Tony Danza

**Tony Danza** (born **Antonio Salvatore Iadanza**; April 21, 1951) is an American actor, television personality, tap dancer, boxer and teacher who starred 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). He has also appeared in films such as *Don Jon*, *Angels in the Outfield*, *The Hollywood Knights*, *Going Ape!* and *Crash*.

## Biography

Danza was born in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Anne Cammisa (1925–1993) and Matty Anthony Iadanza (1920–1983). His mother was a bookkeeper and his father worked as a waste collector in Brooklyn. Danza's father was 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. He lived in East New York, Brooklyn until he was 14, and his family relocated to Malverne, New York, on Long Island. Danza attended Malverne Senior High School, graduating in 1968. 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.

## Career

### Boxer

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, including three technical knockouts.

### Acting and show business

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.Template:Citation needed

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 hosted 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.

Danza starred as Tony Caruso Sr. in the 2018 Netflix series, *The Good Cop* as "a disgraced, former NYPD officer who never followed the rules." It was cancelled after one season.

### Teaching

During the 2009–2010 school year Danza filmed A&E reality show *Teach: Tony Danza*, in which he co-instructed a 10th grade English class at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. It 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* (Template:ISBN), which was released in 2012, was based on his year of teaching.

## Personal life

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*.

## Boxing record

Source:
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## External links

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1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tony Danza Biography (1951–). FilmReference.com.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ann Iadanza. *Variety* (June 23, 1993). Retrieved on May 26, 2012.
3. ↑ Template:Cite news
4. ↑ walkoffame.com
5. ↑ Tony Danza's TCM bio
6. ↑ Template:Cite news
7. ↑ Template:Cite news
8. ↑ University of Dubuque website
9. ↑ Tony Danza profile, boxing-scoop.com. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
10. ↑ "Danza, Father and (Finally) Grown-up" by Steve Pond. *Us Weekly*, August 26, 1985
11. ↑ Tony Danza President Puncher. *Maxim*. Archived from the original on June 14, 2012. Retrieved on June 17, 2011.
12. ↑ Template:Cite news
13. ↑ Meet Tony. dailydanza.com.
14. ↑ Tony Danza: Awards and Nominations. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
15. ↑ The House I Live in by Tony Danza (2011). Archived from the original on April 26, 2012. Retrieved on February 6, 2017.
16. ↑ Template:Cite news
17. ↑ Template:Cite news
18. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (June 19, 2007). Tony Danza to 'Flaunt It' in Las Vegas Producers This Summer. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008.
19. ↑ Jones, Kenneth (February 9, 2008). Vegas Production of The Producers Ends Feb. 9. Archived from the original on April 15, 2008.
20. ↑ Bracchitta, John (September 30, 2008). Danza hosts *The Contender*. Retrieved on October 24, 2010.
21. ↑ Grant, Diamond (September 26, 2013). Tony Danza Leads *Honeymoon in Vegas* in Pre-Broadway Run in New Jersey. Retrieved on September 28, 2010.
22. ↑ Voltaw, Melanie (December 1, 2014). Tony Danza Dedicates Doubledecker Bus in NYC.
23. ↑ Otterson, Joe, "Tony Danza to Star in Netflix Series ‘The Good Cop’," *Variety*, June 19, 2017
24. ↑ Zuckerman, Esther, "Tony Danza to play a bad cop in Netflix’s The Good Cop," A.V. Club, June 19, 2017
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Template:Cite news
26. ↑ Tony Danze Divorced: Officially The Boss ... of Himself (February 7, 2013). Retrieved on February 6, 2017.
27. ↑ Tony Danza Files for Divorce After 24 Years of Marriage. *TV Guide* (March 10, 2011). Retrieved on June 17, 2011.
28. ↑ Template:Cite news
29. ↑ Template:Boxrec