Richard Louis Donato (born June 24, 1963) is a bar manager and

podcaster A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing. ...

from

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

whose nickname is Evel Dick. He was the winner of the

reality game show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' Big Brother 8''. He and his daughter, Daniele Donato, are the only family member pair to win the American ''Big Brother'' program's top two prizes in the same competition. Dick holds the record as the show's oldest winner (age 44 at the time), and Daniele is the youngest person (having turned 21 during the competition) ever to win one of the American program's top two prizes. Dick returned for Season 13 of ''Big Brother'' as a team with his daughter Daniele, but departed the show citing "personal reasons" during the first week. In 2014, Donato announced that the reason he departed the show was due to a positive

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

diagnosis.

Biography

Donato was a stand-in for

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

in the 2007 motion picture '' Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''. Because of Donato's claims to have met, known, or even dated various celebrities, he has been accused of lying just to drop names. However,

Dizzy Reed Darren Arthur Reed (born June 18, 1963), better known by his stage name Dizzy Reed, is an American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the keyboardist for the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured, and recor ...

of the rock band Guns N' Roses says that Donato is not a name dropper, that people drop his name. The nickname "Evel Dick" originated with an email address Donato once made up. Donato is the father of Vincent and Daniele Donato.

After ''Big Brother''

Donato said he planned to use a portion of the $500,000 to pay for his daughter's college education. Although directly splitting prize winnings was banned by contest rules, he could pay for his daughter's education and buy presents. On Wednesday, March 19, 2008, episode of '' Big Brother 9'', Donato revealed that he had taken Daniele to Europe and bought her a red car with his prize money. Donato was nominated for and won the Golden Realitini for Favorite Reality Performer in the Fox Reality Really Awards for 2007 against

Len Goodman Leonard Gordon Goodman (born 25 April 1944) is an English professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach. He has appeared as head judge on the television dance programmes ''Strictly Come Dancing'', a programme where various celebrities c ...

, New York, Sanjaya Malakar,

Ant (comedian) Anthony Steven Kalloniatis (born August 23, 1967) is an American stand-up comedian and actor, best known by his stage name Ant. Career Ant performed at comedy clubs across the US beginning in 1991. In 1995, he was a semi-regular cast member on ...

, and Christopher Knight &

Adrianne Curry Adrianne Marie Curry-Rhode (born August 6, 1982) is an American fashion model, actress and television personality. She is best known as the winner of the first cycle of ''America's Next Top Model'' in 2003. Career Modeling Curry won the first c ...

. He was also nominated for Best Winner, Favorite Villain (which he also won), Favorite Potty Mouth, and Best Fight for his confrontation with Jen Johnson.

Fox Reality Channel Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox network (or produced by Fox). The channel also fea ...

recorded the ceremony on October 2, 2007, and aired it on October 13. In 2009, ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' Named "Evel Dick" Donato on the list of "Evil Reality TV Villains" placing him on the list next to 12 others including

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

and Gordon Ramsay In 2011, Donato returned to ''Big Brother'' on the thirteenth season of the American ''Big Brother'' alongside his daughter despite reports they had not spoken to each other for three years. He left the house on day 6 of the show stating that something bad had happened to someone close to him. It was later revealed that the show's medical staff had discovered that he was HIV positive and provided that information to him in the Diary Room. Donato was a cast member on Season 5 of ''

Couples Therapy Couples therapy (also couples' counseling, marriage counseling, or marriage therapy) attempts to improve romantic relationships and resolve interpersonal conflicts. History Marriage counseling originated in Germany in the 1920s as part of the eu ...

'' on VH1 with Dr. Jenn Berman. On October 1, 2014, Donato revealed on the show that he has been living with HIV since 2011. He told ''People'' magazine he does not know how he contracted the disease, but he suspects that it happened during unprotected sex with a stripper in Las Vegas after a long night of drinking.

References

External links

"Evel" Dick Donato on MySpace
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Photo Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Donato, Dick 1963 births Living people American atheists American expatriates in Ireland American people of Italian descent Big Brother (American TV series) winners People from Los Angeles People with HIV/AIDS