Donovan Scott

Donovan Scott, born in Chico, California, is an American character actor whose best-known role was cadet Leslie Barbara in the ensemble comedy Police Academy (1984). After two and a half years of study at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, he trained with Carlo Mazzone-Clementi in Comedia dell'Arte. He toured as an actor and artistic director for a theatrical troupe. In 1977 he settled in Los Angeles and worked widely in film and television. His first screen appearance came in 1979 with Steven Spielberg's 1941. His resemblance to Oliver Hardy in Sheena (1984) has been noted. He also appeared in Olivia Newton-John's music video for Physical and co-starred in Lucille Ball's ABC-TV series Life with Lucy. From 1993 to 1994 he stayed in Russia and Ukraine, where he was director, screenwriter and actor on The Children of Captain Grant. He has played Santa Claus in numerous films and has also worked with an improvisational group at the ACME Comedy Theatre.