Donovan Patton
Donovan Patton (born March 1, 1978) is an American actor and television host. Patton graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy and acted in Shakespeare plays such as Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet before replacing Steve Burns as the host of Nickelodeon's long-running children's television program, Blue's Clues in 2002. Series co-creator Angela Santomero stated that Patton brought Joe, his character, closer to the preschool viewer, as Joe was more willing to "jump into a problem rather than figuring it out first like Steve".[1] After Blue's Clues ended in 2006, Patton then voiced Bot on Nickelodeon's Team Umizoomi (2010–2015) and currently voices CatRat on the Netflix original DreamWorks series Gabby's Dollhouse as well as special appearances in the new series Blue’s Clues & You!.
Donovan Patton | |
|---|---|
Patton in 2020 | |
| Born | March 1, 1978 Naval Air Station Agana, Guam, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, television host |
| Years active | 1996–present |
| Spouse | Jackie Patton |
| Children | 2 |
Although most of his career has been in children's television programs, Patton has also appeared in independent films, such as Black Wine (2005), Awake (2013), Lies I Told My Little Sister (2014), The Broken Ones (2017), The Murder (2019), The Anniversary (2019), Psycho Escort (2020), and DieRy (2020), and in television shows, such as Blue Bloods (2011), Nurse Jackie (2011) and Damages (2012).
He also appeared in video games, such as Grand Theft Auto V (2013), Lego Jurassic World (2015), Star Wars: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen Empire (2015), Halo 5: Guardians (2015), Horizon: Zero Dawn (2017), and God of War (2018).
Early life and education
Patton was born on a U.S. military base in Guam to Michael Patton (born 1951), an Air Force meteorologist and Darlene Curtis (born 1952), who worked for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He has an older brother, Casey, and a younger half-sister, Annabelle. After his parents divorced when he was 3, he, his brother, and their mother moved to Colorado. They moved to Las Vegas when Donovan was 12.[2][3] Patton graduated from the Interlochen Arts Academy in northwest Michigan in 1996, having transferred there his junior year.
Career
His first acting roles were in Shakespeare plays such as Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet.[1] He took acting classes in Manhattan while working odd jobs such as a book clerk and a video deliveryman.
Blue's Clues
Patton's "big break" came in the autumn of 2000 when he was cast to replace Steve Burns as Joe, the second host of the Nickelodeon children's television program Blue's Clues. At the time, Patton worked as a waiter and a part-time actor in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York. He was originally set up for a part in Blair Witch Project 2 at the time, but he considered the role as Joe "a happy accident".[4] Patton became a "household name"[5] and has been called "an unqualified star to the 5-and-under set and their parents".[4] He was subjected to "the same kind of scrutiny" as Burns, who was involved in Patton's selection and helped train him, to earn the role.[6] Patton was selected out of 1,500 auditions.[7][8] He had never seen the show before his audition, but like Burns was the favorite with preschool test audiences.[9] He said, "I am convinced that I got that part because of a Christopher Walken impression I sometimes do. There's a tape out there, somewhere, with both Steve Burns and myself doing a Blue's Clues scene both as Christopher Walken, which we did at the screen test. I haven't seen the tape, but I know somewhere it still exists".[10] Beginning in September 2000, Burns trained Patton to take over the host spot and advised him not to "think of [the show] as children's TV", but rather as "acting and telling the truth". Burns left the show in January 2001, with the transition episodes airing in April 2002.[11]
According to Traci Paige Johnson, one of the producers and creators of Blue's Clues, Patton's character was more like a preschooler and more innocent than Steve.[6] Angela Santomero, another producer and creator, stated that Patton's characterization as Joe brought him closer to the preschool viewer as Joe was more willing to "jump into a problem rather than figure it out first like Steve".[1] Patton liked working on Blue's Clues because, as he stated, "I got to go be a kid for twelve hours a day".[12] He called the show's crew "a real fun little family"[13] and a "well-oiled machine"[14] by the time he joined the show. Patton remained on the show for 50 episodes, until it ended its run in 2006, and also appeared in its spin-off, Blue's Room, which premiered in 2004.[10][15] Several years later, Patton said he had not yet grasped the enormity of replacing Burns, even after he became a parent and witnessed the show's effect on his own children. He admitted that he preferred when his daughter watched the Steve episodes.[13]
Patton, alongside Burns, appeared in the first episode of the 2019 revival Blue's Clues & You!, reprising their roles as Joe and Steve respectively to help their cousin Josh (who was played by Joshua Dela Cruz) learn how to take care of Blue.[16]
Later roles
In 2012, Patton appeared in the short films Awake and Pharmboy, the latter of which was directed by his longtime friend Lawrence Feeney.[10] Mark Finguerra, the director of Awake, was able to look past the potential typecasting of Patton's role in Blue's Clues to cast him in a darker role. Patton had impressed him in an audition for an earlier feature film. Finguerra called Patton a "complete professional [and a] tremendous actor", and enjoyable on set.[4] He appeared in the soap opera One Life to Live, in which he played, in a departure of his previous roles, "a very angry man".[17] In 2014, he appeared in a small movie shot mostly in New Jersey, entitled Lies I Told My Little Sister, directed by William Stribling and starring Lucy Walters.[10][13] He also stars in Four for Fun, a film by Jason Cook, alongside Jacob Young, Brytni Sarpi, and Annika Foster.
