Martin Donovan (born August 19, 1957) is an American stage and film actor. He has had a long collaboration with the director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, including Trust (1990), Surviving Desire (1991), Simple Men (1992), Flirt (1993), Amateur (1994), and The Book of Life (1998) (in which he played Jesus). In Don Roos' The Opposite of Sex (1998), Donovan played Bill, a gay teacher. In the film, his boyfriend is seduced by Bill's half-sister. He played a fundamentalist pastor and school principal struggling with an attraction to the mother of one of his students in Saved! (2004). He also stars in The Quiet (2005), as a architect who is having a incestuous relationship with his daughter, played by Elisha Cuthbert.
Donovan, one of four children, was born Martin Smith in Reseda, California. His family was Irish American and middle class, and he was raised Catholic. He is currently doing voiceover work for Mercedes automobiles.
Is an accomplished stage actor.
