Neal McDonough

Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on Boomtown (2002–2003), Tin Man in the Sci-Fi Channel miniseries Tin Man, and as Dave Williams in Season 5 of Desperate Housewives (2008–2009), and President Dwight D. Eisenhower in American Horror Story: Double Feature (2021) for which he was critically acclaimed.

Neal McDonough
McDonough in 2017
Born	(1966-02-13) February 13, 1966 (age 59) Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater	Syracuse University (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Spouse	Ruvé Robertson ​ (m. 2003)​
Children	5

He has also appeared in films such as Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Ravenous (1999), Minority Report (2002), Walking Tall (2004), and as Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan in various Marvel Cinematic Universe films and TV series. In the DC Arrowverse, he has appeared as Damien Darhk in the TV series Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and The Flash. He had a major role playing Sean Cahill in Suits (2014–2019) and played Malcolm Beck on Yellowstone (2019). More recently he has appeared in the second season of Tulsa King (2024).

Early life and education

McDonough was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on February 13, 1966, the son of Catherine (née Bushe) and Frank McDonough, motel owners who emigrated from Ireland, with his mother coming from County Tipperary and his father from County Galway.^[1][2] McDonough grew up in Barnstable, Massachusetts and was raised Catholic.^[3] His childhood nickname was "Headster", which McDonough says originated in his brothers' teasing him about the size of his head.^[4] He graduated from Barnstable High School, and attended Syracuse University, where he was initiated and became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1988. He had obtained several college scholarships to play baseball, but decided to go to Syracuse, as he thought it had the best theater department.^[5] McDonough furthered his classical theatre training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career

McDonough in 2009

In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The Hitcher. McDonough played Dave Williams on the fifth season of Desperate Housewives.^[6] He also starred in the lead role on 2004 medical drama Medical Investigation for its one full season.

In 1996, McDonough voiced Bruce Banner in the animated television series The Incredible Hulk which ran for two seasons. He later reprised the role in the 2005 video game The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.

McDonough was set to star in the ABC dramedy Scoundrels,^[7] but was fired for refusing to act in sex scenes, citing his family and Catholic faith as basis for his decision.^[8]

McDonough portrays Jesus in "The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio New Testament Bible," a dramatized audio New Testament which uses the Catholic edition of the revised standard version of the Bible.

In 2011, McDonough appeared as Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan in Captain America: The First Avenger. McDonough also voiced the character in the 2011 video game Captain America: Super Soldier. He reprised his role four times since then: in the 2013 short film, Agent Carter; in the first episode of the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014); in an episode of the Agent Carter television series (2015); and as an alternate version in an episode of the What If...? television series (2021).

In 2012, McDonough had a recurring role in the third season of FX's Justified as Robert Quarles, a sadistic carpetbagging mobster from Detroit.^[9] He was later cast as Police Chief Parker in Frank Darabont's TNT pilot Mob City.^[10]

During the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on NBC, McDonough was featured in a high-profile and frequently aired Poolside commercial for the Cadillac ELR hybrid electric car.^[11]

In 2015, McDonough was cast as DC Comics villain Damien Darhk on the fourth season of Arrow.^[12]

In 2021, he was cast as President Dwight D. Eisenhower on the tenth season of American Horror Story, titled Double Feature. He is a main cast member for the second part of the season. The same year, he also portrayed the character Dr. William Birkin, the lead villain of the popular video game Resident Evil 2, in a live-action film adaptation of the first two Resident Evil games, entitled Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.^[13] He also played a small role as a side villain Anders in The 100.

