- Was engaged to actress Jennifer Aniston from 1995-1996.
- He was considered for the role of George McFly in Back to the Future (1985).
- In addition to fiddling, he can sing and play the bodhran (a hand-held Irish drum). He used to play a regular gig with a local band in Los Angeles.
- Is the youngest of six children in a Catholic family. He is of Irish, and a small amount of German, ancestry.
- He is hoping to become a television director, and is learning how to do it by "trailing" the directors on his series The O.C. (2003).
- He plays the fiddle. Displayed this skill on the The New Tom Green Show (2003).
- Participated in the 2005 ING New York City Marathon - finish time was 3:28:49.
- Attended Dwight-Englewood High School in New Jersey, the same school attended by Brooke Shields, Mira Sorvino and Lesley Gore.
- Donovan and his Hercules (1997) adversary James Woods each played former White House Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman: Woods in Oliver Stone's 1995 film Nixon (1995) and Donovan in 2016's Elvis & Nixon (2016).
- In September 2006, he starring with Amy Ryan in the West Coast production of "Rabbit Hole".
- As of 2017, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), Argo (2012) and Manchester by the Sea (2016). Of those, Argo (2012) is a winner in the category.
- He played the White House Chief of Staff in both 24: Live Another Day (2014) and Elvis & Nixon (2016).
- Uncle of Ari Weiss and Marnika Weiss.
- Tate Donovan delivered an intense performance as a white supremacist opposite onscreen brother actor Frank Military in the 1989 movie Dead Bang. The movie co-starred actors Don Johnson and Penelope Ann Miller.
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