Colin Donnell

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Colin Donnell
Donnell at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2023
Born (1982-10-09) October 9, 1982 (age 41)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Alma materIndiana University Bloomington
Occupation(s)Actor, singer
Years active2005–present
Spouse
(m. 2015)
Children2

Colin Donnell (born October 9, 1982)[1] is an American actor and singer best known for his performances as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes, Tommy Merlyn in The CW television series Arrow, Scotty Lockhart on the Showtime drama The Affair and as Dr. Connor Rhodes in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med (2015–2019). He also starred in the 2022 Netflix/Peacock miniseries Irreverent.

Early life and education[edit]

Colin Donnell was born in St. Louis, Missouri, as the youngest of three boys. He has Irish[2] and French ancestry. He played the guitar and took singing lessons when he was 17. His introduction to the stage was in high school where he was a part of the choir and was in the background juggling and doing circus tricks, which led to being part of his first school musical production of Barnum.[3] Donnell graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2005.[4][5]

Career[edit]

Donnell has been part of many national stage tours, such as Mamma Mia! and Wicked. His first Broadway Theatre performance was in Jersey Boys as Hank Mejewski. His other stage credits include Follies, Meet Me in St. Louis, Johnny Baseball and many more.[6][clarification needed] He played Billy Crocker in the 2011 Broadway revival of Anything Goes and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical, an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical, and an Astaire Award for Outstanding Male Dancer.

Donnell made his television debut by playing Mike Ruskin in the television series Pan Am. In 2012, Donnell was cast as Tommy Merlyn in television series Arrow,[7][8] where he is a series regular in the first season and made occasional appearances in later seasons,[9][10] including the final season.[11]

In July and August 2013, Donnell starred as Berowne in the musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost. He also appeared as Elizabeth Banks' husband in the crime thriller Every Secret Thing, which was released on May 15, 2015.[12][13]

In January 2014, Donnell was cast as Monty in the 1960s-era Broadway musical Violet alongside Sutton Foster and Joshua Henry; previews began on March 28, and the show officially opened on April 20.[14][15][16] In July, Donnell was cast to play Joshua Jackson's brother in Showtime original drama The Affair.[17][non-primary source needed]

In 2015, he performed in the City Center Encores! production of the musical Lady, Be Good, alongside Tommy Tune, Erin Mackey and Patti Murin.[18][19]

In March 2015, Donnell starred in Love Is A Four Letter Word, a pilot for NBC in which he played Sean, an ad agency partner; the show was not picked up to series.[20] Donnell then landed a regular role in the NBC series, Chicago Med, playing a doctor in trauma surgery.[21][22] On April 19, 2019, it was announced that Donnell was leaving the series after four seasons as a series regular.[23]

A special Encores! Off-Center staged concert of Songs for a New World was performed at New York City Center June 27 through June 30, 2018. The production was directed by Kate Whoriskey and starred Shoshana Bean, Colin Donnell, Mykal Kilgore, and Solea Pfeiffer.

Personal life[edit]

Donnell began dating actress Patti Murin in 2013 after they co-starred in a Shakespeare in the Park musical adaptation of Love's Labour's Lost. They became engaged in December 2014,[24] and married on June 19, 2015, in New York City.[25] Their first child, Cecily, was born on July 14, 2020.[26][27] In October 2022, the couple announced that Murin was pregnant with their second child.[28] Their second child, Lorelai, was born on April 2, 2023.

Donnell is a literary aficionado and a musician.[29][non-primary source needed] He has two tattoos from his tour trips – one from Memphis and one from Dayton; which are five silhouettes of birds to represent his family, and a Fleur De Lis, because his mother is French.[3]

Filmography[edit]

Film roles
Year Title Role Notes
2014 Every Secret Thing Paul Porter
2019 Almost Love Henry
Television roles
Year Title Role Notes
2011–2012 Pan Am Mike Ruskin Recurring role; 4 episodes
2012–2020 Arrow Tommy Merlyn / Dark Archer / Prometheus
Christopher Chance / Human Target
Main role (season 1)
Special guest (seasons 23 and 68)
2014 Person of Interest Billy Parsons Episode: "Root Path"
2014 Unforgettable Agent Stone Episode: "Flesh and Blood"
2014–2015 The Affair Scott Lockhart Recurring role (seasons 1–2); 16 episodes
2014 The Mysteries of Laura Daniel Mikorski Episode: "The Mystery of the Dysfunctional Dynasty"
2015 Love Is a Four Letter Word Sean Unsold television pilot
2015–2019 Chicago Med Dr. Connor Rhodes Main role (seasons 1–5) 84 episodes[30]
2016–2019 Chicago Fire Guest role; 4 episodes
2016–2019 Chicago P.D. Guest role; 4 episodes
2020 Love on Iceland Charlie Television film (Hallmark)
2021 To Catch a Spy Aaron Maxwell Television film (Hallmark)
2022 Irreverent Paulo Main role; miniseries

Theater[edit]