Personal life
Patton called his career, with its mixture of children's television and darker roles in independent films, "an odd experience" and told a reporter that he had spent half his life at Nickelodeon. In 2009, he was cast as Bot, the robot superhero, on the children's show Team Umizoomi through the relationships he had made at Nickelodeon on Blue's Clues.[4] He found working on Team Umizoomi "comforting" because many of the same crew, producers, and creators had also worked on Blue's Clues. It was the first time he had worked as a voice-over artist, unlike on Blue's Clues, when he was able to be more physical acting in front of a blue screen.[18] He said, about Team Umizoomi, "the work the animators have done on it has been superlative".[19] He stated that he enjoyed working on Team Umizoomi because it gave him the opportunity to participate in a show from its inception, which he had missed with Blue's Clues.[14] Patton said his voice performance of Bot, which he modeled on Brent Spiner's performance as the android Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation and was influenced by Mel Blanc's work in the classic Warner Bros. cartoons,[4][20] "ended up sounding more like my natural voice, with a teeny bit of superhero in there".[13] Despite both roles in Blue's Clues and Team Umizoomi requiring him to sing, he did not consider himself a natural singer and felt that he had to work hard at it.[21] He said, about being cast as Bot, "I get to be a superhero. Who doesn't want to be a superhero?"[22] Patton was the only main cast member to stay on Team Umizoomi for its entire run, voicing Bot in all episodes spread through its four seasons.
Patton is married to his wife Jackie and has two children. They live in Los Angeles. [23] He is active in several charities in the New York City area, including Literacy Inc., the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, a large children's hospital.[13]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Black Wine | Todd | |
| 2009 | Imagine That | Joe | Uncredited |
| 2012 | Pharmboy | Mr. Morris | |
| 2013 | Monsters University | Additional voices | |
| 2014 | Lies I Told My Little Sister | Josh Davidson | |
| 2017 | The Broken Ones | Tim Kelly | |
| 2020 | Psycho Escort | Russell | |
| DieRy | Larry Clark | ||
| 2022 | Four For Fun | Søren | |
| Blue's Big City Adventure | Joe |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002–2006 | Blue's Clues | Joe | 50 episodes |
| 2002 | The Today Show | Himself | Episode: "26 April 2002" |
| 2002 | Maury | Episode: "13 November 2002" | |
| 2003 | Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards '03 | Uncredited | |
| 2004–2007 | Blue's Room | Joe | 12 Episodes |
| 2010–2015 | Team Umizoomi | Bot (voice) | 78 episodes |
| 2011 | Blue Bloods | Bellhop | Episode: "Age of Innocence" |
| 2011 | Nurse Jackie | Husband | Episode: "Mitten" |
| 2012 | Damages | Dry Cleaning Boy at Hewes & Associates | Episode: "Have You Met the Eel Yet?" |
| 2015 | The James & Terry Show | Bot | Episode: "Terry Gets Along" Uncredited |
| 2015–2018 | Clarence | Mr. Reese, additional voices (voice) | 30 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | Creative Galaxy | Chef Zesty (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2018 | The Myth of Robo Wonder Kid | Birt, Mr. Mudtroll (voices) | TV Short |
| 2018 | The Church of What's Happening Now | Himself | Episode: "Donovan Patton" |
| 2018 | We Bare Bears | Additional voices | Episode: "Paperboyz" |
| 2019–present | Blue's Clues & You | Joe | Recurring role |
| 2020 | Sidewalks Entertainment | Himself – Guest | Episode: "Holidays with Josh and Donovan" |
| 2021 | Gabby's Dollhouse | Catrat (voice) | Main Role |
| TBA | Meet the Voxels | Deuce | Episode: "Pilot" |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Blue's Clues: Blue's Preschool | Joe | |
| Blue's Clues Kindergarten | |||
