Actor Donovan gets some 'Notice' on Fenway's mound

By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein  |  July 4, 2009

As a kid growing up in Amesbury, Jeffrey Donovan didn’t make it to too many Sox games. “We couldn’t afford it,’’ the actor told us yesterday while sipping an Ipswich Ale at the Barking Crab. So it was an extra-special treat for him to stand on the mound last night and throw the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway. “Such an honor. I can cross this off my bucket list,’’ said Donovan. “I measured 60 feet, 6 inches and I’ve been working on the throw. I’m not worried about the distance, I’m worried about the crowd.’’ Donovan stars on the highly rated USA show “Burn Notice’’ alongside the enchanting Gabrielle Anwar, with whom he appears on the cover of the new TV Guide. “My mother’s very proud of me,’’ he said, laughing. “The reason I’m on the ‘Hot Bodies’ cover at all is because I’m next to Gabrielle. They felt like they had to include me.’’ Because “Burn Notice’’ is shot in Miami, Donovan said he doesn’t make it back to Amesbury often, though he did return recently to create a $100,000 scholarship fund for arts-minded Amesbury High grads. Yesterday, he was hanging with his friend and fellow actor Mike O’Malley, who’s got a couple of gigs lined up. He has a recurring role on “Glee,’’ Ryan Murphy’s new series about the cutthroat world of high-school glee clubs, and also plays Maura Tierney’s ex-boyfriend on NBC’s “Parenthood.’’ “Maura’s awesome to work with,’’ O’Malley said of the Boston-bred actress. Leaving the Barking Crab, Donovan and O’Malley stopped by the gift suite at marlo marketing/communications to sign some free swag, and then it was off to the ballpark.

Who better to talk about Kathryn Bigelow’s movies than the filmmaker herself? Bigelow, the director of such films as “Blue Steel,’’ “Point Break,’’ and now, “The Hurt Locker,’’ spoke at the Harvard Film Archive Thursday as part of a retrospective of her work.

Following in the footsteps of Built to Spill and Liz Phair, who played past albums in their entirety on recent tours, Boston-bred indie fan faves the Pixies will be performing all of “Doolittle’’ on their upcoming European tour. Black Francis, Kim Deal, Joey Santiago, and David Lovering will celebrate the 20th anniversary of their seminal CD by playing it front to back, including related B sides, during the tour that begins in Dublin in October. No word on whether the band will be playing any US dates.

Former “SNL’’ cast member Maya Rudolph (inset), who’s spending the summer on the North Shore shooting “Grown Ups’’ with Adam Sandler et al, dined Thursday at UpStairs on the Square. Rudolph was with her husband, “Boogie Nights’’ director Paul Thomas Anderson, and their daughter Pearl. (Rudolph is expecting the couple’s second child this fall.) Mom and dad started with the mozzarella burrata with golden watermelon, while 3-year-old Pearl had the homemade pasta. The family feasted on the beet chitarra, tomato soup, and grilled cheese for their entrees. We heard that as she was leaving Mary-Catherine Deibel and Deborah Hughes’s Harvard Square restaurant, Pearl walked right up to the manager and said, “Thank you very much!’’

Seventies supermodel and sometime-actress Lauren Hutton (right) dropped by the Home Port in Menemsha the other night to shuck oysters and talk sustainable fisheries. Hutton, an ardent environmentalist, was at the Menemsha landmark to support the Martha’s Vineyard Commercial Fishermen’s Association in its effort to defend New England’s herring runs. Hutton also visited the Wampanoag herring run in Aquinnah, which, sadly, was empty. . . . Meanwhile, Diane Sawyer popped her head into the new Bunch of Grapes Bookstore on Vineyard Haven. . . . And congressman Barney Frank, ready for some R&R, headed north to Portland, Maine, catching a ferry to Peaks Island in Casco Bay.

If he’s going to lose a lot of money playing poker, Ben Affleck figures it might as well be for a good cause. Ben and his boyhood buddy Matt Damon (both at right) were among several celebs who did a little card-sharking Thursday night as part of Ante Up for Africa. Proceeds from the charity poker tournament in Vegas support Refugees International’s efforts on behalf of displaced people in Darfur and all of Sudan. The event was hosted by professional poker player and New Hampshire native Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle. In addition to Matt and Ben, the famous faces flipping cards included New Hampshire’s own Sarah Silverman, actors Dean Cain, Jennifer Tilly, and Brad Garrett, onetime NBA star Charles Barkley, and former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson.

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