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Ted Danson
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Edward Bridge Ted Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as central character, "Sam Malone," in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as, "Dr. John Becker," on the series Becker. He is currently a regular on Larry David's HBO sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close in legal drama Damages.
on was born in San Diego, California, the son of Jessica Danson (nιe MacMaster) and Edward Bridge Danson Jr., an archaeologist and museum director.
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Encyclopedia
Edward Bridge Ted Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor best known for his role as central character, "Sam Malone," in the sitcom Cheers, and his role as, "Dr. John Becker," on the series Becker. He is currently a regular on Larry David's HBO sitcom, Curb Your Enthusiasm and starred alongside Glenn Close in legal drama Damages.
Early life
Danson was born in San Diego, California, the son of Jessica Danson (nιe MacMaster) and Edward Bridge Danson Jr., an archaeologist and museum director. Danson is of Scottish and English ancestry. He was raised near Flagstaff, Arizona. In 1961, he enrolled in the prestigious Kent School where he was a basketball star. He became interested in drama while attending Stanford University. He transferred to the Carnegie Institute of Technology (now known as Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama, in 1968. Danson and Bill Murray are third cousins.
Career
Television
Danson began his television career as a contract player on daytime soap opera, Somerset. He played the role of "Tom Conway" from 1975 to 1976. He was also in a number of commercials, most recognizably as the "Aramis man".
He made a number of guest appearances in episodic television in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including spots on Laverne and Shirley, B.J. and the Bear, Family, Benson, Taxi, Magnum, P.I., and Tucker's Witch.
In 1982, Danson was cast in his most recognizable role, as ex-baseball player and bartender Sam Malone on the hit sitcom Cheers. The show ran from 1982 to 1993, with Danson winning the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1990 and 1993. Although he was best known for his work in comedy, he also appeared in an acclaimed drama, Something About Amelia, about a family devastated by the repercussions of incest. In 1996, three years after Cheers concluded, Danson starred in the short-lived CBS sitcom Ink with his real-life wife Mary Steenburgen. In the same year, they starred as Lemuel Gulliver and his wife in an acclaimed television miniseries of Gulliver's Travels.
Danson went on to star in the successful CBS sitcom Becker, which ran from 19982004. Danson also plays himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm. He reprised his role of "Sam Malone" in a second season episode of Frasier and voiced him in The Simpsons episode "Fear of Flying".
Danson returned to series television in the fall of 2006, playing a psychiatrist in the ABC sitcom Help Me Help You, which was cancelled at midseason due to low ratings.
In the summer of 2007, Danson began the FX Network drama Damages as corrupt billionaire/family man Arthur Frobisher.
On 19 September 2008, Danson appeared on Al Murray's Happy Hour on ITV1.
Film
Danson has also been featured in numerous films. His most notable film appearance was in Three Men and a Baby with Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg, as well as its sequel. He also appeared in the films The Onion Field (his first film, as the bagpiper), Body Heat, Just Between Friends, A Fine Mess, Made in America, Getting Even with Dad, and Saving Private Ryan.
Other work
Danson, true to his environmental beliefs, rewards friends of the cause with his own home distilled whiskey, "Danson's Best." He says the potion is made 100% organically and handled only by workers whom he pays a liveable wage. In "Cigar and Wine" magazine, Danson said his mix has become quite popular among his close, personal friends, and he's even considering a regional marketing plan with profits going to charity, similar to Paul Newman's "Newman's Own" brand.
Danson's image, along with that of Scott Bakula, was used as a selectable character in Alien Breed II: The Horror Continues, a science fiction shoot 'em up released for the Amiga home computer system in 1993. Whether or not this use was authorized is unknown.
Personal life
Danson and his first wife, Randy, were married from 1970 to 1975. Danson's second wife was Casey Coates; the couple were married in 1977. In 1979, while giving birth to their first child, Coates suffered a stroke, and Danson spent several years caring for her and helping her recuperate. The couple had two children, including a second adopted daughter. His 1993 divorce with her was one of Hollywood's costliest, costing Danson a massive $25 million.
His third and current wife is actress Mary Steenburgen whom he wed on October 7 1995. He is stepfather to her daughter, Lilly, and son, Charles, from actor Malcolm McDowell. In 2000, Danson and Steenburgen hosted actor Alexis Denisof at their home for a year.
On the September 27 2007 episode of Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Danson revealed that he follows a mostly vegan diet, although he does occasionally eat fish.
Controversy
In 1993, while he was still legally married to Coates, Danson became romantically involved with Whoopi Goldberg, his co-star in the film "Made in America." Danson experienced substantial negative press attention after his appearance in blackface at a Friar's Club comedy roast in Goldberg's honor, as some guests were said to be angered by the monologue he delivered.
Environmental work
Danson is a longtime environmental advocate and he has donated over $500,000 of his own money to environmental causes.
In addition to knowledge gleaned from his father's academic pursuits, Danson's interest in environmental concerns was ignited when he was twelve years old. Bill Breed, then a curator at the Museum of Northern Arizona, introduced Danson and friend Marc Gaede to a game he referred to as "billboarding".
Armed with an axe and saw, Breed, Gaede, and Danson ended up destroying, or "killing", over 500 outdoor advertising signs, and illegal birdhouses. (Gaede would become further involved with this kind of activity, which would be termed "monkeywrenching".)
Danson's interest in environmentalism continued over the years, and he began to be concerned, in particular, with the state of the world's oceans. In the 1980s, he was a contributing founder of the American Oceans Campaigns, now referred to as Oceana, and Danson is still a board member. In the late 1980s, he issued an urgent call that the world had ten years to "save the oceans," a proclamation that has earned him substantial criticism from skeptics of man-made global warming.
Political Activism
Danson is a close personal friend to President Bill Clinton. Clinton invited Danson to join him for Thanksgiving dinner at Camp David 2008. President Clinton also attended Danson's last wedding. Danson has donated more than $85,000 to Democratic candidates, including Al Gore, John Edwards, Barbara Boxer, Bill Clinton, Al Franken, and John Kerry. He has also donated to the Democratic Party of Arkansas and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Danson and his wife campaigned for Sen. Hillary Clinton during her 2008 Presidential campaign.
Filmography
Television
Somerset (cast member from 19751976)Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge (1979)The French Atlantic Affair (1979) (miniseries)The Women's Room (1980)Once Upon a Spy (1980)Benson (1981)Dear Teacher (1981)Our Family Business (1981)Magnum, P.I. (1981)Cheers (19821993)Cowboy (1983)Something About Amelia (1984)When the Bough Breaks (1986)We Are the Children (1987)Ink (19961997) (also executive producer)Gulliver's Travels (1996) (miniseries)Thanks of a Grateful Nation (1998)Search for Atlantis (2000)Curb Your Enthusiasm (2003-present)Becker (19982004)Living with the Dead (2002) (miniseries)It Must Be Love (2004)Our Fathers (2005)Help Me Help You (2006)Damages (2007-2008)
Film
Awards and nominations
Awards
Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- 1990 Cheers
- 1993 Cheers
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical
- 1990 Cheers
- 1991 Cheers
Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical
- 1985 Something About Amelia
Nominations
Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
- 1983 Cheers
- 1985 Cheers
- 1986 Cheers
- 1987 Cheers
- 1988 Cheers
- 1989 Cheers
- 1991 Cheers
- 1992 Cheers
- 1994 Cheers
Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical
- 1984 Cheers
- 1985 Cheers
- 1987 Cheers
- 1989 Cheers
- 1990 Cheers
- 1991 Cheers
- 1992 Cheers
- 1993 Cheers
- 2001 Becker
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series/Mini Series/Television Movie
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
- 2006 - Knights of the South Bronx
External links
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