In 2022, McDonough was a guest artist and narrator for the 2022 annual Tabernacle Choir Christmas Program.^[14]

Throughout his career McDonough, has enjoyed recognition for his various character roles in both film and television, as well as for his voice work in animation and video games. As a result of these accolades, he is especially considered one of the best "bad guy character actors" in the industry today.^[15]

Personal life

McDonough is a devout Catholic.^[16] In 2003, McDonough married Ruvé Robertson, a South African model whom he met in the United Kingdom while filming Band of Brothers.^[17] They have five children.^{[18][19][20][21]}

He has stated that he refuses to perform sex scenes and kiss female co-stars because of his faith and respect for his wife. He said he was fired from the TV series Scoundrels for his refusal to perform sex scenes.^[16]

McDonough is a Republican, and revealed his political beliefs during his eulogy at Buck Compton's funeral.^[22]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Darkman	Dockworker #2
1994	Angels in the Outfield	Whit Bass
1995	Three Wishes	Policeman
1996	Star Trek: First Contact	Lt. Hawk
1997	Fire Down Below	Truck Driver At Truck Stop
1999	A Perfect Little Man	Billy Morrisson
	Ravenous	Reich
2002	Minority Report	Officer Gordon "Fletch" Fletcher
2003	Timeline	Frank Gordon
	They Call Him Sasquatch	Ned Dwyer
2004	Walking Tall	Jay Hamilton
2006	The Guardian	Chief Petty Officer Jack Skinner
	The Last Time	Hurly
	Flags of Our Fathers	Captain Dave Severance
	Machine	Jack Ford
2007	The Hitcher	Lieutenant Esteridge
	I Know Who Killed Me	Daniel Fleming
2008	Forever Strong	Coach Richard Penning
	88 Minutes	Jon Forster
	Traitor	FBI Agent Max Archer
2009	Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li	M. Bison
2010	DC Showcase: Green Arrow	Green Arrow / Oliver Queen	Voice; short film[23]
2011	Little Birds	Hogan
	Ticking Clock	James Keene
	Captain America: The First Avenger	Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan	[24]
2012	The Philly Kid	Jim "L.A. Jim" Jacoby	[25]
2013	Company of Heroes	Lieutenant Joe Conti	Direct-to-video[26]
	The Marine 3: Homefront	Jonah Pope
	Red 2	Jack Horton	[27]
	Agent Carter	Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan	Short film[28]
2014	Bad Country	Kiersey
	Batman: Assault on Arkham	Floyd Lawton / Deadshot	Voice; direct-to-video[23]
	Falcon Rising	Manny Ridley	[29]
2015	Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2	Vincent Sofel	[30]
2016	Greater	Marty Burlsworth	Also executive producer[31]
2017	1922	Harlan Cotterie	[32]
2018	Proud Mary	Walter	[33]
	Game Over, Man!	Conrad Drothers	[34]
2019	Buddy Games	Himself
2020	Sonic the Hedgehog	Major Bennington	[35]
	The Warrant	John Breaker	Also executive producer[36]
	Red Stone	Boon
	Monsters of Man	Major
2021	Apex	Samuel Rainsford	[37]
	Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City	William Birkin	[38]
2022	Boon	Boon	Also writer and producer[39]
	There Are No Saints	Vincent	[40]
	Left Behind: Rise of the Antichrist	Jonathan Stonagal	[41]
	O Holy Night	Guest Narrator	Also a live Christmas album
2023	The Shift	The Benefactor	[42]
	Holiday Twist	Skip	[43]
	Soul Mates	Matchmaker	[44]
	The Warrant: Breaker's Law	John Breaker	[45]
2024	Outlaw Posse	Bart	[46]
	Homestead	Ian Ross	[47]
2025	The Last Rodeo	Joe Wainright	Post-production; also writer and producer[48]
TBA	The Monster	TBA	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	China Beach	Lurch	Episode: "Hello Goodbye"
	Quantum Leap	Chucky	Episode: "Play Ball"
	Babe Ruth	Lou Gehrig	Television film
1993	In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco	Jason	Television film
1994	Duckman	IRS Agent	Voice, episode: "Not So Easy Riders"
	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Cameraman, Monster	Voice, episode: "Krumm Goes Hollywood"[23]
