Dick Donato
Encyclopedia
Richard Louis Donato, known as "Evel Dick" Donato (born June 24, 1963), a bar manager from Los Angeles, California
, is the winner of the reality game show Big Brother 8
. He and his daughter, Daniele Donato
, are the only family member pair to win the American Big Brother program's top two prizes in the same competition. Dick holds the record as the show's oldest winner (age 44 at the time), and Daniele is the youngest person (having turned 21 during the competition) ever to win one of the American program's top two prizes. Dick returned for Season 13 of Big Brother as a team with his daughter Daniele, and left the house for "personal reasons" during the first week.
in the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Because of Donato's claims to have met, known, or even dated various celebrities, he has been accused of lying just to drop names. However, Dizzy Reed
of the rock band Guns N' Roses
says that Donato is not a name dropper, that people drop his name. The nickname "Evel Dick" originated with an email address Donato once made up. Donato is the father of Vincent and Daniele Donato.
On Day 20, Dick won the Head of Household competition Getting Schooled, in which players were asked a series of true-or-false questions in subjects like geography, math, and history that pertained to the Big Brother house and game. A wrong answer resulted in elimination, unless everyone got the question wrong. In a tie-breaker between Daniele, Dick, and Mike, Dick was closest to the correct answer without going over and became the new Head of Household. The following day, the House competed for food in the Mission InPastaBowl competition, which saw the House working as a whole for food. HouseGuests paired off to jump into two bowls of giant pasta which contained meatballs with different types of food written on them. The pairs had match up a specific "meatball" from tub A and tub B. When the two houseguests matched their meatballs, they won that food for the week. When the time ran out, the House would win any food collected in the competition. On Day 21, Jen and Kail were nominated for eviction. On Day 22, Dick, Kail and Jen drew Jessica, Nick and Zach's names at the random drawing, meaning they would compete for the Veto. During the Mad Hatter competition, players had to stand on a pedestal while balancing a martini glass on a giant hat, while wearing thick amounts of clothing. If the martini glass fell or if the HouseGuest stepped down, they would be eliminated. The last HouseGuest standing would win the Golden Power of Veto. To make it interesting, the remaining HouseGuests would wear various costumes to distract the HouseGuests from the game. After it came down to Dick and Jen, Dick stepped down and allowed Jen to win the Veto, as he had decided to put Mike up. On Day 24, Jen saved herself with the Power of Veto, and Mike became the replacement nominee. On Day 27, Mike was evicted by a vote of 7 to 2, with only Zach and Eric (as America's Player) voting to keep him.
On Day 42, Dick and Daniele were nominated for eviction. During the Veto competition Shot for Shot, players had to drink concoctions to secure shots in a croquet game. The player who scored the most points in the croquet game, would win the Power of Veto. Dick beat Dustin out by one point and won the Power of Veto. On day 45, he chose to use the Power of Veto to safe his daughter, Daniele. This was the first time the Veto winner was on the block and did not save themselves since Big Brother 3, in which Marcellas infamously chose to leave himself on the block and was evicted. Jessica put Dustin up as a replacement nominee, as he had requested. After Eric learned America wanted Dustin out, he began campaigning for Dick to stay, and on Day 48 Dustin was evicted by a 4 to 2 vote, receiving the votes of Jameka and Amber.
On Day 69, Dick won the Head of Household competition Before or After, in which HouseGuests stood on a multiple staircase and were asked a series of questions to see if an event occurred before or after another event. The player with the most points in the end, would win the HoH title for the hour. He immediately had to pick his nominees, and chose Eric and Jameka. Zach then went on to win the Niagara Balls Veto competition, in which the HouseGuests put on pads and were dumped on by a series of colorful balls from a chute. The player who collects five green balls and place them in their chute would win the Power of Veto. He then chose not to use the Power of Veto. During the second eviction of the night, the second half of the Eric and Jessica showmance was sent home by a vote of 2 to 0.
On Day 70 the father-daughter duo were nominated for the third time. On Day 71, during the final Power of Veto competition, called Big Brother Decoder, the final four HouseGuests had to match a clue to a HouseGuest's face that interlocked with another HouseGuest's face. Once that is done, the HouseGuest must twist the knob and match the HouseGuest with the corresponding number. The first HouseGuest to correctly label the many seconds they've been in the Big Brother house will win the Power of Veto. Daniele was the first to crack the code and won her fifth Power of Veto. This meant that Daniele is tied with Janelle for the highest number of Veto's won in a single season. On Day 74, Daniele chose to use the Power of Veto on her father instead of herself, making it the second time this season, and the third in Big Brother History, that a nominee won the Golden Power of Veto and left themselves on the block.
