# Dan Hedaya

Dan Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American actor. He often plays sleazy villains or wisecracking supporting characters. He has had supporting roles in films such as Commando (1985), Clueless (1995), and Mulholland Drive (2001).

## Early life

Hedaya was born in New York City, to a Sephardic Jewish family from Aleppo, Syria. Hedaya was raised in Bensonhurst. While a student at Tufts University, he began performing at the campus theater. He worked as a junior high school teacher for many years before deciding to pursue acting full-time. He studied acting at HB Studio in New York City.

## Career

Alongside a successful career in the movies, Hedaya has appeared in several TV roles, including Carla Tortelli's ex-husband Nick on the sitcom Cheers and its short-lived spinoff The Tortellis. He played the estranged father of Mallory Keaton's boyfriend, Nick, on the sitcom Family Ties. More recently, he played an Italian-American priest in the controversial and quickly cancelled NBC series The Book of Daniel. Adding to his list of television credits is his performance as the long-lost father of Adrian Monk on Monk. He also guest starred in 1997 and 2005 as a wisecracking lawyer on the medical drama ER.
In films, Hedaya has played the evil dictator and the secondary antagonist Arius in 1985's Commando and Mel Horowitz, the father of Alicia Silverstone's Cher, in the 1995 film Clueless. He played Julian Marty, a cuckolded husband who plots his wife's murder in the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple. His resemblance to Richard Nixon led to his being cast as the former president for the film Dick. Hedaya appeared in several episodes of the television series Hill Street Blues as a corrupt, bigamist cop during the series' first season. During the 1980s Hedaya also appeared in the television series Miami Vice.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1970 | Myra Breckinridge | Patient In Hospital Ward | Uncredited |
| 1976 | The Passover Plot | Yaocov | |
| 1979 | The Seduction of Joe Tynan | Alex Heller | |
| 1980 | Night of the Juggler | Sergeant Otis Barnes | |
| 1981 | True Confessions | Howard Terkel | |
| 1982 | I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can | Dr. Klein | |
| 1982 | Endangered Species | Peck | |
| 1983 | The Hunger | Lieutenant Allegrezza | |
| 1984 | Reckless | Peter Daniels | |
| 1984 | Blood Simple | Julian Marty | |
| 1984 | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | John Gomez | |
| 1984 | Tightrope | Detective Molinari | |
| 1985 | Commando | General Ernesto Arius | |
| 1986 | A Smoky Mountain Christmas | Harry | |
| 1986 | Wise Guys | Anthony Castelo | |
| 1986 | Running Scared | Captain Logan | |
| 1990 | Joe Versus the Volcano | Frank Waturi | |
| 1990 | Tune in Tomorrow | Robert Quince | |
| 1990 | Pacific Heights | The Banker | |
| 1991 | The Addams Family | Tully Alford | |
| 1991 | Doubles | Lenny Bruce | |
| 1992 | Four Eyes and Six Guns | Lester Doom | |
| 1993 | Boiling Point | US Treasury Agent Sam Brady | |
| 1993 | Benny & Joon | Thomas | |
| 1993 | Rookie of the Year | Larry Fisher | |
| 1993 | Searching for Bobby Fischer | Tournament Director | |
| 1993 | For Love or Money | Gene Salvatore | |
| 1993 | Mr. Wonderful | Harvey | |
| 1994 | Maverick | Twitchy, Riverboat Poker Player | |
| 1995 | The Usual Suspects | Sergeant Jeff Rabin | |
| 1995 | To Die For | Joe Maretto | |
| 1995 | Clueless | Mel Horowitz | |
| 1995 | Fair Game | Walter Hollenbach | Uncredited |
| 1995 | Nixon | Trini Cardoza | |
| 1996 | Freeway | Detective Garnet Wallace | |
| 1996 | The First Wives Club | Morton 'Morty' Cushman | |
| 1996 | Ransom | Jackie Brown | |
| 1996 | Daylight | EMS Officer Frank Kraft | |
| 1996 | Marvin's Room | Bob | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 1997 | In & Out | Military Attorney | |
| 1997 | A Life Less Ordinary | Gabriel | |
| 1997 | Alien: Resurrection | General Martin Perez | |
| 1998 | A Night at the Roxbury | Kamehl Butabi | |
| 1998 | A Civil Action | John Riley | |
| 1999 | Dick | President Richard M. 'Dick' Nixon | |
| 1999 | The Hurricane | Sergeant Della Pesca, Paterson PD | |
| 2000 | Shaft | Detective Jack Roselli | |
| 2000 | The Crew | Mike 'The Brick' Donatelli | |
| 2000 | The Extreme Adventures of Super Dave | Gil Ruston | |
| 2001 | Down | Lieutenant McBain | |
| 2001 | Mulholland Drive | Vincenzo Castigliane | |
| 2002 | Quicksand | General Stewart | |
| 2002 | Swimfan | Coach Simkins | |
| 2002 | New Suit | Muster Hansau | |
| 2003 | American Cousins | Settimo | |
| 2005 | Strangers with Candy | Guy Blank | |
| 2005 | Robots | Mr. Gunk (voice) | |
