Born: April 21, 1951
Age: 67
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Tony Danza (born Antonio Salvatore Iadanza; April 21, 1951) is an American actor and former professional boxer. He is best known for starring on the TV series Taxi and Who's the Boss?, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and four Golden Globe Awards. In 1998, Danza won the People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a New Television Series for his work on the 1997 sitcom The Tony Danza Show (not to be confused with his 2004-2006 daytime variety talk show of the same name).
Danza was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Anne Cammisa (1925-1993) and Matty Iadanza (1920-1983) His mother was a bookkeeper and his father worked as a waste collector in Brooklyn. Danza's father was an American of Italian ancestry and Danza's mother was an immigrant from the town of Campobello di Mazara in the Sicilian province of Trapani. He has a younger brother, Matty Jr. (born 1954), a Los Angeles restaurant owner. When Danza was 14, he and his family relocated to Malverne, New York, on Long Island. Danza attended Valley Stream North High School, graduating in 1969. In the first episode of his show Teach: Tony Danza, Danza describes himself as a "bad student" in high school. He earned a bachelor's degree in history in 1972 from the University of Dubuque, which he attended on a wrestling scholarship. In 1975, as a joke, Danza's friends entered him in the New York City Golden Gloves. After knocking out his first six opponents all in the first round, Danza was knocked out in the finals.
During his first year of college, he had the Robert Crumb "Keep on Truckin'" character tattooed on his upper right arm. In a 1985 interview in Us Weekly magazine, Danza remarked, "I was playing pool with a guy who had all these tattoos, and I wanted to be friends." Danza also sports a "Keep Punching" boxing gloves tattoo on his right shoulder as well as "Tracy", his (former) wife's name, on his chest. In college, Danza met and married his first wife.
Danza was a professional boxer with a record of 9-3 (9 knockouts, 7 in the first round), with all but one of his fights, wins and losses, ending in a knockout.
Shortly after his college graduation from the University of Dubuque, Danza was discovered by a producer at a boxing gymnasium in New York. He then earned a spot on the television show Taxi, playing a cab driver and part-time boxer Tony Banta, and later starred on Who's the Boss?, in which he portrayed a former baseball player, housekeeper, and single father Tony Micelli. For his contribution to the television industry, in 1988, Danza was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard. Danza also plays the role of a baseball player in Angels in the Outfield (1994).
Danza also starred in the short-lived sitcoms Hudson Street (1995) and The Tony Danza Show (1997), not to be confused with his 2004-2006 talk show, The Tony Danza Show. He had a role in 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. 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. In 2002, Danza released his debut album The House I Live In as a 1950s-style crooner.
Danza hosted his own TV talk show, The Tony Danza Show, that was produced each weekday morning in his hometown of New York and was syndicated across the US. 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, but both were uninjured. Danza returned to go-kart racing on October 20, 2005, to challenge IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, but his brakes malfunctioned and he skidded into a wall, unharmed. His daytime talk show ended in May 2006; the last live episode aired on May 26, 2006.
He starred on Broadway as Max Bialystock in The Producers, from December 19, 2006, to March 11, 2007, and reprised his role at the Paris Las Vegas from August 13, 2007, to February 9, 2008.
Danza was to host the 4th season of The Contender in 2008.
A Broadway adaptation of 1992 film Honeymoon in Vegas opened on a pre-Broadway run at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse on September 26, 2013, co-starring Danza and Tony nominee Rob McClure, with Gary Griffin directing. Danza was inducted into the Ride of Fame in December 2014, and the double-decker sightseeing bus commemorated his role in the Broadway musical.
In June of 2017, Netflix announced that Danza would star in a new series, The Good Cop. Danza will portray "a disgraced, former NYPD officer who never followed the rules."
In August 2009, it was reported that Danza would appear in a new A&E reality show Teach: Tony Danza, in which he would co-instruct a 10th grade English class at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. The series was filmed during the 2009-2010 school year and premiered on October 1, 2010. The book I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High (ISBN 9780307887863), which was released in 2012, was based on his year of teaching.
Danza's first marriage was to Rhonda Yeoman. They wed in 1970 and divorced in 1974. Their son Marc appeared with Tony on Taxi in two episodes as Brian Sims. Tony and Rhonda reconciled in 1983 and had a daughter.
In 1986, Danza married Tracy Robinson. The couple separated in 2006 and filed for divorce on March 10, 2011; the divorce was finalized on February 6, 2013. They have two daughters.
In 2008, Danza and his son Marc published a cookbook, Don't Fill Up on the Antipasto: Tony Danza's Father-Son Cookbook.
