|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
About Danny Devito:
Born November 17, 1944, Daniel Michael DeVito Jr.(Danny Devito) is an American actor and director. His role as taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983) brought him notoriety and earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe. From 2005 until the present, he portrays Frank Reynolds in the comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FXX.
His roles in films such as Wiener-Dog, Jumanji: The Next Level, Deck the Halls, When in Rome, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Terms of Endearment, Matilda, and L.A. Confidential have made him well-known. He provided the voices for characters in movies including Smallfoot (2018), The Lorax (2012), and Hercules (1997).
Quick Facts:
- Birth Name: Daniel Michael DeVito Jr.
- Birth Date: November 17, 1944
- Birth Place: New Jersey, United States
- Gender: Male
- Career: Actor, Filmmaker
- Most Known For: Danny DeVito, an American actor, first gained notoriety from the television series “Taxi.” Since then, he has acted in TV series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia as well as feature films including Twins and Ruthless People.
Early Life:
Born in Neptune Township, New Jersey, at Raleigh Fitkin-Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital, DeVito is the son of small business owner Daniel DeVito Sr. and Julia DeVito. Together with his parents and two elder sisters, he was raised in a household of five. He resided a few miles from the original Jersey Mike’s location and grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
DeVito grew up in a Catholic home. He convinced his father to send him to boarding school when he was 14 years old, and in 1962 he received his diploma from Summit, New Jersey’s Oratory Preparatory School. While seeking a professional makeup instructor while working as a beautician at his sister’s salon, he attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 1966.
He made his stage debut at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Centre in Waterford, Connecticut, with the Colonnades Theatre Lab. He performed in plays produced by the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective alongside his future wife, Rhea Perlman.
Career:
Early Career 1971-2000:
In 1969, DeVito made his stage debut in the off-Broadway productions of The Man with the Flower in His Mouth and Shoot Anything With Hair That Moves. DeVito was cast as Martini in an off-Broadway adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the beloved novel by Ken Kesey, in 1971.
Four years later, Douglas created a film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and invited DeVito to reprise his stage performance, which led to DeVito’s big break. Widely acclaimed by critics, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest shot star DeVito into the national limelight in 1976 when it won five major Academy Awards (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay).
DeVito tried out for a new TV show called Taxi in 1978. “One thing I want to know before we start: Who wrote this shit?” was the legendary statement made by DeVito before he even started his audition, throwing the screenplay on the table.
With his biting wit, he was cast as the charmingly dictatorial taxi driver Louie DePalma. DeVito received an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1981 during the five-year run of the program, which aired from 1978 to 1983.
In the next years, DeVito starred in several movies throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. He costarred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1988 comedy Twins and made an appearance alongside Jack Nicholson in the 1983 picture Terms of Endearment. DeVito received overwhelmingly positive reviews in 1992 for his performance as Batman Returns’ furious antagonist, The Penguin.
Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Romancing the Stone (1984), Ruthless People (1986), The War of the Roses (1989), L.A. Confidential (1997), and Big Fish (2003) are a few more noteworthy film credits.
DeVito had an appearance in the gangster comedy Get Shorty in 1995. He was the director of the 1996 motion picture version of Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book Matilda, which was first published in 1988.
He co-starred and produced the 1999 biographical drama picture Man on the Moon, which was based on the peculiar life of Jim Carrey’s character Andy Kaufman, who had previously been his co-star in Taxi. In the 1999 film The Virgin Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppola and starring Kirsten Dunst, he also portrayed Dr. Hornicker.
He went on to accept roles in comedic movies including Be Cool (2000), Drowning Mona (2000), Screwed (2000), What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001), Death to Smoochy (2002), Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002), Anything Else (2003), and Duplex (2003).
