Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito | |
|---|---|
 DeVito at a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in August 2011 | |
| Born | Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. November 17, 1944 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, comedian, director, producer |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Spouse(s) | Rhea Perlman (m. 1982–present; 3 children) |
Daniel Michael "Danny" DeVito, Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi (1978–1983), for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.
DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman, founded Jersey Films, a production company known for films such as Pulp Fiction, Garden State, and Freedom Writers. DeVito also owns Jersey Television, which produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. DeVito and Perlman also starred together in his 1996 film Matilda, based on Roald Dahl's children's novel. He currently stars as Frank Reynolds on the FX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Early life
DeVito was born in Neptune Township, New Jersey, the son of Julia, a homemaker, and Daniel Michael DeVito, Sr., who owned several small businesses, including a dry cleaning store, a dairy outlet, a luncheonette, and a pool hall.[1][2] DeVito is of Italian descent and was raised a Roman Catholic,[3] growing up in Asbury Park.[4] He boarded at Oratory Preparatory School, in Summit, New Jersey, graduating in 1962, and subsequently trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 1966. In his early theater days, he performed with the Colonnades Theater Lab, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and, along with his wife Rhea Perlman, appeared in plays produced by the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective.
Film acting career
DeVito played Martini in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, reprising his role from the 1971 off-Broadway play of the same name. He gained fame in 1978 playing Louie De Palma, the short but domineering dispatcher for the fictional Sunshine Cab Company, on the hit TV show Taxi. After Taxi ended, DeVito began a successful film career, starting with roles in 1983's Terms of Endearment, and as the comic rogue in the romantic adventure Romancing the Stone, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, and its 1985 sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. In 1986, DeVito starred in Ruthless People with Bette Midler and Judge Reinhold, and in 1987, he made his feature-directing debut with the dark comedy Throw Momma from the Train, in which he starred with Billy Crystal and Anne Ramsey. Two years later, DeVito reunited with Douglas and Turner in The War of the Roses, which he directed and in which he co-starred.
DeVito's work during this time includes Other People's Money with Gregory Peck, director Barry Levinson's Tin Men as a competitive rival salesman to Richard Dreyfuss' character, two co-starring vehicles with Arnold Schwarzenegger (the comedies Twins and Junior), and playing The Penguin as a deformed sociopath in director Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992).
Although generally a comic actor, DeVito expanded into dramatic roles with The Rainmaker, Hoffa (1992), which he directed and in which he co-starred with Jack Nicholson, Jack the Bear (1993), L.A. Confidential, The Big Kahuna, and Heist (2001), as a gangster nemesis to Gene Hackman's character.
DeVito has an interest in documentaries: In 2006, he began a partnership with Morgan Freeman's company ClickStar, on which he hosts a documentary channel called Jersey Docs.
Theatre
In April 2012, DeVito will make his West End acting debut in a revival of the Neil Simon play The Sunshine Boys - alongside Olivier award-winning actor Richard Griffiths. The play will preview at the Savoy Theatre from 27 April 2012, opening on 17 May and playing a limited 12-week season until 28 July.[5]
Producing
DeVito has become a major film and television producer. Through Jersey Films, he has produced many films, including Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Erin Brockovich (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture), Gattaca, and Garden State.
In 1999, DeVito produced and co-starred in Man on the Moon, a film about the unusual life of his former Taxi co-star, Andy Kaufman, who was played in the film by Jim Carrey. DeVito also produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911!, as well as the film spin off Reno 911!: Miami.
Directing
DeVito has directed the following motion pictures:
- Throw Momma from the Train (1987)
- The War of the Roses (1989)
- Hoffa (1992)
- Matilda (1996)
- Death to Smoochy (2002)
- Duplex (2003)
DeVito is due to start filming his latest feature Charlotte Doyle early this year. The feature will be shot on location around Ireland and will feature actors Pierce Brosnan and Morgan Freeman[6]
His films often have a bizarre, neo-surrealistic sensibility and gallows humor, though these elements were absent in the straightforward Hoffa biopic. The approach served him well at times, especially in The War of the Roses, a commercial and critical success, as well as Matilda, where it matched the style of Roald Dahl's story of a young girl and a strict teacher; however, his last two films, Death to Smoochy and Duplex, have not been as financially successful.[7]
Television and voice over work
In 1977, DeVito played the role of John "the apple" in the Starsky and Hutch episode titled "The Collector." In 1986, DeVito directed and starred in an episode of Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. In the black comedy episode from season two, titled "The Wedding Ring", DeVito acquires an engagement ring for his wife (played by his real-life wife, actress Rhea Perlman). When the ring is slipped on his wife's finger, she becomes possessed by the ring's former owner, a murderous black widow.