On Day 74, the Final Three competed in the first part of the Final Head of Household competition. The endurance competition, called The Bunny Hop, saw the final three HouseGuests standing atop a pedestal, holding their key to the Big Brother house. In pouring rain, the players had to hop over a rabbit turnstile until they were the last HouseGuest standing. Daniele was the first to fall, breaking the turnstile in the process, while Dick got down after seven hours and thirty-two minutes, leaving Zach the winner of Round One. On Day 75, during the second part of the competition, Dick and Daniele competed in the Chain of Commands competition, in which they had to jump in a tank, collect puzzle pieces and place them in the correct order in a series of slots. The puzzle made a path that led from the first Head of Household to the last. The order was: Kail, Jen, Dick, Dustin, Daniele, Jessica, Daniele, Jessica, Zach, Dick, and Zach. Dick won with the fastest time and went on to face Zach in Round Three. On Day 76, Dick and Zach competed for the title of HoH in the Jury Statements competition, in which Dick and Zach were asked to finish a statement from each of the six jury members by answering with A or B. Dick was the winner of the final HoH competition, and immediately evicted Zach from the house, making Dick and Daniele the Final Two.
On Day 77, the final two HouseGuests attended a three-hour session in which the jury members, connected via satellite from the jury house, asked the pair questions about the game and why the jury members should give either of them their respective votes. On Day 81, during the live season finale, Dick won the game with a vote of 5 to 2, with Daniele only receiving the votes of Jen and Jameka.
On Wednesday, March 19, 2008 episode of Big Brother 9
, Donato revealed that with his prize money he had taken Daniele Donato to Europe and bought her a red car.
Donato was nominated for and won the Golden Realitini for Favorite Reality Performer in the Fox Reality Really Awards for 2007 against Len Goodman
, New York
, Sanjaya Malakar
, Ant (comedian)
, and Christopher Knight & Adrianne Curry. He was also nominated for Best Winner, Favorite Villain (which he also won), Favorite Potty Mouth, and Best Fight for his confrontation with Jen Johnson. Fox Reality Channel
recorded the ceremony on October 2, 2007, and aired it on October 13.
In 2009, TV Guide
Named "Evel Dick" Donato on the list of "Evil Reality TV Villains" placing him on the list next to 12 others including Simon Cowell
and Gordon Ramsay
In 2010, Donato was cast as the villain in Evan Pedone's horror film GPS, and is scheduled to also play in "Expedition Everest." The movie GPS
In 2011, Donato returned to Big Brother on the thirteenth season of the American Big Brother
alongside his daughter despite them reportedly not speaking for three years. He left the house on day 6 of the show. In a video on RTVZone.com, Donato stated that something bad happened to someone really close to him, but he will not release details about what happened to that person, saying he wants to respect their privacy.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, is the winner of the reality game show Big Brother 8
Big Brother 8 (U.S.)
Big Brother 8 is the eighth season of the US version of the reality TV-show Big Brother on CBS. The season was announced on February 1, 2007. Julie Chen returned for this season as host. Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan are executive producers. Arnold Shapiro stepped down as producer following last...
. He and his daughter, Daniele Donato
Daniele Donato
Daniele Donato , was a contestant on Big Brother 8, and Big Brother 13 along with her father, Dick Donato.-Biography:...
, are the only family member pair to win the American Big Brother program's top two prizes in the same competition. Dick holds the record as the show's oldest winner (age 44 at the time), and Daniele is the youngest person (having turned 21 during the competition) ever to win one of the American program's top two prizes. Dick returned for Season 13 of Big Brother as a team with his daughter Daniele, and left the house for "personal reasons" during the first week.
Biography
Donato was a stand-in for Keith RichardsKeith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
in the motion picture Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Because of Donato's claims to have met, known, or even dated various celebrities, he has been accused of lying just to drop names. However, Dizzy Reed
Dizzy Reed
Dizzy Reed is a contemporary rock musician, and occasional actor. He is best known for his tenure as the keyboardist & pianist for the rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990...
of the rock band Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
says that Donato is not a name dropper, that people drop his name. The nickname "Evel Dick" originated with an email address Donato once made up. Donato is the father of Vincent and Daniele Donato.
