He directed George M. Cohan's play, "The Tavern," in an American Conservatory Theatre production at the Geary and Marine Memorial Theatres in San Francisco, California.
One of his sons, former actor Lucas Donat, born to him and then-wife Michael Learned, appeared as a teenager in डेमियन: ओमेन II (1978). He went on to become the co-founder and CEO of Donat/Wald Co., an advertising agency responsible for the highly-successful eHarmony commercials. In 1984 he married Traci Wald, the daughter of singer Helen Reddy and stepdaughter of Jeff Wald.