Currently, Donovan Leitch is starring in the rock musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” about a fictional rock and roll band fronted by an East German transgender singer.
If it sounds silly, parts of it are. Hedwig must undergo surgery to escape communism and come to America. The comedy/drama has been wildly successful since it premiered in 1998.
On Wednesday, however, Donovan will be in our neck of the woods as the “Honorary Mayor” at the West Hollywood Costume Carnaval.
Leitch, who also is a singer in the rock and roll supergroup Camp Freddy, has acted in a number of films. Many of his acting gigs came in the late 1980s and early to mid-1990s. The roles ran the gamut from a troubled teen, to a Civil War officer, to a Andy Warhol star. Since Leitch will play the role of mayor Wednesday, we figured you should get to know him a little better through his most best known acting roles.
Here are the five movies Leitch is best known for:
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And God Created Woman
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This remake of the 1958 French-titled film “And God Created Woman” starred Rebecca De Mornay (of “Risky Business” fame).
The movie is about a vamp who marries a charming carpenter only to get out of prison. It didn’t exactly receive rave reviews. While comparing the movie to its original, critic Roger Ebert said “the two films shared little except a title and a director.”
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The Blob
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In 1988, Leitch starred in another remake, this one of the 1958 film “The Blob,” starring Steve McQueen.
“Scream now while you can still breathe!” the tagline warns.
Leitch plays “Paul Taylor,” a high school student who gets devoured by “the Blob.” The movie received mixed reviews from critics, and has a 59 percent favorability rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Cutting Class
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Leitch plays the lead, a troubled teen just released from a mental hospital where he was admitted following the suspicious death of his father. While the film was Brad Pitt’s first major role, it got panned by critics. It has a 29 percent favorable review on Rotten Tomatoes.
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Glory
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Here’s one Leitch can hang his hat on.
This 1989 American drama war film starred Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman. The movie follows Robert Gould Shaw as he leads the first all-black volunteer company in the Civil War.
The movie received Academy Award nominations, and Denzel Washington won the award for Best Supporting Actor.
In the movie, Leitch plays Capt. Charles Fessenden Morse, a real-life lieutenant colonel in the Union Army. It was Morse’s battlefield letters to his close friend, Shaw, that served as the source for the books that inspired the film.
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I Shot Andy Warhol
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As the title implies, this 1996 film covered the attempted murder of pop art icon Andy Warhol by disgruntled factory scene feminist Valerie Solanas.
The shooting, which was carried out because Warhol ignored the screenplay Solanas wanted him to produce, left Warhol seriously wounded, and he barely survived. Surgeons needed to open his chest and massage his heart to get it moving again.
In the movie, Leitch plays Gerard Malanga, a Warhol star who worked closely with the artist during his most creative period. The New York Times referred to Malanga as “Andy Warhol’s most important associate.”
The movie received generally favorable reviews.
