Have you ever been to a party where you are introduced to a guy with whom you just click on a friendly level? Both of you have a couple of drinks, share some laughs, and maybe make plans to grab a beer at a later date. You leave the party thinking, “Yeah…so-and-so is a great guy!” That’s sort of how I felt about Brian Donahue, the subject at the center of E.J. McLeavey-Fisher’s motivating and entertaining short The Guy: The Brian Donahue Story.
“…Donahue was drafted by the New York Jets…before moving on to a stint at Walt Disney World…”
This hulking man has certainly led a busy life. Born in Boston (if he didn’t explicitly say it, his accent is a dead giveaway), Donahue was recruited to play football for the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. College at the University of Texas, where he excelled in the shot put, followed. Upon completion of his formal education, Donahue was drafted by the New York Jets and played for a time with the Green Bay Packers and the Toronto Argonauts, before moving on to a stint at Walt Disney World where he entertained audiences as the German Mechanic in a staged attraction.
Now making his home in Long Island, New York, Donahue is a professional stuntman and sometime actor for film and television and is married to Lori Lee (by her own admission, the one with the “normal” job, i.e., sitting at a desk staring at a computer all day). Simultaneous with his screen work, Donahue carries on a seemingly mundane 9-5 loading crates at a UPS facility in Uniondale. His freight job affords him a modicum of stability while also providing flexibility to go on auditions and necessary medical benefits.
"…"...she wishes he would relinquish a position where the job description is, literally, to kick ass.""