| 2003 | Blue's Clues: Blue Takes You to School | ||
| 2013 | Grand Theft Auto V | Actor | Uncredited (Also additional motion capture) |
| 2015 | Lego Jurassic World | Voice Cast | |
| Lego Dimensions | Additional voices | ||
| Star Wars: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen Empire | Additional voices | ||
| Halo 5: Guardians | Additional voices | ||
| 2017 | Horizon Zero Dawn | Gildun | |
| Minecraft: Story Mode – Season 2 | Warden | ||
| Horizon Zero Dawn: The Frozen Wilds | Gildun | ||
| 2018 | God of War | Additional voices | |
| 2021 | Halo Infinite | Additional Voices |
Shorts
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | It's Not You, It's Me | Arguing Man |
| Beyond Belief | Shaina's Dad | |
| 2013 | Awake | Eddie |
| 2015 | Clarence Shorts: Big Boy | Mr. Reese (voice) |
| 2016 | Clarence Shorts: Beans | Mr. Reese (voice) |
| Clarence Shorts: Sticky Clarence | Mr. Reese (voice) | |
| 2019 | The Murder | Psychiatrist |
| The Anniversary | Psychiatrist |
Video
- Dr. Ice (1996) – Waiter
- It's Joe Time (2002) – Joe
- Blue's Clues: Meet Joe! (2002) – Joe
- Blue's Big Band (2003) – Joe
- Blue's Biggest Stories (2006) – Joe
References
- ^ a b c Hart, Marion (April 13, 2002). "Blue's Brother". TV Guide. Gemstar. 50 (15): 50.
- ^ Lipton, Michael A. (June 3, 2002). "Am I Blue? Absolutely". People. from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
- ^ Wadler, Joyce (May 23, 2002). "PUBLIC LIVES; Searching for Clues in the Land of the Blue Dog". The New York Times. from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e Yorio, Karia (October 2, 2012). "Cliffside Park resident Donovan Patton, once Joe on 'Blue's Clues,' takes on new, dramatic roles". North Jersey.com. from the original on November 10, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Barron, Natania (January 25, 2010). "GeekDad Talks with Donovan Patton of the New Nickelodeon Show Team Umizoomi". GeekDad.com. from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved November 8, 2014.
- ^ a b Tracy, p. 48
- ^ Jim Forbes (Narrator) (July 27, 2006). Behind the Clues: 10 Years of Blue (Part 2) (Documentary). Nickelodeon.
- ^ Kiesewetter, John (April 29, 2002). "'Blue's Clues' puts on new host, new shirts". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Tracy, p. 47
- ^ a b c d Adams, Laura (April 4, 2013). . Bergen.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ "Blue's Clues Host Steve Burns on How the Flaming Lips Changed His Life". SPIN. June 22, 2019. from the original on September 21, 2021. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 3.38
- ^ a b c d e Michel, Tori. . About.com. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
- ^ a b Barron, event occurs at 5.06
- ^ Heffernan, Virginia (January 26, 2007). "Calling Blue: And on That Farm He Had a Cellphone". The New York Times. from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
- ^ Jacobs, Meredith (August 26, 2019). "'Blue's Clues & You!': Nickelodeon Reveals Premiere Date & Returning Hosts (VIDEO)". TV Insider. from the original on August 26, 2019. Retrieved August 26, 2019.
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 10.30
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 3.10
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 0.38
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 5.53
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 9.45
- ^ Barron, event occurs at 8.30
- ^ https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2022/12/three-generations-of-blues-clues-hosts-are-still-cool-with-being-your-best-friend/amp
Works cited
- Barron, Natania (January 25, 2010). "Donovan Patton Interview". GeekDad.com. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
- Tracy, Diane. (2002). Blue's Clues for Success: The 8 Secrets Behind a Phenomenal Business. New York: Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 0-7931-5376-X.
External links
- Donovan Patton at IMDb