# Danny Abeckaser

Danny A. Abeckaser (Hebrew: דני א. אביכזר) is an Israeli-born American actor, director and filmmaker.

## Early life

Abeckaser was born in Israel, the sixth of seven children of Moroccan Jewish parents who immigrated to the U.S. in 1980. He grew up in Brooklyn.

## Career
### Nightclub career

Abeckaser worked in the nightclub industry in New York as a promoter. Well connected in the industry, he brought models to clubs, planned parties & events, and took care of the celebrity clientele. He helped to open up clubs like Avenue and Marquee. The 2015 movie Club Life, in which he co-starred, created, and co-wrote was based on these experiences.

### Film career
#### As an actor

Abeckaser had a small part in the Vince Vaughn comedy Made in 2001, which led to receiving other small parts in movies such as Alpha Dog, You Don't Mess with the Zohan, and the TV show Entourage. He then played the part of Dino Lapron opposite Michael Shannon and Winona Ryder in the Ariel Vromen film The Iceman (2012) and had a very small role in the Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street (2013). Abeckaser shared a scene with Robert De Niro as Louie the Deadbeat in the Scorsese film The Irishman (2019).
Abeckaser had his first starring role in A Stand Up Guy (2016). Abeckaser also appeared in Mob Town, Lansky, I Love Us, Inside Man, and The Engineer. He is represented by APA and LBI Entertainment.

#### As a director

He made his directorial debut with First We Take Brooklyn (2018), which he co-starred with Harvey Keitel. He has directed other movies such as I Love Us, Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story, Mob Town, Inside Man, and The Engineer.
In 2024, Bardejov was released, a film that Abeckaser both directed and starred in.

#### As a producer

In 2013, Abeckaser created the production company 2B Films banner to produce his movies. Abeckaser's first movie as a producer was Holy Rollers (2010), which he also starred alongside Jesse Eisenberg. Since then, he produced other movies such as The Last Shaman, Davi's Way, as well as the movies he’s directed.

## Personal life

Abeckaser married Instagram model May Almakaies in May 2022 in Israel. Leonardo DiCaprio was one of the wedding guests. Abeckaser is involved with the charities Rhonda's Kiss, where he is a committee chair, United Hatzalah Emergency Relief Fund, and Together1Heart.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2001 | Made | Club Promoter | Uncredited |
| 2004 | Point&Shoot | Danny A | |
| 2006 | Alpha Dog | Latino Youth #1 | |
| 2006 | Homie Spumoni | Rosa's Maitre d | |
| 2006 | El Cantante | Studio Engineer | |
| 2007 | Gardener of Eden | Ami | |
| 2007 | The Education of Charlie Banks | Arresting Officer | |
| 2008 | You Don't Mess with the Zohan | Ze'ev | |
| 2010 | Holy Rollers | Jackie Solomon | Producer |
| 2011 | Bucky Larson: Born to Be a Star | AFA Presenter | |
| 2012 | Freelancers | Louie | |
| 2012 | The Iceman | Dino Lapron | |
| 2013 | The Wolf of Wall Street | Investor's Center Broker #2 | |
| 2015 | Experimenter | Braverman | Producer |
| 2015 | Club Life | Mark | Also producer and writer |
| 2016 | A Stand Up Guy | Sammy | Producer |
| 2016 | The Curse of Sleeping Beauty | | Executive producer only |
| 2016 | Marauders | Antonio Leon | |
| 2018 | First We Take Brooklyn | Mikki | Writer, producer and director |
| 2019 | The Irishman | Deadbeat | |
| 2019 | Mob Town | Joe Barbara | Director and producer |
| 2020 | Blackjack: The Jackie Ryan Story | | Producer and director only |
| 2021 | Lansky | Greg Kunz | |
| 2021 | I Love Us | Sammy Silver | Director |
| 2023 | Inside Man | Roy DeMeo | Director and producer |
| 2023 | The Engineer | Yakov | Director and producer |
| 2024 | Bardejov | Dr. Atlas | Director |
| TBA | The Perfect Gamble | TBA | Director and producer |