Kevin Connolly Biography

Kevin Connolly (born March 5, 1974) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his role on the HBO series Entourage as Eric Murphy and his role as the eldest son Ryan Malloy in the 1990s television sitcom Unhappily Ever After.

Life and career

Connolly was born in Patchogue, New York, the son of Eileen J. (née McMahon) and John Connolly. He is of Irish descent. Kevin graduated Patchogue-Medford High School in 1992.

He began his career at age six, appearing in television commercials, including the popular "Betcha bite a chip" campaign for Chips Ahoy!. In 1990, he landed his first film role, as Chickie in Rocky V. Two years later, Connolly was cast as Shaun Kelly in the film adaptation of Myron Levoy's novel Alan & Naomi, and co-starred with Tobey Maguire in the short-lived Fox sitcom Great Scott!. His appearance in the series later earned him a Young Artist Award nomination for Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television Series. He portrayed Dabney Coleman's son in the comedy film The Beverly Hillbillies. Connolly continued guest starring in television series including Wings, Getting By and the medical drama ER.

From 1995"96, Connolly starred in Don's Plum alongside friends and future collaborators Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio. Later that year, he landed the role of Ryan Malloy on the situation comedy Unhappily Ever After. The series also marked Connolly's directorial debut when he directed six episodes in its fourth season. In 2007, Connolly made his full length movie directorial debut with the film Gardener of Eden, which premiered in April 2007 at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Connolly's best-known role is the character Eric Murphy, better known as "E", on HBO's show Entourage. E is the manager and best friend of Vincent Chase, who is played by Adrian Grenier. The show's 8 season run came to a close in September 2011.

In addition to television work, Connolly has appeared in several major motion pictures including Antwone Fisher, John Q, and The Notebook. In August 2007, he signed on to play a supporting character in He's Just Not That Into You, which was released in 2009. Connolly has reportedly been cast as jazz musician Benny Goodman in an upcoming movie. The film, set in the 1930s, will focus on one of the first interracial bands of the era; Nick Cannon, Brandon Routh, and rapper Ludacris will co-star.

In October 2008, Connolly was hired to direct his first music video for rap artist The Game, featuring R&B artist Ne-Yo. The video is for the song "Camera Phone" from The Game's album LAX.

Connolly attended the 2010 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles and announced the final pick of the first round for the New York Islanders.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Rocky V	Chickie
1992	Alan & Naomi	Shaun Kelly
1993	'	Morgan Drysdale
1995	Angus	Andy
1997	Sub Down	Petty Officer Holliday	Alternative title: Sub Down: Take the Dive
1999	Tyrone	Sam Adams	Alternative title: Bad Trip
2001	Drum Solo
	Don's Plum	Jeremy
2002	Devious Beings	Casey
	John Q	Steve Maguire
	Antwone Fisher	Slim
2004	'	Fin
2005	'	Mike
2009	He's Just Not That into You	Conor Barry
	'	Jim
2010	Secretariat	Bill Nack
2013	Reach Me

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1992	Great Scott!	Larry O'Donnell	1 episode Nominated - Young Artist Award Best Young Actor Co-starring in a Television Series
1993	Wings	Scotty Nelson	1 Episode - Season 5 Episode 7 "Joe Blows, Part 01"
1994	Locals		Television film
	Getting By		1 episode
	ER		1 episode, uncredited
1995	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Robert Sanderson	1 episode
	Unhappily Ever After	Ryan Malloy	75 episodes; directed 6 episodes
1996	ABC Afterschool Special	Kevin	1 episode
2000	Up, Up, and Away	Malcolm	Television film
2001	First Years	Joe	5 episodes
	Sam's Circus	Cpl John "Little Sarge" Rather	Television film
2004"2011	Entourage	Eric 'E' Murphy	Main cast member; 96 episodes Nominated - Golden Globe Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series " Musical or Comedy (2009) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (Shared with cast) (2008) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (Shared with cast) (2007) Nominated - Teen Choice Awards TV " Choice Chemistry (Shared with cast) (2006) Nominated - Satellite Awards Outstanding Actor in a Series, Comedy or Musical (2005)

Director

Year	Title	Notes
1997–1999	Unhappily Ever After	6 episodes
2003	Whatever We Do	Film
2007	Gardener of Eden	Film
2008	Camera Phone - The Game ft. Ne-Yo	Music video
2010–2011	Entourage	2 episodes: "Porn Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" "Second to Last"
2013	ESPN 30 for 30	Spano vs Islanders
2014	Dear Eleanor	Film