Emmy nominee profile: 40-year TV veteran Christopher McDonald scores first bid for ‘Hacks’
For over four decades, character actor Christopher McDonald has maintained a reputation as a reliable portrayer of smarmy scoundrels, with his quintessential role being that of Shooter McGavin in 1996’s “Happy Gilmore.” His hundreds of film and TV projects have allowed him to both expand his range and perfect the practice of mining nuggets of humanity from his usually roguish characters. Now, he has finally caught the attention of Emmy voters in the Best Comedy Guest Actor category for the HBO Max comedy series “Hacks.”
McDonald has appeared in 11 “Hacks” episodes as Marty Ghilain, the CEO of the fictional Palmetto casino in Las Vegas. Throughout the show’s two seasons, Ghilain has been involved in a power struggle with the Palmetto’s former headliner, stand-up comic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart). In “The One, the Only” (the second season finale that serves as McDonald’s episode submission), the pair of frenemies come to an agreement that Vance will be granted use of the Palmetto’s theater to film a comedy special in exchange for a Kandinsky painting.
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McDonald’s screen acting career started with a featured role in the 1978 CBS telefilm “Getting Married.” Over the years, he has guest starred on nearly 100 programs, including dramas like “Knight Rider,” “The Sopranos,” “Law & Order” and “The Good Wife” and comedies such as “Cheers,” “Empty Nest,” “Home Improvement” and “Happy Endings.” He has also played regular roles on several shows, including “Harry’s Law,” on which Smart appeared in a recurring capacity.
At 67, McDonald would be the 12th oldest man to ever win an Emmy for either comedic or dramatic guest acting. The half dozen funnymen who would potentially outrank him are Bob Newhart (84, “The Big Bang Theory,” 2013), Tim Conway (74, “30 Rock,” 2008), Carl Reiner (73, “Mad About You,” 1995), Mel Brooks (71-73, “Mad About You,” 1997-1999), Gene Wilder (70, “Will & Grace,” 2003) and Jack Albertson (67, “Cher,” 1975). Newhart set the current age record across both male guest categories by usurping 2000 dramatic champ James Whitmore (78, “The Practice”).
McDonald’s competitors include fellow Emmy newcomers Jerrod Carmichael (“Saturday Night Live”) and “Ted Lasso” duo James Lance and Sam Richardson as well as past nominees Bill Hader (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”) and Nathan Lane (“Only Murders in the Building”). Lane has broken his tie with the late Fred Willard and now stands as the most-recognized man in this category’s history, having previously earned bids for “Frasier” (1995), “Mad About You” (1998) and “Modern Family” (2011, 2013, 2014). Hader has contended here twice as a “Saturday Night Live” host (2015, 2018) and is concurrently seeking his third Best Comedy Actor win for “Barry.”
This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “Emmy nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2022 acting contenders.
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