In addition to his Taxi work, DeVito voiced Herb Powell, Homer Simpson's half-brother, on two episodes of The Simpsons. In 1997, he was the voice of the satyr Philoctetes in the film Hercules.
In 1999, DeVito hosted the last Saturday Night Live episode before the year 2000. He earned a 2004 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for an episode of Friends,[8] following four Emmy nominations (including a 1981 win) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy, for Taxi. In 2006, DeVito joined the cast of the FX Networks television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Frank Reynolds.
Voice actor in guest appearances in The Simpsons (TV Series) The Simpsons: Episode 7F16 "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" and Episode 8F22 "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?".
In 2011, DeVito received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television.[9]
Personal life
DeVito married actress Rhea Perlman on January 28, 1982.[10] They have three children: Lucy Chet DeVito (born March 1983), Grace Fan DeVito (born March 1985) and Jacob Daniel DeVito (born October 1987). The family lives in Beverly Hills, California, and has a vacation home in Interlaken, New Jersey.[11] Lucy starred as Anne Frank in a production of Anne Frank at the Intiman Theatre in Seattle, Washington, in 2008.
DeVito is a staunch Democrat, and a supporter of the OneVoice Movement, a non-profit organization that strives to help moderate Israelis and Palestinians to take a more assertive role in resolving the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He is also a member of the steering committee of the Friends of the Apollo, along with his wife, and filmmaker Jonathan Demme.[12]
DeVito co-owned a restaurant called DeVito South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, which closed in 2011.
Filmography
References
- ^ "Danny DeVito Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1944-11-17. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Danny DeVito Biography (1944-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Kevin Spacey and Danny DeVito". Reel.com. Retrieved 2010-02-10. [dead link]
- ^ Shaw, David. "DeVito! Although He Has a Penchant for Dark Comedies, Actor-Director Danny DeVito Is Serious About His Craft, His Family and His Cigars", Cigar Aficionado profile, accessed May 2, 2007. "Danny DeVito was born in 1944 in the shore town of Neptune, New Jersey—hence the name of his production company—and raised in neighboring Asbury Park, the youngest of five children (two of whom died before he was born)."
- ^ http://www.whatsonstage.com/news/theatre/london/E8831327931244/Danny+DeVito+makes+West+End+debut+alongside+Richard+Griffiths+in+The+Sunshine+Boys.html
- ^ "Morgan Freeman & Pierce Brosnan in Danny DeVito's 'Charlotte Doyle', Filming in Ireland 2012". IFTN. Retrieved 09 September 2011.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help) - ^ "Danny DeVito Movie Box Office Results". Boxofficemojo.com. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ Danny Devito Emmy Nominated
- ^ "Danny DeVito gets star on Hollywood Walk". KTAR.com. Bonneville International. Associated Press. August 18, 2011. Retrieved August 19, 2011.
- ^ "Danny DeVito & Rhea Perlman Sell Up On Their Anniversary". starpulse.com. 29 Jan 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-16.
- ^ "Monmouth County, New Jersey Tax Assessor's Office property record for Danny De Vito and Rhea Perlman". Tax1.co.monmouth.nj.us. Retrieved 2010-02-10.
- ^ "Friends of the Apollo". Oberlin College. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1990 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2011-03-20.
- ^ "Berlinale: 1993 Programme". berlinale.de. Retrieved 2011-05-31.
External links
- Danny DeVito at IMDb
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- Danny DeVito on Charlie Rose
- Danny DeVito's Guest DJ Set on KCRW KCRW Guest DJ Set
- Danny Devito at Emmys.com
- Danny DeVito on Twitter
- 1944 births
- Actors from New Jersey
- American film actors
- American film directors
- American film directors of Italian descent
- American film producers
- American people of Italian descent
- American television actors
- American television producers
- American voice actors
- Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
- Emmy Award winners
- Living people
- New Jersey Democrats
- People from Neptune Township, New Jersey