(person) by Palpz Mon Dec 03 2001 at 12:30:10

Tony Danza is WELL KNOWN for playing characters named "TONY".

Tony Danza was born Antonio Iadanza on April 21, 1951 in Brooklyn, New York. He received a wrestling scholarship to attend the University of Dubuque in Iowa earning himself a BA in History. He then became a pro boxer for a while, doing fairly well until he was spotted practing one day by a producer, be brought him in for his first television role in 1974, playing a young Italian taxi driver on the show “Taxi”. This is where Tony seemed to have picked up his habit of playing characters named Tony.

After appearing in a few low budget films including "Cannonball Run II" and "The Hollywood Knights", he got a role starring at Tony Micelli in the sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” Starting in 1984, the hit show lasted 8 seasons, and made him famous. Once again he played a Tony, a housekeeper working for Angela Bower and her upper class Connecticut family. His work on that show earned him millions of fans and made him into a veritable 80’s icon.

During and after the end of “Who’s the Boss?” Tony continued to work minor movie roles, until in 1995 he got a role starring in “Hudson Street” where he played another Tony, this one Canetti. The show was a flop. Not to be discouraged, in 1997 he gave a go at “The Tony Danza Show” which he produced himself. The show was one of the biggest failures of the year, being pulled after only 4 episodes.

Apparently rethinking his strategy of playing dumb guys named Tony, he accepted a guest role on “The Practice” for which he received an Emmy nomination. Thinking that perhaps lawyers not named Tony (the character on “The Practice” was a Tommy) might be a better gig, in 2000 he landed a role playing a lawyer (Joe Celano) on the show "Family Law", which is his main gig now a days. He has also recently gained praise for his work on Broadway, in the play “The Iceman Cometh.”

As for stuff unrelated to his career, he has a son, Marc, who was born in 1971, married his wife Tracy in 1986, and has two daughters, Katie and Emily, born in 1987, and 1993 respectively. The 90’s don’t seem to have been very nice to Tony. In 1993 he broke his back in a skiing accident in Utah. This tree decided not to move out of his path, and as a result he had to have some plates rods and screws attached to his spine. In 1994 his house in Northridge was destroyed by an Earthquake. And then there was those two shows he had that flopped. But things seem to be looking up for Tony, he’s gaining a lot of respect as a serious actor that he didn’t really have before. He also got to show off his singing skills (he is actually pretty good!) when he hosted the Miss America Pagent for 2001. As long as he can stay away from playing dumb guys named Tony.


Tony’s Filmography: (from IMDb.com)
I like it! 2 C!s