Martin Donovan
| Martin Donovan | |
|---|---|
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| Born | Martin Smith August 19, 1957 Reseda, California |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1982–present |
Martin Donovan (born August 19, 1957) is an American film, stage and television actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of Hartley's films, such as Trust (1990), Surviving Desire (1991), Simple Men (1992), Flirt (1993), Amateur (1994), and The Book of Life (1998; in which he played Jesus). Donovan plays Peter Scottson, the DEA agent on Showtime's cable series Weeds. He will make his writing/directorial debut in 2011 with the film Collaborator.
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[edit] Early life
Donovan was born Martin Smith in Reseda, California[1] to an Irish American middle class family. He and his three siblings were raised Catholic.[2][3] He graduated from Crespi Carmelite High School and attended Pierce College for two years. He attended American Theater Arts, a combined conservatory and theater company in Los Angeles, where he appeared in the plays Richard's Cork Leg by Brendan Behan and Private Life of the Master Race by Bertold Brecht.
In 1983, he and his wife moved to New York City, where he took odd jobs like installing drapery to support his family. He joined the Cacaracha Theater on Greenwich Street.[4]
[edit] Career
Donovan has appeared in three episodes of the Showtime television series Weeds, which stars Mary Louise Parker, for which he was nominated for a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by An Ensemble in a Comedy Series. He has also acted with Parker in Saved!, Pipe Dream and The Portrait of A Lady. In The Portrait of A Lady, he won the National Society of Film Critics' Award for best supporting actor.
In 2009, he starred opposite Virginia Madsen in A Haunting in Connecticut. Recently he was seen in The Sentinel with Kiefer Sutherland and Michael Douglas as well as The Quiet with Edie Falco. In 2007 he appeared in the suspense horror film Wind Chill, which starred Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes. Other recent film appearances include The United States of Leland, The Opposite of Sex, Living Out Loud, In a Savage Land, Onegin, Heaven, Hollow Reed, and Nadja. He will be taking playing "Douglas Cartland" in the upcoming Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.
Donovan had a long association with celebrated director Hal Hartley, starring in several of his films including Amateur which was selected for both the Cannes and New York Film Festivals. Other Hartley collaborations are Simple Men, which was also an official Cannes selection; Trust, Surviving Desire, Flirt and The Book of Life, which was shown at the New York Film Festival. Donovan starred in Shadows and Lies alongside James Franco and Julianne Nicholson.
Donovan's recent TV credits include Masters of Horror (episode "Right to Die"); the FX telefilm RFK and the Fox series Pasadena. Other television credits are Amy and Isabelle, The Great Gatsby, and HBO's When Trumpets Fade. He made his television series début in Peter Berg's Wonderland.
[edit] Writing & Directing
In 2010, Donovan wrote, directed and starred in Collaborator, portraying a once-successful playwright who is taken hostage while visiting his mother and childhood home.
[edit] Personal life
Donovan married actress Vivian Lanko in 1984. They have two sons. They lived in New York City for many years, but have relocated to Vancouver, Canada.[3][5][6]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Hard Choices | Josh | |
| 1987 | At Mother's Request | Detective Rogen | TV movie |
| 1990 | Trust | Matthew Slaughter | |
| 1991 | Surviving Desire | Jude | |
| 1992 | Malcolm X | FBI Agent | aka X (USA: poster title) |
| Simple Men | Martin | aka Uomini semplici (Italy) | |
| 1993 | Quick | Herschel Brewer | aka Crossfire (UK: video box title) |
| Scam | Gordon Wexler | TV movie | |
| South Beach | Spencer Robinson | TV series - Episode #1.7 "School for Scandal" | |
| The Adventures of Pete & Pete | TV series - "Apocalypse Pete" and "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas" | ||
| 1994 | The Rook | John Abbott | |
| Nadja | Jim | ||
| Amateur | Thomas Ludens | Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor | |
| 1995 | Flirt | Walter | |
| 1996 | The Portrait of A Lady | Ralph Touchett | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| Hollow Reed | Martyn Wyatt | Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor Nominee | |
| 1997 | Night Sins | Paul Garrison | TV movie |
| 1998 | Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples | Aart Vos | TV movie - segment "Aart and Johtje Vos" |
| When Trumpets Fade | Capt. Roy Pritchett | ||
| The Opposite of Sex | Bill Truitt | ||
| Heaven | Robert Marling | ||
| Living Out Loud | Robert Nelson | ||
| The Book of Life | Jesus Christ | ||
| Spanish Fly | Carl | ||
| 1999 | In a Savage Land | Dr. Phillip Spence | |
| The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer | Richard DiBenedetto | TV movie | |
| Onegin | Prince Nikitin | ||
| 2000 | Desire | ||
| The Great Gatsby | Tom Buchanan | TV movie | |
| Custody of the Heart | Dennis Raphael | TV movie | |
| Wonderland | Dr. Neil Harrison | 8 episodes | |
| 2001 | Amy and Isabelle | Peter Robertson | TV movie |
| Pasadena | Will McAllister | 13 episodes | |
| 2002 | |||
| Insomnia | Detective Hap Eckhart | ||
| Pipe Dream | David Kulovic | ||
| RFK | John F. Kennedy | TV movie | |
| 2003 | The United States of Leland | Harry Pollard | |
| Agent Cody Banks | Dr. Connors | ||
| Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Dr. Archibald Newlands | TV episode: "Serendipity" | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Howard Delhomme | TV episode: "After the Show" | |
| 2004 | The Pornographer: A Love Story | ||
| Saved! | Pastor Skip | ||
| Traffic | Brent Delaney | TV mini-series | |
| Dark Shadows | Roger Collins | TV series - "Pilot" | |
| White Like Me | Gus | ||
| 2005 | At Last | Mark Singleton | |
| The Quiet | Paul Deer | ||
| Weeds | Peter Scottson | 14 episodes Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005) |
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| 2006 | The Visitation | Travis Jordan | |
| The Garage | Adult Matt | ||
| The Sentinel | William Montrose | ||
| Day on Fire | Walter Evering | ||
| Law & Order | Robert White | TV series - "Cost of Capital" | |
| 2007 | The Dead Zone | Malcolm Janus | 6 episodes |
| Masters of Horror | Cliff Addison | TV series - "Right to Die" | |
| Wind Chill | Highway Patrolman | ||
| Ghost Whisperer | Tom Gordon | 4 episodes | |
| 2008 | The Alphabet Killer | Jim Walsh | |
| 2009 | The Haunting in Connecticut | Peter Campbell | |
| Unthinkable | Jack Saunders | ||
| 2010 | Unnatural History | Bryan Bartlett | |
| 2011 | Collaborator | Robert Longfellow | Written and Directed by Martin Donovan |
| Boss | Ezra Stone | STARZ TV series | |
| 2012 | Silent Hill: Revelation 3D | Douglas Cartland |
[edit] References
- ^ Martin Donovan profile at FilmReference.com
- ^ "'Opposite' attracts low-key indie star", New York Post
- ^ a b "For an Art-House Regular, a Wider World", ibid.
- ^ "For an Art-House Regular, a Wider World", New York Times]
- ^ amateur - Martin Donovan profile at www.sonypictures.com
- ^ Martin Donovan interview
