Taxi, Who's the Boss
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$40 Million
"I am looking forward to getting to do things I have never done before." Tony Danza found fame with his work on the hit television series, Taxi and Who's the Boss for which he received critical and commercial acclaim. After becoming one of the most famous male performers of his era, Danza has continued to stay relevant by taking on roles that have pushed him beyond the cool-guy persona that he developed in the 80s and 90s.
Danza most recently found critical success for his work on the new Netflix series, The Good Cop. He's also been attached to several notable films and shows in recent years, such as Don Jon with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Broad City. Danza has also found success off-screen thanks to his work as a writer and an acting teacher.
From Brooklyn to Boxing
Tony Danza was born on April 21, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York. Danza was born to Anne Cammisa (1925 – 1993) and Matty Anthony Iadanza (1920 – 1983). His mother worked as a bookkeeper for a local business while his father was a waste collector that serviced areas throughout Brooklyn. Danza has rich Italian ancestry and his mother was an immigrant from Campobello di Mazara in Trapani. Danza has a younger brother named Matty Jr who works as a restaurant owner in Los Angeles.
Danza was raised in Brooklyn until he was a teenager. His family would relocate to Malverne, New York, in order to live on Long Island. It was there that Danza attended Malverne Senior High School before graduating in 1968. During his time in high school, Danza would struggle with his grades while being a self-described 'bad student'. Still, Danza wouldn't give up on furthering his education. Instead, Danza would earn his B.A. in History from the University of Dubuque in 1972. Danza had gotten a full ride to the college with a wrestling scholarship.
While we know of Tony Danza as a slick actor, he was once a professional boxer. Danza signed up for the New York City Golden Gloves competition where he would knock out six opponents in the first round. Danza would end up losing by K.O. in the finals. Danza had enrolled in the competition as a joke, but he would continue to fight as a professional boxer. Danza would end up retiring from the fighting game with a record of 9 – 3 with all of his victories being by knockout.
From Boxing to Television
After Danza graduated from the University of Dubuque, he started working out at a boxing gym in New York. Danza would run into a TV producer during one of his workouts, and he would end up scoring an audition for a TV show titled Taxi. Danza would end up securing the role of the cabby Tony Banta, a part-time boxer. Danza would enjoy a full five-year run on the show as he knocked out 114 total episodes. Taxi would win four Golden Globes during its run, along with a slew of other award nominations.
After Taxi finished its run, Danza would bounce around from a variety of short-lived projects. He would appear as Tony Micelli in Who's the Boss starting in 1984. The program would almost instantly become Danza's legacy as he embodied the role of a former baseball player turned housekeeper. Danza would end up playing Tony for almost a decade, spanning 196 episodes, all while securing a trio of Golden Globe nominations. The series would become a cultural touchstone and Danza would get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work.
Danza would go from Who's the Boss to a number of high-profile projects. Danza would star as a baseball player in Angels in the Outfield (1994) after landing recurring roles in the TV series, Baby Talk (1991) and Hudson Street (1995). Danza would try to branch out to the silver screen with mixed results. He'd appear in Glam (1997), Meet Wally Sparks (1997) and A Brooklyn State of Mind (1998) before returning to television. Danza's only other successful foray into the film world was in the film, Don Jon (2013) as the father of the titular character played by Joseph Gordon Levitt.
Danza would get his own talk show in 1997 when The Tony Danza Show hit the air. Danza would also guest star in the 1998 series, The Practice. Danza would score an Emmy nomination for his work in the aforementioned series. Following his critically acclaimed performance, Danza would turn to Broadway in order to perform in The Iceman Cometh, a revival of the famous Eugene O'Neill play of the same name. Danza would have another brush with the stage when he performed in a pre-Broadway run of Honeymoon in Vegas at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey.
Most recently, Danza has had starring roles in two relatively well-received projects, There's... Johnny! (2017) and The Good Cop (2018). In The Good Cop, Danza plays a disgraced former police officer who is trying to deal with life after the badge in New York City. The show was not renewed after its first season.
Outside of Hollywood, Danza appeared in his own reality show on A&E titled, Teach: Tony Danza (2009). The show followed Danza as he worked with students at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. Danza would follow up on the teaching theme by releasing his first book, I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High' (2012). Danza has since released a cookbook with his son, titled, Don't Fill Up on the Antipasto: Tony Danza's Father-Son Cookbook (2008).
Danza's personal life has been kept decently under wraps. Danza would marry his high-school sweetheart, Rhonda Yeoman, in 1970. They would divorce in 1974 before reconciling and having a second child. Danza was most recently romantically attached to Tracy Robinson. The two had begun dating in the 80s, were married in 86, and were divorced by 2011. They have two daughters together.
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