Donnie Smith is co-founder and Production Manager for L.A. Camerata. Mr. Smith is a classically-trained film and theatre actor, acting coach, and advocate for the arts. As an actor, he recently starred in Patrick Hamilton’s Rope at Actors Co-op Theatre Company. He also performed the critically-acclaimed and award-winning (LADCC and Stage Raw - Ensemble & Production, Ovation nominated Ensemble & Production) West Coast premiere of Ike Holter’s Hit the Wall (LA LGBT Center).  Other Los Angeles credits include the West Coast premiere of Daniel MacIvor’s House (LA Weekly nomination - Solo Performance) and Small Engine Repair (Ovation, LADCC, Backstage Garland & LA Weekly awards) at Rogue Machine Theatre, where he has been a company member for seven years. He also starred in William Mastrosimone’s Sunshine (Gangbusters Theatre Company at Hollywood Fringe) and was featured in the world premiere of Sunny Afternoon (Gangbusters Theatre Company at Hollywood Fringe & Theater Asylum).

Professional Chicago stage credits include: Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap (Drury Lane); Pentecost (Chicago Irish Rep at Victory Gardens); Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare, NEA tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet (Illinois Shakespeare Festival); David Copperfield, David Mamet’s The Water Engine, Studs Terkel’s Division Street: America (Steppenwolf); Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge (Red Hen); Lanford Wilson’s The Rimers of Eldritch (Terrapin); When The Walls Have Ears (world premiere, Mary-Arrchie).

Feature film credits: The Wedding Year (coming in 2019, directed by Robert Luketic), Peppermint (directed by Pierre Morel, with Jennifer Garner and John Gallagher Jr.), A.X.L. (directed by Oliver Daly), The Vatican Tapes (directed by Mark Neveldine), Walk of Shame (directed by Steven Brill, with Elizabeth Banks & Gillian Jacobs), Stand Up Guys (directed by Fisher Stevens, with Al Pacino & Christopher Walken), The Lincoln Lawyer (directed by Brad Furman, with Matthew McConaughey & Bob Gunton), Fame (directed by Kevin Tancharoen), Gamer (directed by Neveldine/Taylor), The Ugly Truth (directed by Robert Luketic, with Gerard Butler), The Midnight Meat Train (directed by Ryuhei Kitamura, with Bradley Cooper), Pathology (directed by Marc Schoelermann), Henry Poole Is Here (directed by Mark Pellington, with Luke Wilson), The Dead Girl (directed by Karen Moncrieff, with Toni Collette), Crank (directed by Neveldine/Taylor, with Jason Statham), and Undiscovered (directed by Meiert Avis). 

Donnie is a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA.  

He studied at the University of Illinois at Chicago (under Dexter Bullard), as well as the School at Steppenwolf (with Austin Pendleton, Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed, Sheldon Patinkin, Frank Galati, Tim Hopper, Tina Landau, Francis Guinan and Jim True-Frost). Donnie also participated in Steppenwolf Classes West (under Tom Irwin).  He is a graduate of the School of Theatre and Dance at Illinois State University.

Mr. Smith is passionate about empowering marginalized voices in the arts; he offers coachings at a sliding-scale to accommodate students' financial needs. You can visit his website: http://www.donniesmith.org