BIOGRAPHY

Donnie Smith is a classically-trained film, theatre, and voice actor, He recently starred as Rupert Cadell in the L.A. Stage Alliance Ovation-recommended Rope at Actors Co-op in Hollywood.  Other Los Angeles credits include the award-winning (LADCC and Stage Raw - Ensemble & Production, Ovation nominated Ensemble & Production) West Coast premiere of Ike Holter’s Hit the Wall (LA LGBT Center), the West Coast premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s House (LA Weekly nomination - Solo Performance) and the world premiere of Small Engine Repair (Ovation, LADCC, Backstage Garland & LA Weekly awards) at Rogue Machine Theatre, where he has been a company member for seven years. He also starred in William Mastrosimone’s Sunshine (Gangbusters Theatre Company at Hollywood Fringe) and was featured in the world premiere of Sunny Afternoon (Gangbusters Theatre Company at Hollywood Fringe & Theater Asylum).

Professional Chicago stage credits include: Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap (Drury Lane); Pentecost (Chicago Irish Rep at Victory Gardens); Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare, NEA tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); David Copperfield, David Mamet’s The Water Engine, Studs Terkel’s Division Street: America (Steppenwolf); Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge (Red Hen); Lanford Wilson’s The Rimers of Eldritch (Terrapin); When The Walls Have Ears (world premiere, Mary-Arrchie).

Feature film credits: The Wedding Year (directed by Robert Luketic), Peppermint (directed by Pierre Morel, with Jennifer Garner and John Gallagher Jr.), A.X.L. (directed by Oliver Daly), The Vatican Tapes (directed by Mark Neveldine), Walk of Shame (directed by Steven Brill, with Elizabeth Banks & Gillian Jacobs), Stand Up Guys (directed by Fisher Stevens, with Al Pacino & Christopher Walken), The Lincoln Lawyer (directed by Brad Furman, with Matthew McConaughey & Bob Gunton), Fame (directed by Kevin Tancharoen), Gamer (directed by Neveldine/Taylor), The Ugly Truth (directed by Robert Luketic, with Gerard Butler), The Midnight Meat Train (directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, with Bradley Cooper), Pathology (directed by Marc Schoelermann), Henry Poole Is Here (directed by Mark Pellington, with Luke Wilson), The Dead Girl (directed by Karen Moncrieff, with Toni Collette), Crank (directed by Neveldine/Taylor, with Jason Statham), and Undiscovered (directed by Meiert Avis). 

Donnie is a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA.  He is represented by Hayes Talent Agency.

He studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago (under Dexter Bullard), as well as the School at Steppenwolf (with Austin Pendleton, Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed, Sheldon Patinkin, Frank Galati, Tim Hopper, Tina Landau, Francis Guinan and Jim True-Frost). Donnie also participated in Steppenwolf Classes West (under Tom Irwin), The BGB Studio (under Risa Bramon Garcia), and Bookable Voiceover with Rick Wasserman.  He is a graduate of the School of Theatre and Dance at Illinois State University.

Mr. Smith is passionate about empowering marginalized voices in the arts; he offers coachings at a sliding-scale to accommodate students' financial needs. He also acts as Production Manager for L.A. Camerata, a performing arts initiative to produce works by women and "others" silenced throughout history.