Neal McDonough

A character actor and leading man seemingly cut from the same square-jawed, upstanding mold of studio contract players from the 1950s, Neal McDonough essayed flinty, often dangerous roles in films and on television throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s. Yeoman work in theater and independent releases brought him to the attention of Steven Spielberg, who cast him in pivotal roles in both his HBO production "Band of Brothers" (2001) and Minority Report (2002). The exposure gained him a foothold in Hollywood, where he impressed on both the small screen with "Boomtown" (NBC, 2002-03) and in theaters with Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers (2005). He continued to divide his time between mediums for the next few years, garnering positive buzz for turns like his unstable salary man on "Desperate Housewives" (ABC, 2004-2012), followed by a small but meaty role as "Dum Dum" Dugan in the summer superhero blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Soon after, McDonough found himself showered with rave reviews for his recurring role as scheming underworld figure Robert Quarles on the acclaimed series "Justified" (2010-15). In 2021, he was cast as President Dwight Eisenhower on the tenth season of "American Horror Story." McDonough's innate ability to make his masculine characters - both good and bad - not only formidable, but interesting, made him one of Hollywood's more in demand talents.