Charles McHugh O’Donnell, known in his family as Charlie, is an American young man born in 2003 in Los Angeles, California. He is the third child and second son of Hollywood actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline Fentress. He is best known publicly for appearing in the NCIS Los Angeles episode Past Lives in 2010, where he played a young boy named Michael Donnelly in a production that also starred his father. Beyond that single television appearance, he has lived a completely private life consistent with the values his parents have instilled across their entire family. He is 22 years old as of 2026 and has not pursued any public career in entertainment.
Quick Bio Facts
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Charles McHugh O’Donnell |
| Nickname | Charlie |
| Date of Birth | July 11, 2003 |
| Age (2026) | 22 years old |
| Birthplace | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Nationality | American |
| Father | Chris O’Donnell (actor) |
| Mother | Caroline Fentress O’Donnell (former elementary school teacher) |
| Siblings | Lily Anne O’Donnell (born 1999), Christopher Eugene O’Donnell Jr. known as Chip (born 2000), Finley O’Donnell (born 2006), Maeve Frances O’Donnell (born 2008) |
| Grandmother | Julia O’Donnell |
| Television Credit | NCIS Los Angeles, episode Past Lives (January 12, 2010) |
| Character Played | Michael Donnelly |
| Education | Not publicly confirmed |
| Career | Not publicly known |
| Social Media | No confirmed public accounts |
| Net Worth | Not publicly confirmed |
Important Warning About Fake Sources
Several entirely fabricated articles appear in search results about a different supposed Charles McHugh O’Donnell. These articles describe an Irish businessman born in Dublin in 1975 who attended Trinity College Dublin and Harvard Business School and built a career in global finance. One of these articles even contains visible placeholder text including phrases like Insert School Name and Insert Industry/Field, which confirms they were never completed and were generated automatically without any research.
There is no verified public figure by that name with those details. The only real and confirmed Charles McHugh O’Donnell is the son of actor Chris O’Donnell, documented through IMDb, the NCIS Los Angeles fan wiki, and multiple credible family-focused media profiles of his father. All content in this article is drawn from those verified sources.
Early Life and Background
Charles McHugh O’Donnell was born on July 11, 2003, in Los Angeles, California. He is the third of five children born to Chris O’Donnell and Caroline Fentress. By the time Charlie was born, his father was already well established in Hollywood, having starred in Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, and numerous other film and television productions. Despite that environment, Charlie grew up in a household that deliberately prioritized normalcy, privacy, and family values over celebrity attention.
His parents raised all five children without full-time nanny support for most of their early years. Chris O’Donnell has spoken about this in multiple interviews, describing how he and Caroline made conscious choices to be hands-on parents even during the peak years of his career. The O’Donnell family lived in Pacific Palisades, a quiet and family-oriented residential neighborhood in Los Angeles, rather than the more visible and entertainment-focused areas of the city.
Charlie grew up surrounded by four siblings who each brought their own personality and interests to the household. His older sister Lily was four years ahead of him. His older brother Chip was three years ahead. His younger brother Finley came three years after him, and his younger sister Maeve arrived five years later. Chris O’Donnell, one of seven children himself, always wanted a large family and has described the household as lively, busy, and full of love.
His Television Appearance
Charles McHugh O’Donnell’s only confirmed acting credit is his appearance in the NCIS Los Angeles episode titled Past Lives, which aired on January 12, 2010. He was approximately six years old at the time of filming. The episode is the twelfth of the show’s first season and centers on a naval investigation in which Chris O’Donnell’s character G. Callen goes undercover using an old alias.
In the episode, Charlie played a character named Michael Donnelly, a young boy who is the son of a woman named Kristin Donnelly and the nephew of a man named Jon Donnelly. The character had a meaningful role within the episode’s storyline. The NCIS Los Angeles fan database specifically notes that Charlie O’Donnell, who played Michael Donnelly, is the real-life son of Chris O’Donnell who plays G. Callen on the show.
This casting of a real child in a role connected to his father’s character created a particularly personal moment within the episode that was noticed and appreciated by the show’s fan community. It was also a rare glimpse into the O’Donnell family’s willingness to share a small piece of their private world with the public.
Charlie and his sister Lily O’Donnell both appeared in another NCIS Los Angeles episode titled Callen G., where photos of children who lived in a house are shown on screen. The NCIS fan database notes that Charlie and Lily are the children of series regular Chris O’Donnell.
After these brief appearances in 2010, Charlie did not return to acting. He has no further credited roles in film or television.
His Family: The O’Donnells
Understanding Charlie requires understanding the family he grew up in, because the O’Donnell family’s values and approach to public life have shaped every aspect of his development.
His father Chris O’Donnell was born on June 26, 1970, in Winnetka, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. He is of German and Irish descent and grew up in a Catholic family as the youngest of seven children. He attended Loyola Academy in Wilmette, Illinois, and went on to Boston College where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing in 1992. He began modeling at 13 and made his film debut in Men Don’t Leave in 1990.
His film career took off with supporting roles in Fried Green Tomatoes and School Ties before his breakthrough in Scent of a Woman in 1992 earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He then starred in the massive Batman Forever and Batman and Robin productions as Robin, which brought him to the highest level of Hollywood visibility in the mid-1990s. He went on to appear in Circle of Friends, Vertical Limit, and many other films before joining the cast of NCIS Los Angeles as G. Callen in 2009. He played that role across all fourteen seasons of the show until its conclusion in 2023. He then joined the ABC series 9-1-1 Nashville in 2025 as a main cast member named Don Hart. His net worth is estimated at approximately $25 million as of 2026.
