Tony Danza Biography Quotes 12 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Tony Danza was born Antonio Salvatore Iadanza on April 21, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Malverne on Long Island. The son of Italian American parents, he was raised in a working-class household that prized discipline, resilience, and humor. At Malverne High School he discovered a talent for wrestling that earned him a scholarship to the University of Dubuque in Iowa. There he competed as a collegiate wrestler and completed a bachelor's degree in history, experiences that honed the grit and stage-ready charisma that would later define his public persona.

From the Ring to the Screen
After college, Danza briefly boxed professionally, fighting as a middleweight and earning a reputation for toughness and knockout power. He was discovered by a television producer while training in a New York gym and was invited to audition for a new sitcom about cab drivers. That serendipitous meeting led to Taxi, the acclaimed series created by a team that included James L. Brooks and Ed. Weinberger. Cast as Tony Banta, a good-hearted cabbie and journeyman boxer, Danza brought to the role an authenticity born from firsthand ring experience. Working alongside Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Jeff Conaway, Andy Kaufman, and Christopher Lloyd, he found an ensemble that sharpened his timing and expanded his range.

Breakthrough on Taxi
Taxi aired from 1978 to 1983 and became a defining show of its era. Danza's portrayal of the earnest, sometimes hapless Banta balanced physical comedy with warmth, making him instantly recognizable to audiences. The show's mixture of sharp writing and ensemble chemistry earned widespread praise and set Danza on a path from supporting player to marquee name. By the series end, he had established a television identity that blended blue-collar charm, athleticism, and a palpable affection for the people around him.

Who's the Boss? and Television Stardom
In 1984, Danza took the lead in Who's the Boss?, playing Tony Micelli, a former ballplayer who becomes a live-in housekeeper for high-powered advertising executive Angela Bower. The series flipped domestic expectations and gave Danza a venue to showcase comedic lightness and paternal warmth opposite Judith Light. Their interplay, complemented by the performances of Alyssa Milano as Tony's daughter Samantha, Danny Pintauro as Angela's son Jonathan, and Katherine Helmond as Angela's irrepressible mother Mona, powered the show for eight seasons. The role cemented Danza as a household name and earned him multiple award nominations, including Golden Globes, while the series became a syndication staple that introduced him to new generations of viewers.

Film, Stage, and Variety
While dominating television, Danza worked steadily in film. He appeared in The Hollywood Knights (1980) early in his career, headlined the comedy She's Out of Control (1989), and brought a moving, understated presence to Angels in the Outfield (1994). Years later he earned critical notice for his supporting turn in Joseph Gordon-Levitt's Don Jon (2013), showing an ability to shift between sitcom ease and grounded, character-driven work. On stage, Danza embraced singing and tap in concert and cabaret settings and won strong reviews for his role in the Broadway musical Honeymoon in Vegas, demonstrating the craftsmanship and showmanship of a classic song-and-dance man.

Guest Roles, Hosting, and Later Series
Danza's career has been marked by reinvention. He earned an Emmy nomination for a guest appearance on David E. Kelley's legal drama The Practice, reminding audiences of his dramatic chops. He headlined the sitcom Hudson Street and later ventured into daytime with The Tony Danza Show, a talk format that leaned into his affability, curiosity, and rapport with guests. In 2018 he returned to series television with The Good Cop, partnering on-screen with Josh Groban in a lighthearted procedural created by Andy Breckman. The show played to Danza's strengths as a charming, rule-bending mentor while introducing him to streaming-era audiences.

Teaching and Writing
A defining detour came when Danza spent a year teaching 10th-grade English at Northeast High School in Philadelphia, chronicled in the A&E series Teach: Tony Danza. The experience deepened his public advocacy for education and the importance of teachers. He later wrote I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had, reflecting on classroom failures and breakthroughs, the guidance of veteran educators, and the student relationships that changed his perspective. The book and series added a public-service dimension to his career and connected him with a different community of professionals whose work he came to champion.

Personal Life and Influences
Family has been central to Danza's story. He has been married and divorced twice, to Rhonda Yeoman and Tracy Robinson, and is the father of three children: Marc, Katherine, and Emily. The responsibilities and joys of fatherhood have often informed the roles he chose and the paternal warmth he projected on-screen, particularly opposite Alyssa Milano on Who's the Boss?. Longstanding friendships with colleagues like Judith Light and Danny DeVito speak to the collaborative spirit that has marked his projects. His Italian American upbringing, athletic background, and years among ensembles on Taxi and Who's the Boss? all contributed to a public image grounded in approachability, discipline, and loyalty.

Craft, Image, and Legacy
Danza's range rests less on radical transformation than on the precision of tone: he can pivot from slapstick to tenderness within a scene, punctuating laughs with small gestures that humanize his characters. The athletic confidence honed on the wrestling mat and in the boxing ring underpins his stage movement and timing; his cabaret work, with standards and tap, underscores a classic entertainer's sensibility. Across decades he has remained a reliable center of gravity in ensembles, a genial host, and a performer who invests in the people around him, whether co-stars like Judd Hirsch and Christopher Lloyd or younger partners like Josh Groban.

Enduring Appeal
Spanning multiple eras of television, Danza's career maps the evolution of American popular entertainment from network ensemble comedies to prestige guest arcs, from daytime talk to streaming procedurals. The continuity is the persona audiences first met on Taxi: amiable, hardworking, quick with a joke, and unafraid to show heart. That throughline, sustained by collaborations with figures such as James L. Brooks, Judith Light, Alyssa Milano, Danny DeVito, and Andy Breckman, has made Tony Danza an enduring figure in American entertainment, recognizable across decades and mediums as the consummate professional who turns familiarity into connection.

Our collection contains 12 quotes who is written by Tony, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Funny - Parenting - New Beginnings - Aging.

Other people realated to Tony: Carol Kane (Actress)