Big Brother 8
On Day 14, Jen nominated Daniele and Dick for eviction, deeming them as the most negative people in the House. On Day 15, the Houseguest competed for the Power of Veto. During the random drawing, Amber, Mike and Joe were chosen to play for the power. During the competition, called "Cutthroat Christmas", players had to slide a curling stone down an icy path toward a red line. Each round, the least accurate slider would be eliminated from the game and choose a present from under a giant Christmas tree. The last player standing got the pick of the prizes won. Daniele won the Power of Veto, Amber won a chance to be handcuffed to another HouseGuest, Dick won a plasma TV, Mike won a date with another HouseGuest, Jen won a red unitard, and Joe won a slop pass. On Day 17, Daniele used the Veto on herself, and Jen put Joe up in her place. On Day 20, Joe was evicted by a vote of 9 to 1, only receiving the vote of Kail.On Day 20, Dick won the Head of Household competition Getting Schooled, in which players were asked a series of true-or-false questions in subjects like geography, math, and history that pertained to the Big Brother house and game. A wrong answer resulted in elimination, unless everyone got the question wrong. In a tie-breaker between Daniele, Dick, and Mike, Dick was closest to the correct answer without going over and became the new Head of Household. The following day, the House competed for food in the Mission InPastaBowl competition, which saw the House working as a whole for food. HouseGuests paired off to jump into two bowls of giant pasta which contained meatballs with different types of food written on them. The pairs had match up a specific "meatball" from tub A and tub B. When the two houseguests matched their meatballs, they won that food for the week. When the time ran out, the House would win any food collected in the competition. On Day 21, Jen and Kail were nominated for eviction. On Day 22, Dick, Kail and Jen drew Jessica, Nick and Zach's names at the random drawing, meaning they would compete for the Veto. During the Mad Hatter competition, players had to stand on a pedestal while balancing a martini glass on a giant hat, while wearing thick amounts of clothing. If the martini glass fell or if the HouseGuest stepped down, they would be eliminated. The last HouseGuest standing would win the Golden Power of Veto. To make it interesting, the remaining HouseGuests would wear various costumes to distract the HouseGuests from the game. After it came down to Dick and Jen, Dick stepped down and allowed Jen to win the Veto, as he had decided to put Mike up. On Day 24, Jen saved herself with the Power of Veto, and Mike became the replacement nominee. On Day 27, Mike was evicted by a vote of 7 to 2, with only Zach and Eric (as America's Player) voting to keep him.
On Day 42, Dick and Daniele were nominated for eviction. During the Veto competition Shot for Shot, players had to drink concoctions to secure shots in a croquet game. The player who scored the most points in the croquet game, would win the Power of Veto. Dick beat Dustin out by one point and won the Power of Veto. On day 45, he chose to use the Power of Veto to safe his daughter, Daniele. This was the first time the Veto winner was on the block and did not save themselves since Big Brother 3, in which Marcellas infamously chose to leave himself on the block and was evicted. Jessica put Dustin up as a replacement nominee, as he had requested. After Eric learned America wanted Dustin out, he began campaigning for Dick to stay, and on Day 48 Dustin was evicted by a 4 to 2 vote, receiving the votes of Jameka and Amber.
On Day 69, Dick won the Head of Household competition Before or After, in which HouseGuests stood on a multiple staircase and were asked a series of questions to see if an event occurred before or after another event. The player with the most points in the end, would win the HoH title for the hour. He immediately had to pick his nominees, and chose Eric and Jameka. Zach then went on to win the Niagara Balls Veto competition, in which the HouseGuests put on pads and were dumped on by a series of colorful balls from a chute. The player who collects five green balls and place them in their chute would win the Power of Veto. He then chose not to use the Power of Veto. During the second eviction of the night, the second half of the Eric and Jessica showmance was sent home by a vote of 2 to 0.
On Day 70 the father-daughter duo were nominated for the third time. On Day 71, during the final Power of Veto competition, called Big Brother Decoder, the final four HouseGuests had to match a clue to a HouseGuest's face that interlocked with another HouseGuest's face. Once that is done, the HouseGuest must twist the knob and match the HouseGuest with the corresponding number. The first HouseGuest to correctly label the many seconds they've been in the Big Brother house will win the Power of Veto. Daniele was the first to crack the code and won her fifth Power of Veto. This meant that Daniele is tied with Janelle for the highest number of Veto's won in a single season. On Day 74, Daniele chose to use the Power of Veto on her father instead of herself, making it the second time this season, and the third in Big Brother History, that a nominee won the Golden Power of Veto and left themselves on the block.
