Early life

Donovan was born in Amesbury, Massachusetts, and raised along with two brothers, Michael and Sean, by their mother. Of his childhood, Donovan recalled:

“

I grew up really poor. We grew up on welfare - a single mom with three boys. We didn't have anything. Christmas would come around, she'd rewrap gifts she'd given us before. We moved about 10 times in my childhood. When you come home from school and the lights don't go on, you think: we're moving! You can't pay electric bills on welfare. We became very frugal.

”

At Amesbury High School, Donovan was mentored by teacher Patricia Hoyt. She helped him start a drama club and subsequently found him a private scholarship, enabling him to participate in a summer program that helped pave the way for his acting career. He attended Bridgewater State University before transferring to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in drama.

While attending university, Donovan was a commercial bus driver at UMass Transit Service, where he operated passenger buses as part of the PVTA. He went on to earn his Master of Fine Arts from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.

Career

Television

Donovan has guest-starred in several television shows, including CSI: Miami, Spin City, Monk, Millennium, Witchblade, The Pretender, Homicide: Life on the Street and Law & Order. In the short-lived TV series Threshold, Donovan played the antihero Dr. Sloan. Donovan also played the recurring role of William Ivers in Crossing Jordan. In 2004, he had his first leading role in the American remake of the British television series Touching Evil with Vera Farmiga on the USA Network. From 2007 to 2013, Donovan starred in Burn Notice, as Michael Westen, a spy who was burned by the United States government for unknown reasons and marooned in Miami, Florida. The show follows Westen as he attempts to find out why he was burned and regain his job as a covert intelligence agent, in addition to bringing justice to the good people of Miami. Donovan made his directorial debut with the series' episode, "Made Man" which first aired on June 17, 2010. Donovan also directed a prequel film starring co-star Bruce Campbell, titled Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, which first aired on USA Network on April 17, 2011. The series lasted for seven seasons, received positive reviews from both fans and critics, and was nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards.

Theatre

Donovan has also performed on stage in various productions, including Hamlet as the eponymous title character, A View from the Bridge as Marco, An Inspector Calls, and Off-Broadway in Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight as Gene, The Glory of Living as Clint, regionally in Toys in the Attic as Julian Berniers, On the Waterfront as Terry, Oedipus as Teiresias and Freedomland as Seth. From October 2008 until spring 2009, Jeffrey starred in the comedy farce Don't Dress for Dinner in Chicago. Donovan has also performed in the radio dramas On the Waterfront (as Terry), Frozen, and Grapes of Wrath.

Personal life

Donovan has over 20 years of martial arts experience. In college, he earned his black belt in karate and competed throughout the state. Later, he studied aikido for over six years and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

On July 3, 2009, Donovan, a Boston Red Sox fan since childhood, threw the ceremonial first pitch at the game between the Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park. On July 3, 2010, he once again threw the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park, this time at a match between the Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles.

On July 12, 2009, Donovan was arrested in Miami, Florida for allegedly driving under the influence; charges were reduced to reckless driving.

Donovan married Michelle Woods on August 25, 2012. They had a daughter in December 2012.

Philanthropy

In 2009, Donovan returned to Amesbury High School where he took part in a career day mentorship program with other successful professionals and presented the school with a $100,000 arts scholarship program. The first $10,000 award was given out to a senior that June.

For many years, Donovan has actively supported Life Rolls On (LRO), a foundation empowering people with spinal cord injuries. On October 4, 2009 he served as one of the chairmen for the 6th Annual LRO annual fundraiser called Night by the Ocean at the Kodak Theater. Donovan was named Grand Marshal of the 22nd annual AIDS Walk Miami held on April 17, 2010.

Donovan also supports his friends' charity events. In September 2009, while helping Michael Bolton at the 17th Annual Benefit Concert for Women and Children at Risk in Stamford, Connecticut, Donovan auctioned off a "Burn Notice walk-on-part" plus a kiss. Walk on parts usually raise $2,000-$5,000. With the added kiss, he raised $36,000.

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Homicide: Life on the Street	Miles and Newton Dell	Episode: "Thrill of the Kill"
1995, 2007	Law & Order	Edward Nicodos / Jacob Reese	2 episodes
1997	Millennium	Bobby Webber	Episode: "The Wild and the Innocent"
1997	Another World	Dwayne 'Popper' Collins
1997-98	The Pretender	Kyle	3 episodes
1999	Spin City	Tom	2 episodes
2000	The Beat	Brad Ulrich
2002	Witchblade	Daniel Germaine	Episode: "Lagrimas"
2004	Touching Evil	Detective Inspector Dave Creegan	12 episodes
2005	CSI: Miami	Todd Kendrick	1 episode
2006	Threshold	Dr. Julian Sloan	Episode: Vigilante
2006	Monk	Steve Wagner	Episode: "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut"
2007	Crossing Jordan	William Ivers	5 episodes
2007-13	Burn Notice	Michael Westen	111 episodes (Main role) Directed season 4 episode "Made Man", season 6 episode "Mixed Message" and season 7 episode "Forget Me Not"
2011	Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe	Michael Westen	Director and executive producer
2015	Fargo	Dodd Gerhardt	Recurring Role, Season 2
2017	Shut Eye	Charlie Haverford	Season 1 (Main role)

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Throwing Down	Pete Gulley
1996	Sleepers	Henry Addison
1996	Critical Choices	Randy
1997	Vegas Vacation	Hotel employee
1997	Catherine's Grove	Thomas Mason
1998	Witness to the Mob	Agent
1998	When Trumpets Fade	Bobby
2000	Bait	Julio
2000	Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2	Jeffrey Patterson	Nominated - Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple
2002	Purpose	Robert Jennings
2003	Final Draft	Pascal
2003	Sam & Joe	Eric
2005	Hitch	Vance Munson
2006	Come Early Morning	Cal Percell
2006	Believe in Me	Clay Driscoll
2007	Hindsight	Paul
2008	Changeling	Captain J.J. Jones
2011	J. Edgar	Robert F. Kennedy
2015	Sicario	Steve Forsing
2015	Extinction	Jack
2016	Shot Caller		Filming
2016	LBJ	John F. Kennedy	Filming

[ Source: Wikipedia ]