Chris O'Donnell Biography
Summary
"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", Charlie Simms in Scent of a Woman, Finn Dandridge in Grey's Anatomy, and more recently Jack McCauliffe in The Company.
Biography
Early life
O'Donnell, the youngest of seven children (with four sisters and two brothers), was born in Winnetka, Illinois, the son of Julie, a realtor, and William O'Donnell, Sr., a radio manager. O'Donnell's parents are Irish American and Catholic, 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), "School Ties" (1992), 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 successfully auditioned for Robin in "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), Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Corey Haim, Corey Feldman, Toby 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. Ironically, O'Donnell was 20th Century Fox's favorite choice for Jack Dawson in Titanic, but DiCaprio ended up receiving it.
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, after he turned it down, the role went to Will Smith. 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 (b. 1999), Christopher (b. 2000), Charles (b. 2003) and Finley (b. 2006). 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.
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Chris O'Donnell.
