Kevin Connolly (actor)

This article is about the actor. For the voice actor, see Kevin M. Connolly.
For other people named Kevin Connolly, see Kevin Connolly (disambiguation).
Kevin Connolly

Connolly at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2007
Born (1974-03-05) March 5, 1974[1]
Patchogue, New York, U.S.[2]
Occupation Actor, Director
Years active 1990–present

Kevin Connolly (born March 5, 1974) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his role as Eric Murphy in the HBO series Entourage, and his role as the eldest son Ryan Malloy in the 1990s television sitcom Unhappily Ever After.

Life and career

Connolly was born in Patchogue, New York, the son of Eileen J. (née McMahon) and John Connolly.[3][4] He is of Irish descent.[4] Kevin graduated Patchogue-Medford High School in 1992.[5][6]

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.[7]

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.[8]

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.[9]

Connolly attended the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles and announced the final pick of the first round for the New York Islanders.[10] He also directed the documentary film Big Shot, which screened at the 2013 TriBeCa Film Festival and the 2013 Hamptons International Film Festival [11] 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 The Life and Death of John 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.[12]

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"
1995–1999 Unhappily Ever After Ryan Malloy Series regular, 100 episodes, also director (6 episodes)
2001 First Years Joe 5 episodes
2004–2011 Entourage Eric 'E' Murphy Series regular, 96 episodes, also director (2 episodes)
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 (Shared with the cast of Entourage)
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (Shared with the cast of Entourage) (2007, 2008)
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
2016 Pitch Charlie Graham Recurring role
Director
Year Title Notes
19971999 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
20102011 Entourage 2 episodes:
"Porn Scenes from an Italian Restaurant"
"Second to Last"
2013 ESPN 30 for 30 Big Shot
2014 Dear Eleanor Film
2017 The Life and Death of John Gotti Film

References

  1. "Monitor". Entertainment Weekly (1197). Mar 9, 2012. p. 26.
  2. E!Online; Kevin Connolly profile
  3. Playboy asks Kevin Connolly 20 Questions As Only Playboy Can! Archived July 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 Kelly, Antoinette (2009-07-23). "'Entourage' premiere dedicated to Kevin Connolly's late Irish mother". Irish Central. Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  5. "Kevin Connolly heads home to Long Island.....". The Insider. February 1, 2009. Retrieved February 9, 2010.("He was even the homecoming king in '92 at Patchogue-Medford High School.")
  6. La Monica, Mark (June 11, 2006). "A rocky start? Hardly". Newsday. Retrieved February 9, 2010.("After graduating from high school in 1992...")
  7. "DiCaprio, The Gardener of Eden Premiere And The Real Entourage", The Huffington Post, April 27, 2007, Retrieved on August 16, 2007
  8. "Connolly 'crucified' for Entourage spoiler". Belfast Telegraph. January 6, 2014. Retrieved January 7, 2014.
  9. Mark, Dagostino (2008-10-03). "Kevin Connolly to Direct The Game and Ne-Yo's Video". people.com. Retrieved 2009-07-08.
  10. Brooks, Larry (2011-03-28). "'Entourage' star is allowed on Islanders bench". New York Post. Retrieved 2011-07-08.
  11. Fall Season 2013: Episode 5 | In the Mixx. Inthemixxshow.com (2013-10-17). Retrieved on 2014-06-05.
  12. Gettell, Oliver. "Kevin Connolly to direct John Travolta in resurrected Gotti biopic". Retrieved 9 September 2015.
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