Tony Danza Biography
Summary
"Tony Danza" (born "Anthony Salvatore Iadanza" April 21, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York), is an American actor best known for starring in two popular TV series, "Taxi" and "Who's the Boss?", as well as appearing in the Academy Award-winning motion picture, "Crash". He also hosted his own talk show, "The Tony Danza Show". He is of Italian descent.
Acting career
From 1976 to 1979, Danza was a professional boxer with a 9-3 record. All his wins and losses were by knockout. He quit fighting when he landed a role on the TV situation comedy "Taxi".
Danza is best known for his roles in "Taxi" (1978-1983), in which he played cab driver and part-time boxer Tony Banta, and "Who's the Boss?" (1984-1992), portraying housekeeper and single father Tony Micelli.
Danza also starred in the short-lived sitcoms "Hudson Street" (1995) and "The Tony Danza Show" (1997), not be confused with his talk show of the same name. He had a role on the TV drama "Family Law" from 2000 until 2002.
He was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest-starring 1998 role in the TV series "The Practice", but he did not win. His movie debut was in the comedy "The Hollywood Knights" (1980), which was followed by "Going Ape!" (1981). He received critical acclaim for his performance in the 1999 Broadway revival of the Eugene O'Neill play "The Iceman Cometh".
Danza hosted his own TV talk show, "The Tony Danza Show", a nationally syndicated program produced each weekday morning in his hometown of New York (where it aired live). On May 9, 2005, during a go-kart race with NASCAR star Rusty Wallace, who was a guest on the show, Danza's kart flipped after Wallace accidentally bumped him. Neither he nor Wallace was wearing a helmet at the time. Danza returned to go-kart racing on October 20, 2005, to challenge IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, but he was defeated. His daytime talk show ended in May 2006; the last live episode aired in May 26, 2006.
He starred on Broadway as Max Bialystock in "The Producers" from December 19, 2006 to March 11, 2007.
As of August 2007, he is continuing his starring role in "The Producers" at the Paris Las Vegas.
Filmography
"The Hollywood Knights" (1980) ... Duke
"Going Ape!" (1981) ... Foster
"Cannonball Run II" (1984) ... Terry
"Mr. Thompson and his Bananas" (1988) ... Geraldo Thompson
"She's Out of Control" (1989) ... Doug Simpson
"I'm From Hollywood" (1992) ... Cameo
"Angels in the Outfield" (1994) (Disney) ... Mel Clark
"Illtown" (1996) ... D'Avalon
"Dear God" (1996) ... Himself
"Glam" (1997) ... Sid
"The Girl Gets Moe" (1997) (on video) ... Moe
"A Brooklyn State of Mind" (1997) ... Louie Crisci
"Meet Wally Sparks" (1997) ... New York Cab Driver
"Kitty Karloso" (2001) ... Janitor
"Crash" (2005) ... Fred
TV appearances
"Taxi" (1978) (series) ... Tony Banta
"Murder Can Hurt You" (1980) ... Pony Lambretta
"Single Bars, Single Women" (1984) ... Dennis
"Who's the Boss?" (1984) (series) ... Anthony Morton 'Tony' Micelli
"Doing Life" (1986) ... Jerry Rosenberg
"Freedom Fighter" (1988) ... Vic Ross
"The Whereabouts of Jenny" (1991) ... Rowdy Patron
"Baby Talk" (1991) (series) (voice) ... Baby Mickey Campbell
"Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace" (1991) ... Constible Farace
"The Mighty Jungle" (1994) (series) (voice) ... Vinnie, the Alligator
"Deadly Whispers" (1995) ... Tom Acton
"Hudson Street" (1995) (series) ... Tony Canetti
"Sinatra: 80 Years My Way" (1995) ... Cameo
"Freakazoid!" (1996) ... Cameo Reference
"Bob Hope: Laughing with the Presidents" (1996) ... Co-host
"North Shore Fish" (1996) ... Sal
"12 Angry Men" (1997) ... Juror #7
"The Tony Danza Show" (1997) (series) ... Tony DiMeo
"The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon" (1998) ... Barney Gorman
"Noah" (1998) ... Norman Waters
"The Practice" (1999)
"Family Law" (2000) ... Joe Celano
"Miss America Pageant" (2001) ... Host
"Stealing Christmas" (2003) ... Jack Clayton
"The Tony Danza Show" (2004 – 2006) (talk show) ... Host
"All My Children" (2005) (guest) ... Hotel Mgr.
External links
("The Tony Danza Show" Website)
(Q&A: Tony Danza) at (Broadway.com)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Tony Danza.
