Chris O'Donnell

He was born Christopher Eugene O'Donnell on June 26, 1970 in Winnetka, Illinois to parents Julie Ann Rohs von Brecht and William Charles O’Donnell, Sr., a general manager of WBBM-AM, a CBS radio station. He is the youngest of seven children with four sisters and two brothers. His family is a devout Roman Catholic and attended Loyola Academy, a Roman Catholic School in Willmette, Illinois. He went on Boston College and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing.
Inspired by a female classmate who earned about $60 per session, O’Donnell started modeling at age of13 and continued to do so until he was 16, when he began appearing in local commercials including McDonald's and in print ads for Marshall Fields department stores. He was then discovered and soon landed him television roles; the first of which was in an episode of the drama series "Jack and Mike". At 17, he considered quitting modeling and acting, but was persuaded otherwise by his mother with a new car. He subsequently auditioned and appeared in what became his screen debut, "Men Don't Leave" (1990), playing the role of Jessica Lange's teenage son. In the early 1990’s, O’Donnell was featured in various movies such as “Fried Green Tomatoes”(1991), “School Ties”(1992), and “Scent of a Woman”(1992). He was named one of the 12 Promising New Actors of 1992 in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 44.
O’Donnell played Dick Grayson or Robin in “Batman Forever” following the success of “Blue Sky”(1994) and “Circle of Friends”(1995). He was also part in the film “The Chamber”(1996), based on the John Grisham novel. He subsequently reprised his role in the Batman sequel “Batma & Robin” in 1997. It was a mishmash of a movie that was said to have put O'Donnell's career in jeopardy, as it did everyone involved with the unfortunate project which tanked the franchise for over a decade. He reportedly was offered the role of J in "Men in Black" (1997) but turned it down; the role ultimately went to Will Smith, making him an A-list star.
For the succeeding two years, O'Donnell took time off from showbiz to spend more time with his wife, Caroline Fentress, an elementary schoolteacher and his long time sweetheart. His big screen return was in Robert Altman's comedy Cookie's Fortune, “The Bachelor” in 1999 followed “Vertical Limit” (2000). After a year, he reached new career heights when he took to the stage in the Arthur Miller production of "The Man Who Had All the Luck" (2001) at the Williamstown Theater Festival, as well as in a Broadway performance in 2002. He also made several notable television appearances, with a recurring role on the drama series "The Practice" (ABC, 1997-2004), and a guest-starring role on a 2004 episode of "Two and a Half Men" (CBS, 2003- ) titled "An Old Flame With A New Wick". In 2006, O'Donnell joined the cast of "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005- ) as Dr. Finn Dandridge. He also scored the lead role in "The Company" (TNT, 2007), a miniseries about the Cold War-era CIA.
O'Donnell had a supporting role in "Max Payne" (2008), a live-action adaptation of the popular video game starring Mark Wahlberg as a detective thrust into New York's criminal underworld. Later that year, O'Donnell appeared in the kids' book adaptation, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" (2008). He also appeared in the sequel to the 2001 movie “Cats &Dogs”, “Cats & Dogs: the Revenge of Kitty Galore”. A starring role in a special two-part episode of the hit police drama "NCIS" (CBS, 2003-) as an undercover agent led to O'Donnell landing the lead role in the spin-off series, "NCIS: Los Angeles" (CBS, 2009- ), a moderately well received offering that paired O'Donnell with rapper-actor LL Cool J as a fellow undercover agent and former Navy SEAL.