Neal McDonough (born February 13, 1966) is an American actor, and producer. He is known for his portrayal of Lieutenant Lynn "Buck" Compton in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (2001), Deputy District Attorney David McNorris on Boomtown (2002–2003), Sean Cahill on Suits, Robert Quarles on Justified, William Parker in Mob City, and Dave Williams on ABC's Desperate Housewives (2008–2009). He has also appeared in films such as Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report, Walking Tall, The Guardian, Flags of Our Fathers, Red 2, The Marine 3: Homefront, Traitor, The Hitcher, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Proud Mary, and as Dum Dum Dugan in various Marvel Cinematic Universe films and TV series. He has appeared as Damien Darhk on Arrow, and in Legends of Tomorrow. He also plays as Malcolm Beck on Yellowstone. He is also known for voicing a variety of comic book characters in both Marvel and DC properties, most notably Bruce Banner in the animated series The Incredible Hulk (1996–1997). He is set to portray President Dwight Eisenhower on the tenth season of American Horror Story.
McDonough was born in Dorchester, Massachusetts, the son of Catherine (née Bushe) and Frank McDonough, motel owners who emigrated from Ireland, with his mother coming from County Tipperary and his father from County Galway. McDonough grew up in Barnstable, Massachusetts and was raised Catholic. His childhood nickname was "Headster", which McDonough says originated in his brothers' teasing him about the size of his head. He graduated from Barnstable High School, and attended Syracuse University, where he was initiated and became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1988. He had obtained several college scholarships to play baseball, but he decided to go to Syracuse as he thought it had the best theater department.
In 1991, McDonough won the Best Actor Dramalogue for "Away Alone". McDonough has made many television and film appearances since then, including Band of Brothers, Boomtown, Star Trek: First Contact, Minority Report and The Hitcher. McDonough played Dave Williams on the fifth season of Desperate Housewives. He also starred in the lead role on 2004 medical drama Medical Investigation for its one full season.
In 1996, McDonough voiced Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk. McDonough reprised his role in the 2005 video game, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
McDonough portrays Jesus in "The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio New Testament Bible," a 22-hour, celebrity-voiced, fully dramatized audio New Testament which uses the Catholic edition of the revised standard version of the Bible.
In 2011, McDonough appeared as Dum Dum Dugan in Captain America: The First Avenger. McDonough also voiced the character in the 2011 movie tie-in video game, Captain America: Super Soldier. He reprised his role three times since then: in the 2013 short film, Agent Carter; in the first episode of the second season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014); and in an episode of the Agent Carter television series (2015).
In 2012, McDonough had a recurring role in the third season of FX's Justified as Robert Quarles, a sadistic carpetbagging mobster from Detroit. He was later cast as Police Chief Parker in Frank Darabont's TNT pilot Mob City.
During the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony on NBC, McDonough was featured in a high-profile and frequently aired Poolside commercial for the Cadillac ELR hybrid electric car.
In 2015, McDonough was cast as DC Comics villain Damien Darhk on the fourth season of Arrow.
In 2021, he was cast as President Dwight Eisenhower on the tenth season of American Horror Story, titled Double Feature. He will be a main cast member for the second part of the season.
Throughout his career McDonough has enjoyed recognition for his various character roles in both film and television, as well as for his voice work in animation and video games. He is also considered one of the best "bad guys" in the industry today
McDonough is a devout Catholic. In 2003, McDonough married Ruvé Robertson, a South African model whom McDonough met in the United Kingdom while filming Band of Brothers. The couple has five children, Morgan "Little Buck" Patrick (born November 28, 2005), Catherine Maggie (born May 14, 2007), London Jane (born January 11, 2010), Clover Elizabeth (born August 15, 2011), and James Hamilton (born March 31, 2014). He has stated that he refuses to perform sex or kissing scenes because of his faith and respect for his wife. He said he was fired from the TV series Scoundrels for his refusal in performing sex scenes.