Year Title Role Theatre Notes
2001 Miss Saigon Ensemble The Muny, Regional[31]
2005 Almost Heaven Male Roles Promenade Theatre, Off-Broadway
2005 Mame Older Patrick The Muny, Regional
2006 Jesus Christ Superstar Peter North Shore Music Theatre, Regional
2006–7 Meet Me in St. Louis John Truitt Irish Repertory Theatre, Off-Broadway
2007 Follies Young Benjamin Stone New York City Center, Encores!
2007 Jersey Boys Hank Mejewski August Wilson Theatre, Broadway Replacement
2008 Me, Myself and I Otto McCarter Theatre, Regional
2008 High School Musical Troy Bolton The Muny, Regional
2008 Fiddler on the Roof Perchik The Muny, Regional
2009–10 Wicked Fiyero Second National Tour
2010 Johnny Baseball Johnny O'Brian American Repertory Theater, Regional
2011–12 Anything Goes Billy Crocker Stephen Sondheim Theatre, Broadway
2012 Merrily We Roll Along Franklin Shepard New York City Center, Encores!
2013 Love's Labour's Lost Berowne Delacorte Theater, Off-Broadway
2014 Violet Monty American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2015 Lady, Be Good Jack Robinson New York City Center, Encores!
2015 Holiday Inn Jim Hardy The Muny, Regional
2018 Songs for a New World Man 2 New York City Center, Encores!
2019 Almost Famous Russell Hammond Old Globe Theatre, Regional
2023 The Shark Is Broken Roy Scheider John Golden Theatre, Broadway

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Happy Birthday to Colin Donnell! · Jersey Boys Blog". Jerseyboysblog.com. October 9, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  2. ^ "In Focus: Irish American actor Colin Donnell- VIDEO". IrishCentral.com. November 18, 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Anything Goes' Charmer Colin Donnell on His Wicked Awesome Fans and High School Musical Story". Broadway.com.
  4. ^ "JBB Interview Exclusive: Howard Tucker Interviews Colin Donnell! · Jersey Boys Blog". jerseyboysblog.com.
  5. ^ "IU alumnus takes the auditorium stage in 'Mamma Mia!'". Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved February 10, 2013.
  6. ^ "Anything Goes Costars Sutton Foster and Colin Donnell Will Reunite in Violet on Broadway | TheaterMania". www.theatermania.com. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  7. ^ "JBB Interview Exclusive: Howard Tucker Interviews Colin Donnell! · Jersey Boys Blog". Jerseyboysblog.com. October 18, 2007. Retrieved October 18, 2012.
  8. ^ "Colin Donnell Biography". broadwayworld.com.
  9. ^ "Arrow crossover episode made a fan theory come true". Digital Spy. November 28, 2017.
  10. ^ Francisco, Eric (May 4, 2018). "'Arrow' Has a Rare Comics Easter Egg in Tommy's Return Episode". Inverse.
  11. ^ "Exclusive: 'Arrow' brings back Colin Donnell, Josh Segarra for final season". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 13, 2019.
  12. ^ BWW News Desk. "Daniel Breaker, Colin Donnell, Rebecca Naomi Jones & More Set for COMEDY OF ERRORS and LOVE'S LABOUR'S LOST in the Park!". BroadwayWorld.com.
  13. ^ Carina Adly MacKenzie (May 15, 2013). "'Arrow' Season 1 finale: Colin Donnell speaks out on Tommy's terrible fate and what's next – Zap2it & Features". Zap2it.
  14. ^ BWW News Desk. "Breaking News: Colin Donnell & Joshua Henry Join Sutton Foster in VIOLET on Broadway!". BroadwayWorld.com.
  15. ^ "AP News: Local". AP News. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 23, 2014.
  16. ^ "Joshua Henry, Colin Donnell to join Sutton Foster". U-T San Diego.
  17. ^ "Jarett Wieselman on Twitter". Twitter.
  18. ^ BWW News Desk. "Tommy Tune, Colin Donnell, Erin Mackey & More Will Star in Encores! LADY, BE GOOD". BroadwayWorld.com.
  19. ^ "Broadway Legend Tommy Tune Will Return to the Stage for Lady, Be Good at Encores!". Broadway.com.
  20. ^ Nellie Andreeva (March 5, 2015). "Meta Golding, Colin Donnell, Monet Mazur Join NBC Pilot 'Love Is A 4 Letter Word' – Deadline Hollywood". Deadline Hollywood.
  21. ^ Nellie Andreeva (May 29, 2015). "Colin Donnell Cast In 'Chicago Med' As New Regular – Deadline Hollywood". Deadline Hollywood.
  22. ^ "Colin Donnell Joins 'Chicago Med'". The Hollywood Reporter. May 29, 2015.
  23. ^ Ausiello, Michael (April 19, 2019). "Colin Donnell Confirms Chicago Med Departure: 'Sorry to Say It's True'". TVLine. Retrieved April 19, 2019.
  24. ^ Webber, Stephanie (December 20, 2014). "Arrow Star Colin Donnell Engaged to Patti Murin". Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  25. ^ Vulpo, Mike (June 20, 2015). "Colin Donnell Is Married! Arrow Star Says "I Do" to Patti Murin While Channeling Scenes From The Bachelorette". Retrieved June 20, 2015.
  26. ^ "Patti Murin and Colin Donnell Expecting First Child — a Baby Girl: 'We're Overwhelmingly Happy'". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved February 18, 2020.
  27. ^ "Patti Murin and Colin Donnell Welcome Daughter Cecily Philips: 'She's Gonna Change the World'". PEOPLE.com. July 17, 2020.
  28. ^ "Patti Murin and Colin Donnell Expecting Second Baby Girl: 'We're So Excited'". People. October 25, 2022.
  29. ^ "Colin Donnell". Facebook.
  30. ^ "Colin Donnell". IMDB. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  31. ^ "Colin Donnell Proves His Theatre Credentials".

External links[edit]