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Deck the Halls,
In 2005, DeVito made a comeback to television as the lead character in the beloved FX sitcom It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. DeVito and his fellow cast members, Glenn Howerton, Rob McElhenney, and Charlie Day, have pushed the boundaries of what is considered appropriate content with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Tim Goodman, a critic for the San Francisco Chronicle, calls the program a “politically incorrect gem.” In this edgy sitcom, DeVito plays a parent who struggles with morality. The second season opens with the introduction of Frank Reynolds. He was nominated for a Satellite Award in the category of Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
He costarred with Matthew Broderick in the holiday comedy Deck the Halls in 2006. Documentaries are of interest to DeVito. He started working with Morgan Freeman’s firm ClickStar in 2006, and as a result, he now presents the documentary channel Jersey Docs. In the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, he was also interviewed about his passion for and ownership of electric cars.
In his later years, DeVito has produced a number of motion pictures. He starred with Douglas and Susan Sarandon in the 2009 movie Solitary Man. He also starred alongside Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel in the 2010 romantic comedy When in Rome.
Recent Years:
DeVito provided the voice of the main character in Dr. Seuss’s animated adaptation of The Lorax in 2012. In September 2015, he made an appearance in the Angry Birds Friends “Champions for Earth” tournament advertising. After Detective Pikachu, a Nintendo 3DS game, was released in Japan, devoted Pokémon fans created a petition with 40,000 signatures asking DeVito to play the English voice of the game’s protagonist. He said he wasn’t aware with the brand, though, and declined to try out for the part.
Following a hectic 2016 that saw him in films such as Wiener-Dog and The Comedian, DeVito voiced the animated series Animal Crackers (2017). After that, he played the lead role of ringmaster Max Medici in Tim Burton’s 2019 live-action Dumbo film.
He costarred with Michael Douglas and Alan Arkin in a guest starring role in the Netflix comedy series The Kominsky Method in 2018. In the 2018 Warner Bros. animated picture Smallfoot, he also provided the voice of Dorgle. He got back again with Tim Burton in 2019 to reprise his role as Max Medici in the live-action Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Dumbo, which was a reimagining of the 1941 animated picture.
He shared the screen with Eva Green, Michael Keaton, and Colin Farrell. In the action comedy Jumanji: The Next Level, which also starred Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan, he played Eddie Gilpin. The movie was a critical and commercial success.
He later provided the voice of stray dog Bob in The One and Only Ivan in 2020. He portrayed Charlie Goldman in the HBO drama biopic The Survivor in 2021. For the anthology comic Gotham City Villains, DeVito penned a 12-page story about the Penguin and Catwoman in the same year. He appeared in three films in 2023: Chris Pine’s directorial debut, Poolman, an animated picture from Illumination, and the Disney horror comedy Haunted Mansion.
Movie Director:
DeVito has achieved great success not just as an actor but also as a director and producer. In addition to costarring with Billy Crystal in the dark comedy Throw Momma from the Train, DeVito helmed other Taxi episodes. This was his feature picture directing debut. Since then, he has directed six more full-length motion pictures. Owning his own production firm, Jersey Films, DeVito has produced highly acclaimed movies like Be Cool (2005), Erin Brockovich (2000), and Pulp Fiction (1994).
Between 1973 and 2016, DeVito made eight short films, five of which were released in 2010 and 2011. The Sound Sleeper (1973), Minestrone (1975), Curmudgeons (2016), Poison Tongue (2011), Skin Deep (2011), Evil Eye (2010), Oh Those Lips (2010), and Nest of Vipers (2011) are these. For his achievements in television, DeVito was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011.
Personal Life:
DeVito has a height of 4 feet and 10 inches. His uncommon genetic condition, multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, or Fairbank’s illness, inhibits bone formation and is the cause of his small height.
DeVito first got to know actress Rhea Perlman, who is most known for her long-running role on the TV comedy Cheers, while she was performing in an off-Broadway production of The Shrinking Bride in 1970. Two weeks after meeting, DeVito and Perlman moved in together, and they got married in 1982. After more than thirty years of marriage and the birth of three children, Lucy, Gracie, and Jake, they announced their separation in October 2012. After being apart for months, the pair got back together in 2013.
