Donovan Patton Explained

Donovan Patton
Birth Date:1 March 1978
Birth Place:Naval Air Station Agana, Guam, U.S.
Years Active:1996–present
Spouse:Jackie Patton
Children:2

Donovan Patton (born March 1, 1978)[1] 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 the 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".[2] After Blue's Clues ended in 2006, Patton then voiced Bot on Nickelodeon's Team Umizoomi (2010–2015), and in 2021, he began voicing CatRat on the Netflix original DreamWorks series Gabby's Dollhouse.

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), (2015), (2017), and God of War (2018).

Early life and education

Patton was born on a U.S. military base in Guam to Michael Patton (1951–2014), an Air Force meteorologist, and Darlene Curtis (born 1952), who worked for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. [3] 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.[4] [5] 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.[2] 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".[6] Patton became a "household name"[7] and has been called "an unqualified star to the 5-and-under set and their parents".[6] 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.[8] Patton was selected out of 1,500 auditions.[9] [10] He had never seen the show before his audition, but like Burns was the favorite with preschool test audiences.[11] 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".[12] 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.[13]

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. 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". Patton liked working on Blue's Clues because, as he stated, "I got to go be a kid for twelve hours a day".[14] He called the show's crew "a real fun little family" and a "well-oiled machine"[15] 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.[16] 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.[17]

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 Josh Dela Cruz) learn how to take care of Blue.[18] Patton and Burns continued to make recurring appearances throughout the remainder of the series, and prominently co-starred in the Paramount+ movie Blue's Big City Adventure in 2022. [19]

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. 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. 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". 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. 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. 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.[20] He said, about Team Umizoomi, "the work the animators have done on it has been superlative".[21] 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.[15] Patton said his voice performance of Bot, which he modeled on Brent Spiner's performance as the android Data on and was influenced by Mel Blanc's work in the classic Warner Bros. cartoons,[22] "ended up sounding more like my natural voice, with a teeny bit of superhero in there". 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.[23] He said, about being cast as Bot, "I get to be a superhero. Who doesn't want to be a superhero?"[24] 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.[25] 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.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2005Black WineTodd
2009Imagine ThatJoeUncredited
2012PharmboyMr. Morris
2013Monsters UniversityAdditional voices
2014Lies I Told My Little SisterJosh Davidson
2017The Broken OnesTim Kelly
2020Psycho EscortRussell
DieRyLarry Clark
2022Four For FunSøren
Blue's Big City AdventureJoe

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2002–2006Blue's CluesJoe48 episodes
2002The Today ShowHimselfEpisode: "26 April 2002"
2002MauryEpisode: "13 November 2002"
2003Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards '03Uncredited
2004–2007Blue's RoomJoe12 Episodes
2010–2015Team UmizoomiBot (voice)80 episodes
2011Blue BloodsBellhopEpisode: "Age of Innocence"
2011Nurse JackieHusbandEpisode: "Mitten"
2012DamagesDry Cleaning Boy at Hewes & AssociatesEpisode: "Have You Met the Eel Yet?"
2015–2018ClarenceMr. Reese, additional voices (voice)30 episodes
2016–2017Creative GalaxyChef Zesty (voice)5 episodes
2018The Myth of Robo Wonder KidBirt, Mr. Mudtroll (voices)TV Short
2018The Church of What's Happening NowHimselfEpisode: "Donovan Patton"
2018We Bare BearsAdditional voicesEpisode: "Paperboyz"
2019–presentBlue's Clues & You!JoeRecurring role
2020Sidewalks EntertainmentHimself – GuestEpisode: "Holidays with Josh and Donovan"
2021–presentGabby's DollhouseCatRat (voice)Main Role
TBAMeet the VoxelsDeuceEpisode: "Pilot"

Video games

YearTitleRoleNotes
2002Blue's Clues: Blue's PreschoolJoe
Blue's Clues Kindergarten
2003Blue's Clues: Blue Takes You to School
2012Nickelodeon Dance 2Bot (voice)[26]
2013Grand Theft Auto VActorUncredited (Also additional motion capture)
2015Lego Jurassic WorldVoice Cast
Lego DimensionsAdditional voices
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Knights of the Fallen EmpireAdditional voices
Additional voices
2017Horizon Zero DawnGildunThe Frozen Wilds downloadable content
Minecraft: Story Mode – Season 2Warden
Gildun
2018God of WarAdditional voices
2021Halo InfiniteAdditional voices
2023Horizon Forbidden WestGildunThe Burning Shores downloadable content

Shorts

YearTitleRole
2012It's Not You, It's MeArguing Man
Beyond BeliefShaina's Dad
2013AwakeEddie
2015Clarence Shorts: Big BoyMr. Reese (voice)
2016Clarence Shorts: BeansMr. Reese (voice)
Clarence Shorts: Sticky ClarenceMr. Reese (voice)
2019The MurderPsychiatrist
The AnniversaryPsychiatrist