His mother Caroline Fentress was born around 1973 and grew up in a non-entertainment family. She is the sister of Andrew Fentress, who was Chris O’Donnell’s college building neighbor. Chris met Caroline when she came to visit her brother, and their brief meeting led to a first kiss that he has described in multiple interviews as the moment he knew she was the one. They were separated for three years before reconnecting when Chris asked Andrew about her and decided to reach out. They dated for three years before marrying in April 1997 in a small, private ceremony. Caroline worked as an elementary school teacher before the demands of raising five children and supporting Chris’s career became her primary focus. She has no social media presence and rarely appears at public events.
His Siblings
Lily Anne O’Donnell was born in 1999 and is Charlie’s oldest sibling. She is the eldest of all five children and has maintained a private life consistent with her family’s approach. She appeared alongside Charlie in the NCIS Los Angeles episode Callen G.
Christopher Eugene O’Donnell Jr., known as Chip, was born in 2000 and is the family’s first son. He married Molly Milstein in an upstate New York wedding in October 2025, making him the first of the five siblings to marry. That event was noted in entertainment media as a significant family milestone.
Finley O’Donnell was born in 2006 and is Charlie’s younger brother by three years. He has also kept a private profile.
Maeve Frances O’Donnell was born in 2008 and is the youngest of the five. She was named Maeve and given the middle name Frances, continuing the family’s pattern of giving children names that reflect their Irish heritage.
Personal Life and Privacy
Charlie’s personal life is entirely unknown to the public. He has no confirmed social media presence. He has not appeared in any public forum, given any interviews, attended entertainment industry events, or been photographed in any publicly reported capacity since his brief television appearances in 2010. He was approximately six or seven years old during those appearances, meaning his entire adult life has unfolded entirely out of public view.
He is 22 years old as of 2026. At that age, he would be completing a college education or entering the early stages of a professional career. Whether he has gone on to pursue acting, another profession, or is still in education is completely unknown. His parents’ consistent and deliberate approach to keeping their children out of the media spotlight has been entirely successful in his case.
Education
No specific educational institutions have been confirmed publicly for Charlie. His parents raised their children in Pacific Palisades, which has access to strong private and public schools. Given the family’s Catholic faith and Chris O’Donnell’s own Catholic school background at Loyola Academy, it is possible Charlie attended Catholic educational institutions, but this has not been confirmed. Whether he has attended or completed a university degree is not publicly known.
Net Worth
Charlie O’Donnell’s personal net worth is not publicly confirmed. He has no known independent career or income source. His single acting credit from 2010 would have generated minimal income given his age and the nature of the appearance. His family background is comfortable, with his father Chris O’Donnell having an estimated net worth of $25 million built over three decades of film and television work. Charlie’s personal financial situation is entirely separate from and unknown relative to his father’s wealth.
Why People Search for Him
Searches for Charles McHugh O’Donnell originate almost entirely from curiosity about Chris O’Donnell’s family. Chris has been one of the most consistent faces on American television for nearly fifteen years through NCIS Los Angeles and continues in that vein with 9-1-1 Nashville. People who research Chris often discover that his son appeared in one of his episodes, which then drives searches for more information about Charlie specifically.
The fabricated Irish businessman articles that appear in search results have also confused many people searching for him. Those articles have no basis in reality and were produced automatically by content generation systems without any genuine research.
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FAQ
1. Who is Charles McHugh O’Donnell?
He is the third child and second son of actor Chris O’Donnell and his wife Caroline Fentress. He was born on July 11, 2003, in Los Angeles and appeared in one episode of NCIS Los Angeles in 2010.
2. What TV show did Charles McHugh O’Donnell appear in?
He appeared in the NCIS Los Angeles episode Past Lives, which aired on January 12, 2010. He played a character named Michael Donnelly.
3. How old was Charles McHugh O’Donnell when he appeared on NCIS Los Angeles?
He was approximately six years old at the time of filming.
4. Who are Charles McHugh O’Donnell’s parents?
His father is actor Chris O’Donnell, best known for NCIS Los Angeles and the Batman films. His mother is Caroline Fentress, a former elementary school teacher.
5. How many siblings does Charles McHugh O’Donnell have?
He has four siblings: older sister Lily Anne, older brother Christopher Jr. known as Chip, younger brother Finley, and younger sister Maeve Frances.
6. Is Charles McHugh O’Donnell still acting?
No. He has no acting credits after his 2010 NCIS Los Angeles appearance.
7. What is Charles McHugh O’Donnell’s net worth?
His personal net worth is not publicly confirmed. No reliable estimate exists.
8. Does Charles McHugh O’Donnell have social media?
He has no confirmed public social media accounts on any platform.
9. Is the Irish businessman named Charles McHugh O’Donnell a real person?
No. Multiple websites publish completely fabricated biographical content about a supposed Irish businessman by that name. That person does not exist. The only verified Charles McHugh O’Donnell is the son of actor Chris O’Donnell.
10. What is Chris O’Donnell’s net worth?
Chris O’Donnell’s net worth is estimated at approximately $25 million as of 2026, built through his film and television career spanning over three decades.
11. Where did Charles McHugh O’Donnell grow up?
He grew up in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California, where his family has been based throughout his childhood and teenage years.
12. Did Charles McHugh O’Donnell play a version of his father’s character?
Yes. In the Past Lives episode, he played a young boy, and the character was connected to a storyline involving his father’s character G. Callen. The NCIS fan database specifically notes this real-life connection within the episode.