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Donald Gennaro is a corporate attorney representing Jurassic Park's investors. He is sent on their behalf to investigate the safety of the park after several reports of missing or dead workers. In the novel, he is described as a short muscular man and represents an "every-man" personality among the characters. Although he is initially worried only about disappointing his supervisors, he soon drops this concern when his life is threatened, focusing on survival instead. When problems begin to occur, he consistently handles them appropriately, accompanying Robert Muldoon on a mission to subdue the Tyrannosaurus and successfully restoring power, despite being ambushed by a Velociraptor. Dr. Alan Grant claims that his negative attitude comes from trying to avoid responsibility for his role in creating the park. Near the end of the novel, Gennaro realizes that he is partially responsible for everything occurring when Grant says: "You sold investors on an undertaking you didn't fully understand... You did not check on the activities of a man whom you knew from experience to be a liar, and you permitted that man to screw around with the most dangerous technology in human history". Gennaro then helps Grant in his attempt to wipe out the remaining Velociraptors and their eggs with nerve gas. Although he survives the events on the island, he dies of dysentery sometime after.
For the film, Steven Spielberg condenses the characters Ed Regis and Donald Gennaro and the negative aspects of the novel's John Hammond into one character. The result is the creation of a character whose loyalty to his employers and seriousness toward the job they gave him is easily overtaken by his own personal greed. When the scientists criticize Hammond's park for various reasons, Gennaro is the only one left who supports the concept, seeing great profit opportunity in the live dinosaurs. Gennaro is overcome by fear when the electric fence around the Tyrannosaurus paddock fails, and he abandons Tim and Lex Murphy. Hiding in a toilet stall, he is eventually found and eaten by the Tyrannosaurus after she breaks out of her pen.
Gennaro's death in the film is popular among fans, and Martin Ferrero acknowledged that the character was likely his most notable role: "When people recognize me on the street, they pause and then say, 'You were the guy who got eaten on the toilet in Jurassic Park,' So yes, I'm the guy who died on the toilet. [...] I'll take it. It's not that bad". Prior to filming, Ferrero had suggested that his character survive but with a broken leg, swapping places with Dr. Ian Malcolm, who instead would be the one to get killed.