No, I've never heard of him either but he is an actor worthy of sustained applause.
Why? Because, mirabilis dictu*, he has been sacked from a zillion dollar TV movie because he refused to take part in "some heated love scenes with babelicious [sic] star (and Botox pitchwoman) Virginia Madsen".
I'm not sure what a "pitchwoman" is, I assume it's something to do with that game of rounders they're so fond of 'over there'. Anyway, she looks like an awfully nice sort of a 'gel' but one cannot help wondering if her mother knows she is taking part in "heated love scenes" on film designed to titillate the lonely and enrich the studio bosses.
Anyway, back to Mr. McDonough and his adamant refusal to partake of Ms. Madsen's charms. When I first read the headline I leaped to the instant conclusion that he was a woofter and when I saw his blonde, pretty face I tapped the side of my nose and muttered something about old Duff being a wise old owl who just knows these things, but then I read on and was mortified (yeah, yeah - again!) to discover that in fact Mr. McDonough is a family man with a strong Catholic background who has always made it clear to the studios that he will never indulge in any of those hideously embarrassing so-called 'sex scenes'. Not only is he a moral man but also a man of taste and discernment. I have yet to witness a 'sex scene' in a film, or even worse on stage, that was anything other than ludicrous. Thus, Mr. McDonough has preserved and enhanced his reputation as both an actor and a gentleman.
* Having studied Latin in 1950 for, oh, most of a year before I gave it up, or it gave me up, perhaps; I have a snobbish weakness for inserting the odd Latin phrase as a means of adding an entirely spurious respectability to this blog.
Oh, I see. Needn't have bothered then!
He's frequently on screen - plays a lot of supporting roles in US dramas and films.
Good for him, too. It's nice to see someone with principles who won't do anything so long as there's a payday in it.
Posted by: JuliaM | Thursday, 01 April 2010 at 16:51
Rare as hen's teeth in Hollywood, I'd guess.
Posted by: David Duff | Thursday, 01 April 2010 at 17:04
Surprised you've not seen "Band of Brothers". That fellow plays a captain and had a big role in the Arnhem episode if I recall.
Posted by: Blognor Regis | Monday, 05 April 2010 at 00:46
Hello, 'Bloggers', no, I haven't watched any of those 'Band of Brothers' episodes. In act my TV watching is both dismal and intermittant. But I did watch something good last night and I shall post on it later today.
Posted by: David Duff | Monday, 05 April 2010 at 09:13
Hello again David. Agreed about the meritlessness of almost all sex scenes. I recommend Rupert Everett's memoir of filming a sex scene with Sharon Stone ("It was then I remembered why I became gay").
It's a few decades since I did Latin too, but it's "mirabile dictu" (from the Aeneid, I think?)
Posted by: Larry Lamb | Friday, 09 April 2010 at 18:47
Larry, good to hear from you again. Which film did Everett and Stone ever make together, I can hardly imagine it?!
You are entirely right concerning "mirabile dictu" and to add to my embarrassment you not only corrected my Latin, for which I claim no expertise, but also my inability to read the OU Dictionary in which I carefully(?) looked it up before printing it - and then spelled it wrong! Duh!
And I'm just back from the pub so God knows how many errors there are in this comment.
Posted by: David Duff | Friday, 09 April 2010 at 21:56