Daniel McDonald (actor)

Daniel McDonald (July 30, 1960 – February 15, 2007) was an American actor who guest-starred in many TV shows including CSI: Miami, Law & Order, "Murder, She Wrote" and Sex in the City. He was also involved in Broadway, performing most recently in Mamma Mia!.

McDonald was born the youngest of seven children in Scranton, Pennsylvania and raised in Romulus, New York. He graduated from Ithaca College.

McDonald's older brother, Christopher McDonald, is also an actor who is seen in many films and television shows.

He met Mujah Maraini-Melehi during the rehearsals for Steel Pier. The couple were married in 1999 and had two children.

He was a life member of the Actors Studio. He also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, with Paul Curtis of the American Mime Theatre, and with Sanford Meisner on the island of Bequia in the British West Indies where he met long-time friend and photographer Michael Sanville.

McDonald received a 1997 Tony Award nomination for his lead role in Steel Pier, which co-starred Gregory Harrison.

In 2002, Daniel McDonald replaced Alan Campbell as lead in the national tour of Contact.

The Gift: Life Unwrapped, McDonald's last film, was released posthumously in May 2007.

He recorded an album True Love.

Daniel McDonald, died on February 15, 2007 at his home in New York. He was 46. The cause was brain cancer, said Jason Brantley, a spokesman for Mr. McDonald’s family. He’s survivors include his wife, Mujah Maraini-Melehi, and two children, Fosco and Ondina. Funeral services was held February 24, 2007 at the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine in New York City.

In 2015, information came to light McDonald, had a five-year relationship that ended in 1994 with actress Jennifer Aniston before he married. Jennifer Aniston’s reflection of McDonald angered his widow.

Aniston, called McDonald "my first love" in an interview with the New York Times. “He would have been the one,” Aniston continued. “But I was 25 and stupid. He must have sent me Justin [Theroux] to make up for it all.”

Mujah Maraini-Melehi, answered with a statement on Facebook speaking of the media and the “Friends” alum. “Please respect our love and especially our Loss,” Maraini-Melehi, who remarried, posted to Facebook. “The children lost their father. I lost my partner.”

“Daniel and Jennifer had a relationship over 20 years ago, when they were both still very young. She made a life choice, but so did he."

“I am sorry that Jennifer did not realize the treasure that was Daniel when she had the chance, long before he and I met and long before he died,” Maraini-Melehi added.

“It pains me to read the headlines that allude to her losing him tragically when she was not present during his long and difficult illness. That said perhaps Daniel’s gift was to teach her how to love and appreciate Justin Theroux.”

“After Daniel died, I reached out to her [Aniston] to give her back all the photographs from the time they were together,” Maraini-Melehi wrote. “I never got an answer back from her.”

Movies

Television