Video

Works cited

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Rose . Mike . Famous birthdays list for today, March 1, 2024 includes celebrities Justin Bieber, Lupita Nyong'o . cleveland.com . 8 August 2024.
  2. Blue's Brother. Hart. Marion. April 13, 2002 . TV Guide. 50. 50. 15. Gemstar.
  3. Web site: Michael Clark Patton - View Obituary & Service Information .
  4. Web site: Am I Blue? Absolutely. People. Michael A.. Lipton. June 3, 2002. May 6, 2021. May 6, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210506205135/https://people.com/archive/am-i-blue-absolutely-vol-57-no-21/. live.
  5. Web site: PUBLIC LIVES; Searching for Clues in the Land of the Blue Dog. Joyce. Wadler. May 23, 2002. The New York Times. December 13, 2019. December 13, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191213011933/https://www.nytimes.com/2002/05/23/nyregion/public-lives-searching-for-clues-in-the-land-of-the-blue-dog.html. live.
  6. Web site: Cliffside Park resident Donovan Patton, once Joe on 'Blue's Clues,' takes on new, dramatic roles. October 2, 2012. November 9, 2014. North Jersey.com. Yorio. Karia. November 10, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20141110230646/http://www.northjersey.com/community-news/cliffside-park-resident-donovan-patton-once-joe-on-blue-s-clues-takes-on-new-dramatic-roles-1.369171. dead.
  7. Web site: GeekDad Talks with Donovan Patton of the New Nickelodeon Show Team Umizoomi. January 25, 2010. November 8, 2014. GeekDad.com. Barron. Natania. March 6, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160306144128/http://www.wired.com/2010/01/geekdad-talks-with-donovan-patton-of-the-new-nickelodeon-show-team-umizoomi/. live.
  8. Tracy, p. 48
  9. Jim Forbes (Narrator) . Behind the Clues: 10 Years of Blue (Part 2) . Documentary . Nickelodeon . July 27, 2006.
  10. News: 'Blue's Clues' puts on new host, new shirts. Kiesewetter. John. April 29, 2002. The Cincinnati Enquirer. November 9, 2014. https://archive.today/20130102102713/http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2002/04/29/tem_blues_clues_puts_on.html. January 2, 2013. live.
  11. Tracy, p. 47
  12. Web site: Animated Actor: Cliffside Park's Donovan Patton has a clue about acting. April 4, 2013. November 9, 2014. Bergen.com. Adams. Laura . https://web.archive.org/web/20141023082614/http://www.bergen.com/arts-and-music/tv/animated-actor-cliffside-park-s-donovan-patton-has-a-clue-about-acting-1.834466 . October 23, 2014.
  13. Web site: Blue's Clues Host Steve Burns on How the Flaming Lips Changed His Life. June 22, 2019. SPIN. September 21, 2021. September 21, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210921035345/https://www.spin.com/2019/06/blues-clues-host-steve-burns-on-how-the-flaming-lips-changed-his-life/. live.
  14. Barron, event occurs at 3.38
  15. Barron, event occurs at 5.06
  16. News: Calling Blue: And on That Farm He Had a Cellphone. Heffernan. Virginia. January 26, 2007. The New York Times. November 9, 2014. October 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211008134430/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/26/arts/television/26blue.html?pagewanted=print&_r=1&. live.
  17. Web site: From Joe to Bot: My Interview with Donovan Patton. November 6, 2014. About.com. Michel. Tori . https://web.archive.org/web/20141008225425/http://kidscartoons.about.com/od/backstage/a/From-Joe-To-Bot-My-Interview-With-Donovan-Patton.htm . October 8, 2014.
  18. Web site: Jacobs . Meredith . 'Blue's Clues & You!': Nickelodeon Reveals Premiere Date & Returning Hosts (VIDEO) . TV Insider . August 26, 2019 . August 26, 2019 . August 26, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190826154047/https://www.tvinsider.com/807661/blues-clues-you-nickelodeon-premiere-date-steve-joe-josh/ . live .
  19. Cai . Delia . Three Generations of Blue's Clues Hosts Are Still Cool With Being Your Best Friend . 3 April 2024 . Vanity Fair . Condé Nast . 13 December 2022.
  20. Barron, event occurs at 3.10
  21. Barron, event occurs at 0.38
  22. Barron, event occurs at 5.53
  23. Barron, event occurs at 9.45
  24. Barron, event occurs at 8.30
  25. Web site: Three Generations of Blue's Clues Hosts Are Still Cool with Being Your Best Friend . . December 13, 2022 .
  26. https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/video-games/Nickelodeon-Dance-2/