1995	Blue River	Edward Sellars	Television film
	JAG	Second Lieutenant Jay Williams	Episode "Desert Son"
	White Dwarf	Dr. Driscoll Rampart III	Television film
	Iron Man	Firebrand	Voice, episode: "Fire and Rain"[23]
1996	Murphy Brown	Clive Walker	Episode: "If You're Going to Talk the Talk"
	NYPD Blue	Jerry Selness	Episode: "He's Not Guilty, He's My Brother"
1996–1997	The Incredible Hulk	Bruce Banner	Voice, 21 episodes[23]
1997	Invasion	Randy North	TV miniseries
1998	Diagnosis: Murder	Ross Canin	2 episodes
1999	Martial Law	Kyle Strode	4 episodes
	Balloon Farm	Sheriff	Television film
	Just Shoot Me!	Craig	Episode: "Shaking Private Trainer"
	Profiler	Christoper Langston	Episode: "To Serve and Protect"
2001	Band of Brothers	First Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton	8 episodes
2002	The X-Files	Agent Comer	2 episodes
2002–2003	Boomtown	L.A. Deputy D.A. David McNorris	24 episodes
2004–2005	Medical Investigation	Dr. Stephen Connor	20 episodes
2007	Traveler	Secretary of Homeland Security Jack Freed	6 episodes
	Tin Man	Wyatt Cain (Tin Man)	3 episodes
2008–2009	Desperate Housewives	Dave Williams	24 episodes
2010	Terriers	Ford / Tom Cutshaw	2 episodes
2011	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Monsignor McTeal	Episode: "The Consoler"
2012	Justified	Robert Quarles	13 episodes
	CSI: NY	Senator Gordon Hamilton	Episode: "Unspoken"
	Perception	Fredrick James Dafoe	Episode: "Cipher"
2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Tommy Barnes	Episode: "Sheltered"
	Mob City	Captain Bill Parker	6 episodes
2014–2019	Suits	Sean Cahill	17 episodes
2014	Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan	Episode: "Shadows"
2015	Agent Carter		Episode: "The Iron Ceiling"
	Public Morals	Rusty Patton	9 episodes
2015–2016	Arrow	Damien Darhk	20 episodes[49]
2015–2022	The Flash		4 episodes[50]
2016–2020	Legends of Tomorrow		21 episodes[51]
2017	Rogue	Casey Oaks	5 episodes
	Survivor's Remorse	Brian	Episode: "Repercussions"
2018–2021	Van Helsing	Hansen / Willem	9 episodes[52]
2019–2020	Project Blue Book	General James Harding	18 episodes[53]
2019	Yellowstone	Malcolm Beck	6 episodes[54]
2020	Altered Carbon	Konrad Harlan	3 episodes
	The 100	Anders	5 episodes
2021	What If...?	Timothy "Dum Dum" Dugan	Voice, episode: "What If... Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?"[55][23]
	American Horror Story: Double Feature	Dwight D. Eisenhower	Main cast (4 episodes)[56]
2022	9-1-1: Lone Star	Sergeant Ty O'Brien	7 episodes[57]
2024	Tulsa King	Cal Thresher	Main role (season 2)[58]

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role	Notes
2005	The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction	Bruce Banner	[23]
2009	Rogue Warrior	Admiral Travis Payton	[23]
2011	Captain America: Super Soldier	Timothy 'Dum Dum' Dugan	[23]
2013	Injustice: Gods Among Us	The Flash, Damian Wayne / Nightwing, Regime Soldier #2	[23]
2015	Skylanders: SuperChargers	Astroblast	[59]
	Call of Duty: Black Ops III	Jack Vincent	Also likeness

Internet

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	If Angels In The Outfield Happened For Real (30 For 30 Parody)	Whit Bass	CollegeHumor sketch

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Award category	Title of work	Result
1999	Atlantic City Film Festival	Best Actor (Jury Award)	A Perfect Little Man	Won
2003	Online Film & Television Association Award[60]	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Boomtown	Nominated
	Television Critics Association Award	Individual Achievement in Drama
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series – Drama		Won
2008	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series	Desperate Housewives	Nominated
2012	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Justified
	Satellite Award	Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Won