Life and career

Connolly was born in Patchogue, New York, the son of Eileen J. (née McMahon) and John Connolly. He is of Irish descent. Kevin graduated Patchogue-Medford High School in 1992.

He began his career at age six, appearing in television commercials, including the popular "Betcha bite a chip" campaign for Chips Ahoy!. In 1990, he landed his first film role, as Chickie in Rocky V. Two years later, Connolly was cast as Shaun Kelly in the film adaptation of Myron Levoy's novel Alan & Naomi, and co-starred with Tobey Maguire in the short-lived Fox sitcom Great Scott!. His appearance in the series later earned him a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television Series. He portrayed Dabney Coleman's son in the comedy film The Beverly Hillbillies. Connolly continued guest starring in television series including Wings, Getting By and the medical drama ER.

From 1995-96, Connolly starred in Don's Plum alongside future collaborators Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio. Later that year, he landed the role of Ryan Malloy on the situation comedy Unhappily Ever After. The series also marked Connolly's directorial debut when he directed six episodes in its fourth season. In 2007, Connolly made his full-length movie directorial debut with the film Gardener of Eden, which premiered in April 2007 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Connolly's best-known role is the character Eric Murphy, better known as "E", on HBO's show Entourage. E is the manager and best friend of Vincent Chase, who is played by Adrian Grenier. In 2009, Connolly received a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy, and in September 2011 the show ended with its eighth season. In 2015, Connolly reprised his role as Eric in the Entourage film adaptation.

In addition to television work, Connolly has appeared in several major motion pictures including Antwone Fisher, Secretariat, John Q and The Notebook. In August 2007, he signed on to play a supporting character in He's Just Not That Into You, which was released in 2009.

In October 2008, Connolly was hired to direct his first music video for rap artist The Game, featuring R&B artist Ne-Yo. The video is for the song "Camera Phone" from The Game's album LAX.

Connolly attended the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles and announced the final pick of the first round for the New York Islanders. He also directed the documentary film Big Shot, which screened at the 2013 TriBeCa Film Festival and the 2013 Hamptons International Film Festival The film revisits the fraud perpetrated by would-be Islanders owner John Spano in 1996.

In September 2015, it was announced that Connolly would direct Gotti, a film about infamous mobster John Gotti and his son, John A. Gotti, who succeeded him. Academy Award-nominee, John Travolta is set to play the former.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Rocky V	Chickie
1992	Alan & Naomi	Shaun Kelly
1993	Beverly Hillbillies, TheThe Beverly Hillbillies	Morgan Drysdale
1995	Angus	Andy
1997	Sub Down	Petty Officer Holliday	Alternative title: Sub Down: Take the Dive
1999	Tyrone	Sam Adams	Alternative title: Bad Trip
2000	Up, Up and Away	Malcolm	TV movie
2001	Drum Solo
	Don's Plum	Jeremy
2002	Devious Beings	Casey
	John Q	Steve Maguire
	Antwone Fisher	Slim
2004	Notebook, TheThe Notebook	Fin
2005	Check Up, TheThe Check Up	Mike
2009	He's Just Not That into You	Conor Barry
	Ugly Truth, TheThe Ugly Truth	Jim Ryan
2010	Secretariat	Bill Nack
2014	Reach Me	Roger
2015	Entourage	Eric 'E' Murphy

Television

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
1992	Great Scott!	Larry O'Donnell	Series regular, 13 episodes Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Young Actor Co-Starring in a Television Series
1993	Wings	Scotty Nelson	Episode: "Joe Blows: Part 1"
1994	Getting By	Spider	Episode: "It Takes a Thief"
1995.1 !1995-1999	Unhappily Ever After	Ryan Malloy	Series regular, 100 episodes, also director
2001	First Years	Joe	5 episodes
2004-2011	Entourage	Eric 'E' Murphy	Series regular, 96 episodes, also director Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Chemistry - Television Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Nominated—Satellite Award for Outstanding Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical
2007	Robot Chicken	Psychiatrist Cowboy Curtis Leonard Baker	Episode: "More Blood, More Chocolate"
2014	Friends with Better Lives	Bobby Lutz	Series regular

Director

Year	Title	Notes
1997-1999	Unhappily Ever After	6 episodes
2003	Whatever We Do	Film
2007	Gardener of Eden	Film
2008	Camera Phone - The Game ft. Ne-Yo	Music video
2010-2011	Entourage	2 episodes: "Porn Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" "Second to Last"
2013	ESPN 30 for 30	Big Shot
2014	Dear Eleanor	Film

[ Source: Wikipedia ]