Movies on the blog: Alyson Stoner: Christopher McDonald

Christopher McDonald (born February 15, 1955) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Shooter McGavin in Happy Gilmore, Tappy Tibbons in Requiem for a Dream, Mel Allen in the HBO film 61* and Morton Stockard in Lawn Dogs.

Personal life

McDonald was born in New York City, the son of Patricia, a nursing professor and real estate agent, and James R. McDonald, an educator and high school principal. He is of Irish ancestry. He was raised in Romulus, New York, and is a graduate of Hobart College in Geneva, New York.

Career

McDonald has numerous film and television roles, 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 & Louise, Grumpy Old Men, Celtic Pride, 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. He appeared on The Dating Game in 1978 as one of the three bachelors, but was one of the two who was not chosen for the date. He Starred in 2006 film Funny Money.

In the realm of television, along with recurring roles on the television series Family Law, North Shore, Veronica's Closet, Good Advice, and Harry's Law, McDonald has also made guest appearances on Cheers, Riptide, Knight Rider, The Sopranos, Psych, both the 1985 and the 2002 versions of The Twilight Zone, Home Improvement, Las Vegas, the Law & Order franchise, Stargate Universe and Star Trek: The Next Generation as Lt. Richard Castillo in the season 3 episode "Yesterday's Enterprise".

McDonald's voice work includes the determined government agent Kent Mansley in the animated film The Iron Giant. He also voiced Jor-El (Superman's father) in Superman: The Animated Series and subsequently an older version of Superman in Batman Beyond. 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. In 2009, McDonald also lent his voice talents in the Thomas Nelson audio Bible production known as The Word of Promise. In this dramatized audio, McDonald played the characters of Luke the Evangelist. The project also featured a large ensemble of well known Hollywood actors including Jim Caviezel, Lou Gossett, Jr., John Rhys-Davies, Jon Voight, Gary Sinise, Jason Alexander, Marisa Tomei and John Schneider.

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.