Christopher McDonald

For other similarly named people, see Christopher McDonald (disambiguation) and Chris McDonald (disambiguation).
Christopher McDonald
McDonald at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Born (1955-02-15) February 15, 1955 (age 69)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma materHobart College
OccupationActor
Years active1978–present
Spouse
Lupe Gidley
​
(m. 1992)​
Children4
Relatives

Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955)[1][2] is an American film, television, theatre and voice actor.

McDonald is best known for playing the villainous professional golfer Shooter McGavin in the 1996 comedy Happy Gilmore.[3] Other notable starring roles for McDonald in film include "T-Birds" member Goose McKenzie in Grease 2 (1982), Darryl Dickinson opposite his former fiancée Geena Davis in Thelma & Louise (1991), Ward Cleaver in the film adaptation Leave It to Beaver (1997), 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 Grumpy Old Men (1993), Flubber (1997), Rumor Has It (2005), The House Bunny (2008) and About Last Night (2014).

On television, McDonald was a series regular on network TV shows Walter & Emily (1991–1992, NBC), Good Advice (1993–1994, CBS), Family Law (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 Quiz Show (1994), 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 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'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.[4]

  1. ^ "CHRISTOPHER MCDONALD 09.18.17..mp3".
  2. ^ 'Happy Gilmore' Actor Christopher McDonald Charged With DUI, popculture.com; accessed July 28, 2018.
  3. ^ "Christopher McDonald Answers Every Question We Have About Happy Gilmore". February 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Emmys 2022: The Complete Nominations List". July 12, 2022.