On Day 74, the Final Three competed in the first part of the Final Head of Household competition. The endurance competition, called The Bunny Hop, saw the final three HouseGuests standing atop a pedestal, holding their key to the Big Brother house. In pouring rain, the players had to hop over a rabbit turnstile until they were the last HouseGuest standing. Daniele was the first to fall, breaking the turnstile in the process, while Dick got down after seven hours and thirty-two minutes, leaving Zach the winner of Round One. On Day 75, during the second part of the competition, Dick and Daniele competed in the Chain of Commands competition, in which they had to jump in a tank, collect puzzle pieces and place them in the correct order in a series of slots. The puzzle made a path that led from the first Head of Household to the last. The order was: Kail, Jen, Dick, Dustin, Daniele, Jessica, Daniele, Jessica, Zach, Dick, and Zach. Dick won with the fastest time and went on to face Zach in Round Three. On Day 76, Dick and Zach competed for the title of HoH in the Jury Statements competition, in which Dick and Zach were asked to finish a statement from each of the six jury members by answering with A or B. Dick was the winner of the final HoH competition, and immediately evicted Zach from the house, making Dick and Daniele the Final Two.
On Day 77, the final two HouseGuests attended a three-hour session in which the jury members, connected via satellite from the jury house, asked the pair questions about the game and why the jury members should give either of them their respective votes. On Day 81, during the live season finale, Dick won the game with a vote of 5 to 2, with Daniele only receiving the votes of Jen and Jameka.
Big Brother 13
Dick Donato returned for Season 13 with his daughter Daniele to play as one of the three returning couples. On Day 6 Donato was informed by production that there was an urgent emergency outside of the house. He later released a statement stating that he had to leave due to a personal matter. As a result, his partner Daniele received the first golden key.After Big Brother
Donato said he planned to use a portion of the $500,000 to pay for his daughter's college education. Although directly splitting prize winnings was banned by contest rules and law, he could legally pay for his daughter's education and buy presents.On Wednesday, March 19, 2008 episode of Big Brother 9
Big Brother 9 (U.S.)
Big Brother 9 is the ninth edition of the American reality television series...
, Donato revealed that with his prize money he had taken Daniele Donato to Europe and bought her a red car.
Donato was nominated for and won the Golden Realitini for Favorite Reality Performer in the Fox Reality Really Awards for 2007 against Len Goodman
Len Goodman
Leonard Gordon 'Len' Goodman is a British professional ballroom dancer, dance judge, and coach. He is a leading personality on television dance programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing and Dancing with the Stars and runs a ballroom dance school in Dartford, Kent.-Early life and career:Goodman was...
, New York
Tiffany Pollard
Tiffany Pollard is an American reality television personality and actress. She is best known as New York and for her participation in VH1's Flavor of Love and I Love New York television series. Pollard was given the nickname by rapper Flavor Flav, whom she dated on both season 1 and season 2 of...
, Sanjaya Malakar
Sanjaya Malakar
Sanjaya Joseph Malakar is an American singer of Indian origin, who was a finalist on the sixth season of American Idol. He gained national attention on the series, controversially advancing to 7th place with public votes, despite being poorly received by the show's judges, particularly Simon...
, Ant (comedian)
Ant (comedian)
ANT is an American stand-up comedian and actor. ANT prefers his name spelled in all capital letters.ANT performed at comedy clubs across the USA beginning in 1991...
, and Christopher Knight & Adrianne Curry. He was also nominated for Best Winner, Favorite Villain (which he also won), Favorite Potty Mouth, and Best Fight for his confrontation with Jen Johnson. Fox Reality Channel
Fox Reality Channel
Fox Reality Channel was an all reality television channel available on cable and satellite television in the United States. It was launched on May 24, 2005 and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were previously on the Fox network...
recorded the ceremony on October 2, 2007, and aired it on October 13.
In 2009, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
Named "Evel Dick" Donato on the list of "Evil Reality TV Villains" placing him on the list next to 12 others including Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
and Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
In 2010, Donato was cast as the villain in Evan Pedone's horror film GPS, and is scheduled to also play in "Expedition Everest." The movie GPS
In 2011, Donato returned to Big Brother on the thirteenth season of the American Big Brother
Big Brother 13 (U.S.)
Big Brother 13 was the thirteenth season of the American reality television series, Big Brother. The show was broadcast on CBS and Showtime 2 for 75 days, concluding on September 14, 2011 when Rachel Reilly was crowned the winner with four votes from the jury over Porsche Briggs' three...
alongside his daughter despite them reportedly not speaking for three years. He left the house on day 6 of the show. In a video on RTVZone.com, Donato stated that something bad happened to someone really close to him, but he will not release details about what happened to that person, saying he wants to respect their privacy.