- Born
- Birth nameChristopher Eugene O'Donnell
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Christopher Eugene O'Donnell was born on June 26th, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois, to Julie Ann (Rohs) and William Charles O'Donnell, Sr., who managed a CBS radio station, WBBM-AM. He is the youngest child in his family, with four sisters and two brothers. His father had Irish ancestry and his mother's lineage includes German, English, and Swiss.
O'Donnell first started modeling at the age of thirteen and continued until the age of sixteen, when he appeared in commercials. When he was seventeen, he was preparing to stop acting and modeling, but was asked to audition for what would be his first film, Men Don't Leave (1990). He didn't want to go to the audition, but his mother bribed him by saying she would buy him a new car if he went and he duly got the role.
Ever since that moment in his life, Chris has appeared in some major motion pictures including Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), Scent of a Woman (1992), Mad Love (1995) and Vertical Limit (2000). He played a part in Kinsey (2004), which appeared in theaters in the year 2004.
Chris took time off from acting to spend time with his wife, Caroline, son, Chris Jr., and his daughter Lilly. He also spent two months in New York performing in Arthur Miller's "The Man Who Had All the Luck".- IMDb Mini Biography By: Mark (TheShadow22)
- SpouseCaroline O'Donnell(April 19, 1997 - present) (5 children)
- Children
- ParentsJulie Ann (Rohs)William Charles O'Donnell Sr.
- "Never date an actress." - a piece of advice given to him by Al Pacino.
- Originally cast in The Prince of Tides (1991), but Barbra Streisand decided she wanted her real son to play the role. She wanted to personally apologize to Chris, so she called his dorm room. One of his roommates answered the phone and took the message, which bewildered him because Chris had not yet mentioned that he was "in the movie biz".
- Voted "Most Likely to Run Off and Join the Circus" by his class at Loyola Academy.
- He got his start in a McDonald's commercial.
- The final choice for the role of Robin in Batman Forever (1995) came down between him and Leonardo DiCaprio. Kids in the key demographic were polled as to which of the two would win in a fight. O'Donnell beat DiCaprio out.
- [on the Batman films]: Some day my kids are going to watch these and say to themselves "That's daddy!".
- [Comparing the experiences of making Batman Forever (1995) and Batman & Robin (1997)]: When I made Batman Forever, I felt like I was making a movie. When I made Batman & Robin, I felt like I was making a toy commercial.
- (1995, on his clean-cut image) My family and friends see me as a real smart-ass, a wise-ass. The way people see me in movies, in the stuff they read about me, is kind of an idealistic view.
- (1995, on competing with his acting peers) There have been times when I had to go audition and there were other people there. I can't stand that. When it comes to the point where I'm trying to get a part, I'm like "I don't want to talk to you.".
- (on Reese Witherspoon) We hung out for a little while when Scent of a Woman (1992) came out. I did date her. It was weird because it was the first time I had ever really dated an actress. When I was in college, I never had a serious girlfriend because it was too much fun dating different girls. With Reese, it just kind of didn't work out. It was nothing serious, to tell you the truth.
- NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) - $150,000 /episode (2009-10)
- NCIS: Los Angeles (2009) - $125,000 per episode (2010-2011)
- The Chamber (1996) - $4,000,000
- Mad Love (1995) - $1,500,000
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