EXCLUSIVE - MailOnline reveals Jennifer Aniston''s lost love: Actress dated Tony-nominated actor Daniel McDonald for four years before she landed role on Friends

• In a recent interview, Aniston spoke of a ex-boyfriend who was 'the one' but who died of brain cancer
• A source close to the actress revealed to Daily Mail Online exclusively the identity of her lost love - former Broadway actor Daniel McDonald
• Aniston and McDonald dated from 1990 to 1994, breaking up just before she landed a coveted role on Friends
• He later went on to marry an Italian actress and filmmaker in 1999 - a year before Aniston tied the knot with Brad Pitt
• McDonald, a Tony-nominated actor, died of a brain tumor in 2007
• Aniston believes fiancé Justin Theroux was sent to her by McDonald

By Maggie Harbour For Dailymail.com

Published: 21:43 EST, 8 January 2015 | Updated: 04:05 EST, 9 January 2015

Jennifer Aniston recently revealed she never appreciated her first love until it was too late, adding that he died of a brain tumor years later.

And although she didn’t reveal the name of the man she once loved and let slip through her fingers, Daily Mail Online has learned exclusively, the man was actor Daniel McDonald.

McDonald, who was nine years Jen’s senior, was a successful Broadway musical actor who was nominated for a Tony Award in 1997 for his role in Steel Pier. He also starred in High Society, and Contact. McDonald appeared on TV too, guest - starring in shows such as CSI Miami, Sex in the City and Law and Order.

Scroll down for video

The one that got away: Jennifer Aniston (left) dated Broadway actor Daniel McDonald (right) for four years in the early 90s, but the two broke up just before she landed a part on Friends

The couple dated for four years from about 1990 to 1994, when they decided to go their separate ways.

‘Jennifer never stopped loving Daniel, but things were happening very fast with her career by that time – it was just a year before she landed friends. She’d moved to Los Angeles, and Daniel stayed on in New York and was doing Broadway.

‘After Dan and Jen split, she went on to date and become engaged to actor Tate Donavan, but I don’t think she ever got over letting Dan slip through her fingers.’

Too soon: Jen was talking about McDonald when she recently described a former boyfriend who was 'the one' but who died an early death due to brain cancer, according to a source close to the actress. Before his death in 2007, McDonald married Italian actress and film maker Mujah Maraini-Melehi. Their family pictured above

Famous family: Jen's former flame was the younger brother of actor Christopher McDonald (pictured). The younger McDonald was a rising star on Broadway, where he was nominated for a Tony award in 1997 for the musical Steel Pier

New man: Jen is currently planning her wedding to boyfriend of three years Justin Theroux. The couple pictured above at the Governors Awards in Los Angeles on November 8, 2014

Separate ways: In 2000, year after McDonald got married, Jen tied the knot with Brad Pitt. The couple later broke up when Pitt fell in love with Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr and Mrs Smith

McDonald, was the younger brother of actor Chris McDonald. Ironically, Chris’s major breakthrough came when he played Geena Davis’s husband Daryl, in Thelma and Louise – the same movie that gave Jen's ex Brad Pitt his big break.

‘Daniel went on to marry Italian actress and film maker Mujah Maraini-Melehi, in 1999,’ says the source, ‘and they had two adorable children. And the following year, Jennifer walked down the aisle for the first time with Brad Pitt. Friends at the time wondered if Jennifer would still have married Brad had it not been for the fact Daniel married just a few months earlier.

'He was my first love—five years we were together,' Aniston told the New York Times. 'He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid. He must have sent me Justin to make up for it all.' Pictured above with Friends castmates Matthew Perry (left) and David Schwimmer (right) in 1995, a year after she broke it off with McDonald

‘Daniel was a lovely guy,’ says the source. ‘He was open, honest and funny, and I know Jennifer really loved him. The timing was just off for them I guess.’

According to the source, Daniel was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2007, and passed away at age 46, in February, 2007.

‘When Jennifer heard the news she was heartbroken,’ says the source. ‘There will always a special place in her heart for him. Now she feels as though Daniel may have had something to do with helping her find Justin - also a New York actor - because she feels her new fiancé reminds her a lot of Dan.’

In the New York Times in which she references McDonald, Jen said : 'He would have been the one. But I was 25, and I was stupid. He must have sent me Justin to make up for it all.'