Christopher McDonald is an American actor and voiceover artist, who is known for playing antagonistic or villainous roles in films and television. He also plays notable supporting character roles and is an accomplished theatre actor too. He is a renowned voiceover artist, having lent his voice to many animated superhero characters. He studied at prestigious drama schools in London and New York, but initially struggled to land good parts in Hollywood. In his more than three decades long career, he is most well known for his film roles as the hotheaded Darryl Dickinson in ‘Thelma and Louise’ and that of the arrogant Shooter McGavin in ‘Happy Gilmore’. His noteworthy television performances were in ‘Family Law’, ‘Ballers’, ‘Harry’s Law’ and ‘Good Advice’. His roles in the Broadway productions of ‘Chicago’ and ‘Lucky Guy’ are also memorable. Though involved in some drunk driving instances in the past, he has cleaned up his act and now actively divides his time between his professional commitments, family and charity work.

Career

From an early age, Christopher McDonald showed an interest in performing arts and played the trumpet in his father’s high school musicals. Then, he became a pre-medical student at Hobart and William Smith College in Geneva, New York, but soon switched majors to drama. After graduation in 1977, he studied at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his film debut in 1980 with a small part in ‘The Hearse’ and his television debut with ‘Cheers’ in 1982. But when hopes of landing plum roles in movies failed, he moved to Manhattan and persuaded the renowned acting coach, Stella Adler of ‘Stella Adler Acting Conservatory’ to take him under her wings in exchange for doing domestic chores for her. His talent developed under Adler’s tutelage and he gained recognition as part of the Obie-award winning theatre group ‘The Nightclub Cantata’. Later, he played a noticeable role on the Bette Midler comedy ‘Outrageous Fortune’ in 1987. In 1991 came the breakthrough role of his career, that of Geena Davis’ hotheaded husband Darryl Dickinson in the film ‘Thelma & Louise’.