Edward McDonald

Actor · Brooklyn, New York, USA

Edward McDonald is a highly regarded American criminal defense attorney with a storied career in prosecuting organized crime and white-collar cases. He is a partner at Dechert LLP, focusing on securities enforcement and complex litigation. Before entering private practice, McDonald served as a federal prosecutor and was Attorney-in-Charge of the U.S. Organized Crime Strike Force in the Eastern District of New York, where he handled many high-profile mafia and corruption cases. In a rare blending of reality and film, McDonald portrayed himself in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas (1990), reenacting his real-life role in convincing Henry and Karen Hill to enter the U.S. Federal Witness Protection Program. One of his most memorable lines, “Don’t give me the babe-in-the-woods routine, Karen … I heard you on the telephone, you’re talking about cocaine”, was reportedly improvised, drawing from his actual experience. He later appeared as a prosecutor in the 1995 crime thriller Kiss of Death, alongside David Caruso and Stanley Tucci. He has held a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) membership since 1990.