Colby Donaldson (born April 1 1974) is an American television actor known as the runner-up on Survivor: The Australian Outback.
Biography
Personal life
Donaldson was born in
Christoval, Texas, and took a degree in
business marketing at
Texas Tech University, where he was a member of the
Phi Delta Theta fraternity, the same fraternity chapter as
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation actor
George Eads.
Survivor
He entered the
reality television series
Survivor: The Australian Outback, in which he was the runner-up. He controversially, on a reward challenge, removed coral from the
Great Barrier Reef. At the end of the competition, the dominant Colby made a move which most people considered to be a mistake in judgment, and which was widely believed to have cost him the competition. Donaldson won the final immunity challenge, giving him the choice of who he would rather face in the final vote, and passed up an opportunity to vote off
Tina Wesson, who ultimately defeated him. Colby instead cast his vote for
Keith Famie who was generally disliked and seen as less deserving to win the title of Sole Survivor.
Colby was chosen to participate in Survivor: All Stars, where he was on the Mogo Mogo tribe and was the 7th person voted out. At the Survivor: All Stars televised reunion Survivor: America's Tribal Council, Donaldson was voted by an online poll as the sexiest male castaway of all first 8 seasons. Donaldson is also known for his friendship with Survivor host Jeff Probst and their regular poker games.
Acting career
After this brief stint on reality television, Donaldson turned to acting, appearing on such shows as
Curb Your Enthusiasm,
Reba, several episodes of
Joey, and Episode 118 ("The Man in the Morgue") of the
Fox hit series,
Bones (2005). He starred in several commercials as the spokesman for
Schick razors, had a minor role as a
secret service agent in Wes Craven's
Red Eye (2005).
Colby appears on the The Rachael Ray Show as one of Rachael's "buddies."
External links