Lee Donoghue (born 12 October 1983) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

best known for his role as

Hunter McKay Hunter McKay is a fictional character on the New Zealand soap opera '' Shortland Street'' who was portrayed by Lee Donoghue from December 2006, as part of a new family unit consisting of parents Callum McKay (Peter Mochrie) and Justine Jones (L ...

on New Zealand

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

''.

Early life

Lee grew up in Lower Hutt but he also lived in

Perth, Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

for 3 years when he was younger. He attended local Catholic boys college Saint Bernard's College, finishing in 2001, where he was involved in cricket, debating and was a prefect. His family has two cats, a British Blue called Molley and Zane, who is a Birman.

Acting

Lee's acting career began when a friend of the family suggested his mother take him to a talent agency, which they did and he quickly gained work acting in commercials. His first taste of acting came at 8 years old when he won a starring role in a TVNZ advertising campaign. He was then given a small role in television mini-series ''Fall Out'' in which he played Byron Lange. After that he went on to take on roles in shows such as The Tribe and the British production Atlantis High. During this time he also took part in Young and Hungry, a youth amateur theatre. In 2006 he was part way through gaining his qualifications from Wellington's Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School, when he was offered the role of Hunter McKay, the wayward son of Callum McKay and Justine Jones on New Zealand soap opera

. His first scenes were aired in December 2006, since debuting he has gone on to star in several major storylines such as him and onscreen sister Sophie tormenting Scarlett Valentine to the brink of her trying to run them down with her father's car and getting involved with a 34-year-old widow who worked with his parents.

Filmography

Personal life

He recently became involved with an online support site for people dealing with depression called The Lowdown. He was a contestant in the 2007 Cleo Bachelor of The Year. During this time he was featured in the Cleo Bachelors Calendar.Lee Donoghue :: Meet The Boys :: CLEO Bachelor Of The Year :: Hot Boys :: CLEO

References

External links

Lee's TVNZ Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Donoghue, Lee 1983 births Living people New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors New Zealand male soap opera actors People educated at St Bernard's College, Lower Hutt 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors