Christopher McDonald
Christopher McDonald | |
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Born | |
Occupation | Actor |
Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore, Tappy Tibbons in Requiem for a Dream and Mel Allen in the HBO film 61*.
Personal life
McDonald was born in New York City, the son of Patricia, a nursing professor and real estate agent, and James McDonald, an educator.[1] He was raised in upstate Romulus, New York, and is a graduate of Hobart College in Geneva, New York, where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Society. McDonald is married to Lupe Gidley, and together they are the parents of four children: son Jackson Riley (born December 22, 1990), and daughters, Hannah Elizabeth (born October 20, 1993), Rosie (born 1996), and Ava Catherine (born September 3, 2001). He has five surviving siblings following the death of his younger brother, actor Daniel McDonald (July 30, 1960 – February 15, 2007).
Career
McDonald has numerous film and television roles to his name, often as a supporting actor and often portraying antagonistic characters. In addition to the above, his credits also include Breakin', Grease 2, The Boys Next Door, Thelma and Louise, Grumpy Old Men, 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 alongside Charlie Sheen.
In the realm of television, along with recurring roles on the television series Family Law, North Shore, Veronica's Closet and Harry's Law, McDonald has also made guest appearances on Cheers, Riptide, Knight Rider, The Sopranos, Psych, Home Improvement, Las Vegas, the Law and Order franchise, Stargate Universe and Star Trek: The Next Generation as Lt. Richard Castillo in the season 3 episode Yesterday's Enterprise.
His voice work includes the determined government agent Kent Mansley in the animated film The Iron Giant. He also voiced Superman's father Jor-El in Superman: The Animated Series and subsequently a much older Superman in the Batman Beyond two part episode The Call. 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 his less than sympathetic on screen roles that he is famous for. He subbed for Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg in The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning.
He was also in Peter Gabriel's music video for the song The Barry Williams Show with McDonald as the eponymous lead. He also replaced Robert De Niro in the Midnight Run movie franchise; he played "Jack Walsh" in three TV 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.