Biography
Hollywood character actor Christopher McDonald at first specialized in playing uptight and slightly vexing young urban professionals. When the material demanded it, McDonald occasionally heightened these qualities to the obnoxious level for persuasive villainous portrayals, appearing as philandering husbands, condescending jocks, and manipulative powermongers to tremendous effect.
The Manhattan native grew up in Romulus, NY. A Renaissance man and overachiever in high school, McDonald studied dentistry at Hobart College in the upstate New York town of Geneva but soon discovered an enduring passion for drama, studying after his 1977 graduation at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. When plum adolescent roles in the musical clunkers
Grease 2 (1982) and
Breakin' (1984) did little to further McDonald's career, he moved to Manhattan and sought tutelage from the legendary acting coach
Stella Adler -- with such aggressive determination that he actually convinced the 83-year-old Adler to offer her services in exchange for domestic chores.
The actor landed one of his most visible parts circa 1986, in the
Bette Midler-
Shelley Long female buddy comedy
Outrageous Fortune (1987). He also essayed a memorable nice-guy turn opposite
Cybill Shepherd and
Ryan O'Neal in the first act of the wonderful reincarnation comedy
Chances Are (1989). But McDonald's watershed moment came with his portrayal of
Geena Davis' browbeating husband, Darryl Dickinson, in
Ridley Scott's blockbuster feminist road movie Thelma & Louise (1991). Thanks to the success of that picture, McDonald's screen time escalated, and he began tackling an average of four to six roles per year. He ushered in an outstanding portrayal of Jack Barry, the natty host of
Twenty-One, in the
Robert Redford-directed
Quiz Show (1994); played an abusive golf pro in the
Adam Sandler comedy
Happy Gilmore (1996); and was suitably annoying as an ignorant dad in
John Duigan's suburban drama
Lawn Dogs (1997). That same year, McDonald also portrayed Ward Cleaver in the big-screen version of
Leave It to Beaver.
McDonald resumé during the first several years of the millennium includes such Hollywood blockbusters as 61* (2001) and
Spy Kids 2 (2002) and such arthouse hits as
Requiem for a Dream (2000) and
Broken Flowers (2005). In 2007, McDonald played Boss Hogg in the big-budget sequel The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning and Marty Schumacher in the
Jamie Kennedy vehicle
Kickin' It Old Skool. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide