Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as Trust (1990), Surviving Desire (1991), Simple Men (1992), Amateur (1994), Flirt (1995), and The Book of Life (1998), starring as Jesus Christ in the latter. Donovan also played Peter Scottson on Showtime's cable series Weeds. He made his writing/directorial debut with the film Collaborator (2011).[1] Donovan played Detective Hap Eckhart in Christopher Nolan's psychological thriller Insomnia (2002) and the Protagonist's CIA handler, Fay, in Nolan's science fiction action thriller film Tenet (2020).

Martin Donovan
Donovan in 2011
Born
Martin Paul Smith

(1957-08-19) August 19, 1957 (age 67)
OccupationActor
Years active1982–present
Spouse
Vivian Lanko
(m. 1984)
Children2

Early life

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Donovan was born Martin Paul Smith in Reseda, California.[citation needed]

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 future wife, Vivian, moved to New York City. He joined the off-off-Broadway Cucaracha Theater on Greenwich Street.[2]

Career

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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. For the latter film, he won the National Society of Film Critics' Award for best supporting actor.[3]

Personal life

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Donovan married actress Vivian Lanko in 1984; they have two sons. They lived in New York City for many years before relocating to Vancouver.[2]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Hard Choices Josh
1987 At Mother's Request Det. Rogen TV movie
1990 Trust Matthew Slaughter
1991 Surviving Desire Jude
1992 Malcolm X FBI Agent a.k.a. X (USA: poster title)
Simple Men Martin a.k.a. Uomini semplici (Italy)
1993 Quick Herschel Brewer a.k.a. Crossfire (UK: video box title)
1994 The Rook John Abbott
Nadja Jim
Amateur Thomas Ludens
1995 Flirt Walter
1996 The Portrait of A Lady Ralph Touchett National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated—New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor(2nd place)
Hollow Reed Martyn Wyatt
1998 The Opposite of Sex Bill Truitt
Heaven Robert Marling
Living Out Loud Robert Nelson
The Book of Life Jesus Christ
Spanish Fly Carl
1999 In a Savage Land Dr. Phillip Spence
Onegin Prince Nikitin
2000 Desire
2002 Insomnia Detective Hap Eckhart
Pipe Dream David Kulovic
2003 The United States of Leland Harry Pollard
Agent Cody Banks Dr. Connors
2004 The Pornographer: A Love Story
Saved! Pastor Skip
White Like Me Gus
2005 At Last Mark Singleton
The Quiet Paul Deer
2006 The Visitation Travis Jordan
The Garage Adult Matt
The Sentinel William Montrose
Day on Fire Walter Evering
2007 Wind Chill Highway Patrolman
2008 The Alphabet Killer Jim Walsh
2009 The Haunting in Connecticut Peter Campbell
Duress Richard Barnet
2010 Shadows and Lies Victor
Unthinkable Jack Saunders
2011 Collaborator Robert Longfellow Also writer and director
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival: FIPRESCI Prize
2012 Silent Hill: Revelation 3D Douglas Cartland
The Reluctant Fundamentalist Ludlow Cooper
2013 Nurse 3D Larry Cook
2014 Sabotage Floyd Demel
Ned Rifle Rev. Daniel Gardner
Inherent Vice Crocker Fenway
2015 Ant-Man Mitchell Carson
2017 Rememory Gordon Dunn
Indian Horse Jack Lanahan
2019 The Art of Racing in the Rain Maxwell
White Lie Doug Arneson
Come to Daddy Ant Timpson
2020 Tenet Fay
Percy Rick Aarons
2021 Redemption Day Tom Fitzgerald
Crisis Lawrence Morgan
2023 BlackBerry Rick Brock
2024 The Apprentice Fred Trump Sr.

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1987 At Mother's Request Det. Rogen Television movie
1993 Scam Gordon Wexler Television movie
South Beach Spencer Robinson Episode: "School for Scandal"
The Adventures of Pete & Pete Episodes: "Apocalypse Pete" and "Space, Geeks, and Johnny Unitas"
1997 Night Sins Paul Garrison Television movie
1998 Rescuers: Stories of Courage - Two Couples Aart Vos TV movie
Segment: "Aart and Johtje Vos"
When Trumpets Fade Capt. Roy Pritchett Television movie
1999 The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer Richard DiBenedetto Television movie
2000 The Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan Television movie
Custody of the Heart Dennis Raphael Television movie
Wonderland Dr. Neil Harrison 8 episodes
2001 Amy and Isabelle Peter Robertson Television movie
2001–2002 Pasadena Will McAllister 13 episodes
2002 RFK John F. Kennedy Television movie
2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Dr. Archibald Newlands Episode: "Serendipity"
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Howard Delhomme Episode: "After the Show"
2004 Traffic Brent Delaney Television miniseries
Dark Shadows Roger Collins Unaired TV pilot
2005–2006 Weeds Peter Scottson 14 episodes
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2005)
2006 Law & Order Robert White Episode: "Cost of Capital"
2007 The Dead Zone Malcolm Janus 6 episodes
Masters of Horror Cliff Addison Episode: "Right to Die"
Ghost Whisperer Tom Gordon 4 episodes
2010 Unnatural History Bryan Bartlett 13 episodes
2011–2012 Boss Ezra Stone 10 episodes
2012 The Firm Kevin Stack Recurring role
The Listener Michael Morrissey Episode: "Cold Case Blues"
The Selection King Clarkson Television movie
2013 King & Maxwell Robert A. Scott 5 episodes
2013–2015 Rogue Richard Campbell 11 episodes
2013 Homeland Leland Bennett 3 episodes
2016 Legends of Tomorrow Zaman Druce Recurring role
4 episodes
2017 Conviction President Theodore Morrison Episode: "Enemy Combatant"
2017–2018 Lethal Weapon Grant Davenport Episode: "Wreck the Halls" and "One Day More"
2017–2018 Beyond Isaac Frost 5 episodes
2017 The Lost Wife of Robert Durst Detective Struk Television movie
2018 Electric Dreams Odin Episode: "Safe and Sound"
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Captain Logan Carter Episode: "Flight Risk"
Carter Hamilton Gerard Episode: "The Ring"
2019 Big Little Lies Martin Howard, father of Bonnie[4] 3 episodes
2019–2020 Nancy Drew Everett Hudson 3 episodes
2020 Dead Still Bushrod Whacker 3 episodes
2021 Firefly Lane Wilson King 2 episodes
2022 Archive 81 Virgil Davenport Main role
2023 Special Ops: Lioness Errol Meade Recurring role
2023 Sealed with a List Silas Redmond Television film

References

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  1. ^ Brooks, Brian (2012-02-28). "Tribeca Film Takes U.S. Rights To 'Collaborator'". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
  2. ^ a b "For an Art-House Regular, a Wider World". The New York Times. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  3. ^ Levy, Emanuel (1997-01-06). "U.S. crix make 'Waves' best pic, Murphy actor Crix awards to 'Waves'". Variety. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (2018-04-10). "'Big Little Lies' Books Martin Donovan for Key Role (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
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