Source:
Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round | Time | Date | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Win | 9-3 | Heard !Johnny Heard | KO | 3 (8) | 3045 !0:45 | 000000001979-05-14-0000May 14, 1979 | Phoenix, Arizona, USA | |
Win | 8-3 | Hord !Max Hord | KO | 1 (10) | 1000 ! | 000000001979-04-27-0000April 27, 1979 | Felt Forum, New York City, New York, USA | |
Win | 7-3 | Perez ! Billy Perez | KO | 1 (8) | 1044 !0:44 | 000000001978-05-26-0000May 26, 1978 | Brooklyn, New York, USA | |
Win | 6-3 | Rodriguez !Tony Rodriguez | KO | 1 (6) | 1000 ! | 000000001978-04-09-0000April 9, 1978 | Brooklyn, New York, USA | |
Win | 5-3 | Bryant !Ray Bryant | KO | 1 (8) | 1000 ! | 000000001977-12-21-0000December 21, 1977 | Roll-a-Rama, Brooklyn, New York, USA | |
Loss | 4-3 | Watkins !Morris Watkins | TKO | 1 (8) | 1000 ! | 000000001977-11-09-0000November 9, 1977 | Westchester County Center, White Plains, New York, USA | |
Win | 4-2 | Garcia !Ralph Garcia | TKO | 1 (8) | 1000 ! | 000000001977-09-09-0000September 9, 1977 | Nanuet, New York, USA | |
Win | 3-2 | Mascetti !Joey Mascetti | TKO | 1 (6) | 1000 ! | 000000001977-05-24-0000May 24, 1977 | Westchester County Center, White Plains, New York, USA | |
Win | 2-2 | Molloy !Tom Molloy | KO | 3 (6) | 3124 !1:24 | 000000001977-05-06-0000May 6, 1977 | Long Island Arena, Commack, New York, USA | |
Loss | 1-2 | Hill !Barry Hill | Points | 4 | 4000 ! | 000000001977-04-21-0000April 21, 1977 | Dover, New Jersey, USA | |
Loss | 1-1 | LoCicero !John LoCicero | KO | 1 (4) | 1000 ! | 000000001976-10-01-0000October 1, 1976 | Sunnyside Gardens, Queens, New York, USA | |
Win | 1-0 | Harris !Earl Harris | KO | 1 (4) | 1000 ! | 000000001976-08-13-0000August 13, 1976 | New York City, New York, USA |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | The Hollywood Knights | Duke | |
1981 | Going Ape! | Foster | |
1984 | Cannonball Run II | Tony | |
1988 | Mr. Thompson and His Bananas | Geraldo Thompson | |
1988 | Wall of Tyranny (a.k.a. Freedom Fighter) | Victor Ross | |
1989 | She's Out of Control | Doug Simpson | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor |
1989 | I'm from Hollywood | Himself | |
1994 | Angels in the Outfield | Mel Clark | |
1996 | Illtown | D'Avalon | |
1996 | Dear God | Himself | Uncredited |
1997 | Glam | Sid | |
1997 | The Girl Gets Moe | Moe | |
1997 | A Brooklyn State of Mind | Louie Crisci | |
1997 | Meet Wally Sparks | New York Cab Driver | |
2004 | The Whisper | Simon | |
2004 | Crash | Fred | |
2006 | Cloud 9 | Himself | Uncredited |
2009 | The Nail: The Story of Joey Nardone | Chickie | |
2010 | Firedog | Rocky | |
2013 | Don Jon | Jon Martello, Sr. | |
2013 | Aftermath | King |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978-1983 | Taxi | Tony Banta | 114 episodes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
1980 | Murder Can Hurt You | Pony Lambretta | Television film |
1983 | The Love Boat | Bud O'Hara | 2 episodes |
1984 | Single Bars, Single Women | Dennis | Television film |
1984-1992 | Who's the Boss? | Tony Micelli | 196 episodes Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy Nominated—TV Land Award for Single Dad of the Year |
1986 | Doing Life | Jerry Rosenberg | Television film |
1988 | 1988 Kids' Choice Awards | Host | |
1988 | Freedom Fighter | Vic Ross | Television film |
1991 | The Whereabouts of Jenny | Rowdy Patron | Television film |
1991 | Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace | Constabile «Gus» Farace | Television film |
1991-1992 | Baby Talk | Baby Mickey Campbell (voice) | 35 episodes |
1994 | The Mighty Jungle | Vinnie, the Alligator (voice) | Unknown episodes |
1994 | The Mighty Jungle | Vinnie, the Alligator (voice) | Television film |
1995 | Deadly Whispers | Tom Acton | Television film |
1995-1996 | Hudson Street | Tony Canetti | 22 episodes |
1996 | North Shore Fish | Sal | Television film |
1997 | 12 Angry Men | Juror #7 | Television film |
1997-1998 | The Tony Danza Show | Tony DiMeo | 14 episodes People's Choice Award for Favorite Male Performer in a Television Series |
1998 | The Garbage Picking Field Goal Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon | Barney Gorman | Television film |
1998 | The Practice | Tommy Silva | 4 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series |
1998 | Noah | Norman Waters | Television film |
2000-2002 | Family Law | Joe Celano | 25 episodes |
2000 | King of the Hill | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Peggy's Fan Fair" |
2001 | Family Guy | Himself (voice) | Episode: "Ready, Willing and Disabled" |
2003 | Stealing Christmas | Jack Clayton | Television film |
2004-2006 | The Tony Danza Show | Himself | Host; 330 episodes |
2005 | All My Children | Hotel Manager | Episode: "May 18, 2005" |
2008 | Rita Rocks | Matt Morelli | Episode: "The Crying Game" |
2010 | Teach: Tony Danza | Himself | 7 episodes |
2016 | Broad City | Abbi's Father | Episode: "Philadelphia" |
2016 | Sebastian Says | Salvo | Television film |
2017 | There's... Johnny! | Freddie | |
2018 | The Good Cop | Tony Sr. |
Charities
Tony Danza supports the following charitable cause: Multiple Sclerosis.
[ Source: Wikipedia ]