| 2005 | Pizza My Heart | Vinnie Montebello | |
| 2006 | The Good Student | Gabrial | |
| 2007 | The Warrior Class | General Rand | |
| 2010 | The Extra Man | Aresh | |
| 2012 | The Normals | Ragnar | |
| 2013 | Clutter | Walter Bickford | |
| 2014 | The Humbling | Asa | |
| 2016 | Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them | 'Red' | |
| 2020 | Funny Face | Benj | |
| 2021 | Slapface | Sheriff John Thurston | |
| 2021 | The God Committee | Granger | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1975 | Ryan's Hope | Herbie Towers | |
| 1976 | Kojak | Dan Hudson | Episode: "A Hair-Trigger Away" |
| 1977 | The Andros Targets | Prager | Episode: "The Treatment Succeeded But the Patient Died" |
| 1977 | The Prince of Central Park | Hot Dog Vendor | Television film |
| 1978 | The Last Tenant | Gabe | Television film |
| 1979 | Paris | Gil Davis | Episode: "Once More for Free" |
| 1980 | Death Penalty | Detective Ralph Corso | Television film |
| 1981–1984 | Hill Street Blues | Ralph MacAfee / A Bum | 5 episodes |
| 1982 | CHiPs | Herzog | Episode: "Trained for Trouble" |
| 1982 | Report to Murphy | Unknown | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1984 | St. Elsewhere | Joseph Keuhnelian | 3 episodes |
| 1984 | The Dollmaker | Skyros | Television film |
| 1984 | Hot Pursuit | Unknown | Episode: "Goodbye... I Love You" |
| 1984–1993 | Cheers | Nick Tortelli | 6 episodes |
| 1984-1986 | Miami Vice | Reuben Reydolfo / Ben Schroeder | Episodes: "One Eyed Jack" & "Payback" |
| 1985 | The Twilight Zone | Nick | Episode: Dealer's Choice |
| 1986 | Slow Burn | Simon Fleischer | Television film |
| 1986 | The Equalizer | Frank Donahue | Episode: Unpunished Crimes" |
| 1986 | Courage | John Fosh | Television film |
| 1986 | That Secret Sunday | Captain Bates | Television film |
| 1986 | A Smoky Mountain Christmas | Harry | Television film |
| 1987 | The Tortellis | Nick Tortelli | 13 episodes |
| 1987–1988 | Mama's Boy | Mickey | 4 episodes |
| 1988–1989 | Family Ties | Joe Moore | 2 episodes |
| 1988–1990 | L.A. Law | Michael Roitman | 3 episodes |
| 1989 | Who's the Boss? | Ralph | Episode: "Men Are People, Too" |
| 1989 | One of the Boys | Ernie | 6 episodes |
| 1989 | Double Your Pleasure | John | Television film |
| 1990–1991 | Equal Justice | Detective Al Perry | 2 episodes |
| 1991 | Veronica Clare | Louis Benato | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Flying Blind | Employer #1 | Episode: "Panic in Neil's Park" |
| 1993 | Based on an Untrue Story | Caprawolski | Television film |
| 1993 | NYPD Blue | Lou 'The Werewolf' | Episode: "NYPD Lou" |
| 1993–1995 | Fallen Angels | Detective Copernik / Auger / Johnny Ralls / Lieutenant Calender | 4 episodes |
| 1993-1997 | Law & Order | Lieutenant Brian Torelli / Leslie Drake | 2 episodes |
| 1994 | Another Midnight Run | Eddie Moscone | Television film |
| 1994 | Midnight Runaround | Eddie Moscone | Television film |
| 1994 | Midnight Run for Your Life | Eddie Moscone | Television film |
| 1994 | Because Mommy Works | Judge | Uncredited; television film |
| 1995 | Picture Windows | Carl | Episode: "Soir Bleu" |
| 1996 | The Home Court | Judge Walter Ragsdale | 2 episodes |
| 1997 | The Second Civil War | Mel Burgess | Television film |
| 1997 | The Garden of Redemption | Captain Zito | Television film |
| 1997 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Leslie Drake | Episode: "Baby, It's You" |
| 1997–2005 | ER | Herb Spivak | 4 episodes |
| 1999 | Locked in Silence | Dr. Rosenstock | Television film |
| 2000 | The Street | Randy Hoder | Episode: "High Yield Bonds" |
| 2000 | Judging Amy | Detective Tarnower | Episode: "Unnecessary Roughness" |
| 2000–2003 | Yes, Dear | Don Ludke | 6 episodes |
| 2003 | Lucky | Joey 'Joey Legs' | 3 episodes |
| 2005 | Pizza My Heart | Vinnie Montebello | Television film |
| 2006 | The Book of Daniel | Father Frank | 4 episodes |
| 2006 | Monk | Jack Monk | Episode: "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad" |
| 2008 | Lipstick Jungle | Dimitri Pappademos | Episode: "Chapter Eleven: The F-Word" |
| 2011 | Too Big to Fail | Representative Barney Frank | Television film |
| 2011 | Person of Interest | Bernie Sullivan | Episode: "The Fix" |
| 2013 | Golden Boy | Francis Diaco | Episode: "Beast of Burden" |
| 2014 | Gotham | Detective Dix | 2 episodes |
| 2014–2015 | The Mindy Project | Alan Castellano | 2 episodes |
| 2015 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Special Segment Actor | Episode: "Infrastructure" |
| 2015–2019 | Blue Bloods | Vincent Rella | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Odd Mom Out | Jill's Dad | Episode: "Fasting and Furious" |