Donal Lardner Ward

Donal Lardner Ward (born August 21, 1962) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and actor.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Donal is the great-grandson of sports writer and humorist Ring Lardner, grandson of sports writer John Lardner and grand-nephew of Academy Award-winning screenwriter Ring Lardner Jr.., who was a member of the Hollywood Ten. His acting career began in 1990 with a part in Whit Stillman's Metropolitan, followed in 1993 by the film My Life's in Turnaround, produced on a budget of $200,000, which he co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in with Eric Schaeffer.

In 1999, Ward directed the J. J. Abrams produced film, The Suburbans, co-written with Tony Guma. The film revolves around a record company executive, played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, attempting to reignite the careers of the one-hit wonder band The Suburbans, played by Ward, Craig Bierko, Will Ferrell, and Tony Guma. The film also features performances from Amy Brenneman, Bridgette Wilson, Ben Stiller, and Jerry Stiller.

The 2000s began with roles in Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums, the straight-to-video film Comic Book Villains, starring Donal Logue, and Julie Delpy's Looking For Jimmy.

In 2007, as part of a half-day marathon of new works for Philip Seymour Hoffman's LAByrinth Theater Company, Ward directed the play Dress Them Down With Whiskey, featuring Tatum O'Neil.

In 2011, Ward and Schaeffer reunited for the sequel to My Life's in Turnaround, titled They're Out of the Business.

In 2018, Ward directed the drama We Only Know So Much, co-written with Elizabeth Crane (based on her novel). The film stars Jeanne Tripplehorn, Damian Young, and Loudon Wainwright III. It premiered at The Nantucket Film Festival. The film will receive a digital release by Lionsgate Films on 2/24/20.

In 2019 Ward was a writer/producer on the final season of The Affair (TV series) on Showtime. He also appeared as "Firefighter Dan" in episode 10.