CHRIS O'DONNELL

'Christopher "Chris" Eugene O'Donnell' (born June 26, 1970) is a Golden Globe Award-nominated American actor, perhaps best known for playing Robin in the Batman films, ''Batman Forever'' and ''Batman & Robin''.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

O'Donnell, the youngest of seven children (with four sisters and two brothers), was born in Winnetka, Illinois to Julie, a realtor, and William O'Donnell, Sr., a radio manager.^[1] O'Donnell's parents are Irish American and Catholic,^[2] and he attended Catholic schools, including Loyola Academy in Willmette, Illinois for high school, graduating in 1988. O'Donnell attended Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in marketing. He subsequently attended law school at UCLA but did not graduate.
From the ages of thirteen to sixteen, O'Donnell began modeling, and was featured in several commercials.

Career

O'Donnell was discovered when he was cast in a McDonald's commercial, in which he served Michael Jordan. His first television role was an appearance on the series ''Jack and Mike'' in 1986. At the age of seventeen, he was offered a chance to audition for a part in the movie ''Men Don’t Leave'', with Jessica Lange, and he won the role. In the early 1990s, O'Donnell was a featured player in many successful movies such as ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and ''Scent of a Woman'' (1992) with Al Pacino. He was named one of the twelve Promising New Actors of 1992 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 44.
After the success of ''Circle of Friends'' (1995), O'Donnell was chosen over Leonardo DiCaprio for the role of Robin in the hugely successful ''Batman Forever''. The role of Robin was one of the most sought-after roles at that time. O'Donnell was part of a field that included DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Christian Bale (who went on to play the Dark Knight himself in ''Batman Begins''), Jude Law, Ewan MacGregor, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Tobey Stephens, and Scott Speedman. Producers narrowed their choices to DiCaprio and O'Donnell. At a comic book convention, they asked a group of eleven year-old boys, the target audience, attending which actor could beat the other in a fistfight. When the boys overwhelmingly declared O'Donnell the winner, he was ultimately given the role.
O'Donnell followed that film with an appearance in the 1996 film ''The Chamber'', based on the John Grisham novel, which was a good success at the box office. He subsequently appeared in the Batman sequel, ''Batman & Robin'', in 1997. Critically panned, the movie turned out to be one of the largest box office failures in history. He was considered for the lead role in ''Spider-Man'', when the project was in development with James Cameron directing in 1996. Tobey Maguire was ultimately cast.
O'Donnell did not appear in another movie for two years. He was the producers' original choice for the role of James Edwards in ''Men in Black'' (1997), but the role went to Will Smith ^[3].His next appearance was in the Robert Altman film ''Cookie's Fortune'', as part of the ensemble. His more mainstream comeback films ''The Bachelor'' (1999) and ''Vertical Limit'' (2000) were only moderately successful. Following ''Vertical Limit'', a four-year hiatus led many to believe he had met the same career fate of his ''Batman & Robin'' co-star Alicia Silverstone. However, in 2004, he appeared in the widely praised ''Kinsey''.
O'Donnell took a lead role in the Fox Network television series ''Head Cases'' in 2005. The show was the first show of the fall 2005 season to be cancelled, and only two episodes were aired. He was subsequently cast as veterinarian Finn Dandridge on the popular ABC drama ''Grey's Anatomy''. O'Donnell appeared in the last six episodes of the 2005-2006 season, and has made additional appearances in the 2006-2007 season.
Most recently, he has figured prominently in the acclaimed TNT miniseries ''The Company'' as fictional CIA agent Jack McCauliffe in a performance which subtly portrayed his character's progression from spoon-fed Yale elitist to jaded, post-Cold War cynic.

Personal life

In 1996, O’Donnell proposed to his girlfriend Caroline Fentress. He met her while in college; they married in 1997.
The couple have four children, Lilly, Christopher, Charles and Finley. On August 1, 2007, O'Donnell, while promoting his new mini series ''The Company'' on NBC's ''Today Show'', announced the couple are expecting their fifth child.
O'Donnell is an avid golfer. He participated in a golf outing to help raise money for the 'Motion Picture and Television Fund' for which they raised $500,000 in the year 2000.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	''Cock & Bull''
	''The Company''	Jack McCauliffe
	''Grey's Anatomy''	Dr. Finn Dandridge	TV series
2005	''Head Cases''	Jason Payne	TV series
	''The Sisters''	David Turzin
2004	''Kinsey''	Wardell Pomeroy
2003	''The Practice''	Brad Stanfield	TV series
2002	''29 Palms''	The Hitman
2000	''Vertical Limit''	Peter Garrett
1999	''The Bachelor''	Jimmie Shannon
	''Cookie's Fortune''	Jason Brown
1997	''Batman & Robin''	Robin/Richard "Dick" Grayson
1996	''In Love and War''	Ernest 'Ernie' Hemingway
	''The Chamber''	Adam Hall
1995	''Batman Forever''	Robin/Richard "Dick" Grayson
	''Mad Love''	Matt Leland
	''Circle of Friends''	Jack Foley
1994	''Blue Sky''	Glenn Johnson
1993	''The Three Musketeers''	D'Artagnan
1992	''Scent of a Woman''	Charlie Simms
	''School Ties''	Chris Reece
1991	''Fried Green Tomatoes''	Buddy Threadgoode
1990	''Men Don't Leave''	Chris Macauley

References

1. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019490/bio
2. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5932797/chris_odonnells_personal_high/
3. ''Hollywood's Black Prince'', ''The Independent'', reprinted in ''The Sunday Times'', 22 August 1999

External links

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