Martin Donovan

Martin Donovan
Donovan attends press interviews at the 19th Annual Hamptons International Film Festival on October 16, 2011
Born	Martin P. Smith (1957-08-19) 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 also played Peter Scottson, a DEA agent, on Showtime's cable series Weeds. He made his writing/directorial debut in 2011 with the film Collaborator.

Early life

Donovan was born Martin P. 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 Cucaracha Theater on Greenwich Street.^[4]

Career

Donovan has appeared in fourteen 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 The 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 made his television series début in Peter Berg's Wonderland. His 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. In 2011 he took a major role in the Starz original drama series Boss.

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.

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]

Filmography

References

External links

• Martin Donovan at the Internet Movie Database