical film, musical film directed by Joel Silberg and written by Charles Parker and Allen DeBev ...
'' (1984), ''
Where the Boys Are '84'' (1984), ''
The Boys Next Door'' (1985), ''
Outrageous Fortune'' (1987), ''
Thelma & Louise'' (1991), ''
Fatal Instinct'' (1993), ''
Grumpy Old Men'' (1993), ''
Quiz Show'' (1994), the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
film ''
The Tuskegee Airmen'' (1995), ''
Happy Gilmore'' (1996), ''
Celtic Pride'' (1996), ''
House Arrest
House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...
'' (1996), ''
Flubber'' (1997), ''
Dirty Work'' (1998), ''
The Faculty
''The Faculty'' is a 1998 American science fiction horror film directed and edited by Robert Rodriguez with a screenplay by Kevin Williamson. It stars Jordana Brewster in her film debut, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Ha ...
'' (1998), ''
The Skulls'' (2000), ''
The Perfect Storm'' (2000), ''
Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams'' (2002), ''
Broken Flowers'' (2005), ''
Rumor Has It'' (2005), ''
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile'' (2006), ''
American Pie Presents: Beta House'' (2007), and ''
Superhero Movie'' (2008). In 1994, he starred in the film ''
Terminal Velocity'' as an aggressive Russian mafia villain. He was featured as
Ward Cleaver in the film version of ''
Leave It to Beaver'' (1997). He also played Tappy Tibbons in ''
Requiem for a Dream'' (2000), and was in ''
The House Bunny'' (2008) and ''
About Last Night'' (2014).
In television, along with a starring role on the television series ''
Walter & Emily'' (1991–1992), ''
Family Law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriag ...
'' (1999–2002), ''
Cracking Up'' (2004–2006), and recurring roles on ''
North Shore'' (2004), ''
Veronica's Closet'' (1997–1999), ''
Good Advice Good Advice may refer to:
*Good Advice (film), ''Good Advice'' (film), a 2001 film
*Good Advice (album), ''Good Advice'' (album), by Basia Bulat, 2016
*Good Advice (TV series), ''Good Advice'' (TV series), 1993
*Good Advice (song), "Good Advice" (s ...
'' (1993–1994), and ''
Harry's Law'' (2011–2012), McDonald has also made guest appearances on
Matlock, ''
Cheers
''Cheers'' is an American television sitcom, created by Glen and Les Charles, Glen Charles & Les Charles and James Burrows, that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/C ...
'', ''
Riptide'', ''
Knight Rider'', ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...
'', ''
Psych
''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened o ...
'', both the
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...
and the
2002 versions of ''
The Twilight Zone'', ''
Home Improvement'', ''
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
'', the
''Law & Order'' franchise, ''
Stargate Universe'', and ''
Star Trek: The Next Generation''. He also played the eponymous lead in
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...
's 2002 music video for the song "The Barry Williams Show".
McDonald has also done voice work, including
Jor-El
Jor-El is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Jor-El first appeared in the Superman (comic strip), ''Superman'' newspaper comic strip in 1939.
Jor-El is Supe ...
in ''
Superman: The Animated Series'' and ''
Justice League Unlimited
''Justice League Unlimited'' (''JLU'') is an American superhero animated series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation with DC Comics in season 3 and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Universe, and ...
,'' and an older version of
Superman
Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...
in ''
Batman Beyond''. He also voiced the determined government agent Kent Mansley in the animated film ''
The Iron Giant'' (1999). He subbed for
Burt Reynolds as
Boss Hogg in ''
The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning'' (2007). In 2009, McDonald 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 replaced
Robert De Niro in the ''
Midnight Run'' film franchise, playing Jack Walsh in three 1994 films: ''
Another Midnight Run'', ''
Midnight Runaround'', and ''
Midnight Run for Your Life''. He portrayed mountaineer
Jon Krakauer in the
ABC film ''
Into Thin Air: Death on Everest'' (1997), famous baseball broadcaster
Mel Allen in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
film ''
61*'' (2001), baseball player
Joe DiMaggio
Joseph Paul DiMaggio (; born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, ; November 25, 1914 – March 8, 1999), nicknamed "Joltin' Joe", "the Yankee Clipper" and "Joe D.", was an American professional baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year career ...
in the
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
original series ''
The Bronx Is Burning'' (2007) and U.S. Attorney General
Harry M. Daugherty on HBO's ''
Boardwalk Empire'' (2010–2012). In October 2013, McDonald started filming for ''A Conspiracy on Jekyll Island''.
Under the title ''
The Crash'', it was released
direct-to-video
Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...
in 2017. McDonald also played Texas revolution soldier
Henry Karnes in
History Channel
History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...
's ''
Texas Rising'' (2015), and Clinton lawyer
Robert S. Bennett on FX's ''
Impeachment: American Crime Story'' (2021).
McDonald appeared as Murphy in the Broadway show ''
The Front Page'' at the
Broadhurst Theater, which opened in late 2016.
In 2021, McDonald joined the cast of ''
Hacks'' on
HBO Max as Las Vegas casino owner Marty Ghilain, where he was nominated for a
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his role. In May 2021, he was cast in the
Disney+
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
series ''
Secret Invasion'', set in the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on List of Marvel Cinematic Universe films, a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appe ...
, which premiered in 2023. In 2023, McDonald appeared in the music video for
country music
Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...
duo
The Reklaws' song "
Honky Tonkin' About" with
Drake Milligan.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Music videos
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Christopher
1955 births
Living people
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
Catholics from New York (state)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges alumni
Hobart Statesmen football players
Male actors from New York City
People from Romulus, New York
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American people of Irish descent