Ted Danson
Highest Rated: 96% Body Heat (1981)
Lowest Rated: 3% Getting Even With Dad (1994)
Birthday: Dec 29, 1947
Birthplace: San Diego, California, USA
As the star of the NBC sitcom "Cheers" (1982-1993), Emmy-winning Ted Danson was one of the most popular television stars of the 1980s, but also enjoyed critical praise in a string of character-driven roles on "Damages" (FX/Audience Network, 2007-2012), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000-2015) and "The Good Place" (NBC, 2016-19). Born Edward Bridge Danson III on December 29, 1947 in San Diego, California, he was raised near Flagstaff, Arizona and attended Stanford University, where he developed an interest in drama during his second year. Danson transferred to Carnegie-Mellon and earned his bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1972; initial fame as a contract player on daytime soap prompted a move to Los Angeles in 1978, where he trained at the Actor's Studio while finding steady work as a guest actor on episodic television. He received early positive notices as an ill-fated police officer in the Joseph Wambaugh-penned crime drama "The Onion Field" (1979), but the film's success did little for his career, and Danson soon returned to guest work, as well as a series of widely-seen television commercials for Aramis cologne. But perseverance, as well as a well-received turn as William Hurt's lawyer pal in Lawrence Kasdan's "Body Heat" (1981), eventually led to his breakout showcase as ex-baseball pitcher turned bar owner Sam Malone on "Cheers." Though the lowest-rated program on television in its debut season, "Cheers" slowly built an audience over successive seasons and became one of NBC's biggest hits of the 1980s; Danson's talent for light comedy and romance - especially in concert with co-star Shelley Long's Diane Chambers - helped to make the comedy appointment television, and earned Danson 11 consecutive Emmy nominations and nine Golden Globe nods, of which he won two apiece. The success of "Cheers" naturally led to other acting opportunities for Danson in features, though few of these could generate similar responses from audiences save for "3 Men and a Baby" (1987), a charming comedy with Danson, Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg as bachelors pressed into raising an infant. However, he scored a personal triumph in a challenging role - a father convicted of incest - in the TV-movie "Something About Amelia" (ABC, 1984), which earned him a third Golden Globe - and remained one of television's most popular actors as "Cheers" drew to a close in 1993. But Danson nearly derailed his standing with a widely publicized affair with actor/comedian Whoopi Goldberg; the news of Danson leaving his second wife, Cassandra "Casey" Coates, who had suffered a stroke during the birth of their second child, as well as his disastrously-received appearance in blackface at a Friars Club tribute to Goldberg undid some of the goodwill generated by his work on "Cheers." Though Danson remained busy in the wake of the incident, the work was largely unremarkable, save for a brief appearance in Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" (1998), though Peter Medak's "Pontiac Moon" (1994) would introduce him to actress Mary Steenburgen, who would become his third wife in 1995. He eventually returned to television, first in "Ink" (CBS, 1996-97) with Steenburgen, and later in the more successful "Becker" (CBS, 1998-2004), with Danson as a cantankerous doctor, and recurring appearances as a more exasperated version of himself on "Curb Your Enthusiam" (HBO, 2000-) But in 2007, Danson underwent something of a career renaissance when he was cast as a scandal-shrouded billionaire in the first season of "Damages." His performance - equal parts charm and malevolent - wowed critics and audiences alike, and earned Danson two Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe nod. More importantly, it opened up a new venue of characters to the actor, who stepped nimbly into character roles that were far afield from Sam Malone: the prickly forensic botanist D.B. Russell, who stepped into William Petersen's shoes on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"; the giddy, pot-smoking editor friend of Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman) on the cult favorite "Bored to Death" (HBO, 2009-2011); a phlegmatic Midwestern sheriff on Season 2 of "Fargo" (FX, 2014- ); and a demon with a moral crisis on "The Good Place," which earned him two additional Emmy awards. In 2019, Danson was announced as the lead of a new series by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock ("30 Rock", NBC, 2006-2013) about a businessman who runs for mayor of Los Angeles for entirely wrong reasons.
Photos
Ted Danson
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Celebrating Betty White: America's Golden Girl | Self | - | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Sleepless | Executive Producer | - | 2020 |
85% |
|
Best Summer Ever | Executive Producer | - | 2020 |
92% |
|
Hearts Beat Loud | Dave (Character) | $2.4M | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fragile Legacy | Narrator | - | 2015 |
83% |
|
The One I Love | Therapist (Character) | $511.6K | 2014 |
74% |
|
Big Miracle | J.W. McGraw (Character) | $20.1M | 2012 |
No Score Yet |
|
Jock | Pezulu (Voice) | - | 2011 |
78% |
|
The End of the Line | Narrator | - | 2009 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Human Contract | E.J Winters (Character) | - | 2008 |
22% |
|
Mad Money | Don Cardigan (Character) | $20.7M | 2008 |
26% |
|
Nobel Son | Harvey Parrish (Character) | $333.9K | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Moguls | Moose (Character) | $15.1K | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
Knights of the South Bronx | Richard (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
Our Fathers | Mitchell Garabedian (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | It Must Be Love | George Gazelle (Character) | - | 2004 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fronterz | Unknown (Character) | - | 2004 |
No Score Yet |
|
Talking to Heaven (Living with the Dead) | Unknown (Character) | - | 2002 |
58% |
|
Mumford | Jeremy Brockett (Character) | $4.6M | 1999 |
75% |
|
Jerry and Tom | The Guy Who Loved Vicki (Character) | - | 1998 |
44% |
|
Homegrown | Gianni Saletzzo (Character) | $271.4K | 1998 |
94% |
|
Saving Private Ryan | Captain Fred Hamill (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Thanks of a Grateful Nation | Jim Tuite (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Loch Ness | Dempsey (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
Gulliver's Travels | Unknown (Character) | - | 1996 |
3% |
|
Getting Even With Dad | Raymond "Ray" Gleason (Character) | $18.1M | 1994 |
No Score Yet |
|
Pontiac Moon | Washington Bellamy (Character) | $10.4K | 1994 |
32% |
|
Made in America | Halbert 'Hal' Jackson (Character) | $41.8M | 1993 |
40% |
|
Three Men and a Little Lady | Jack Holden (Character) | $71.6M | 1990 |
58% |
|
Dad | John Tremont (Character) | $19.7M | 1989 |
56% |
|
Cousins | Larry (Character) | $21.7M | 1989 |
67% |
|
Three Men and a Baby | Jack Holden (Character) | $167.8M | 1987 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | We Are the Children | Unknown (Character) | - | 1987 |
No Score Yet |
|
When the Bough Breaks | Alex (Character) | - | 1986 |
33% |
|
Just Between Friends | Chip Davis (Character) | $5.9M | 1986 |
25% |
|
A Fine Mess | Spence Holden (Character) | $5.0M | 1986 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Little Treasure | Eugene Wilson (Character) | - | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Something About Amelia | Steven Bennett (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cowboy | Dale Weeks (Character) | - | 1983 |
66% |
|
Creepshow | Harry Wentworth (segment "Something To Tide You Over") (Character) | - | 1982 |
96% |
|
Body Heat | Peter Lowenstein (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Our Family Business | Gep (Character) | - | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Once Upon a Spy | Jack Chenault (Character) | - | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Women's Room | Norman (Character) | - | 1980 |
87% |
|
The Onion Field | Det. Ian James Campbell (Character) | - | 1979 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Chinese Web | Major Collings (Character) | - | 1978 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | In the Kitchen With Harry Hamlin | Guest | 2024 |
No Score Yet | 28% | The Drew Barrymore Show | Guest | 2022 2024 |
No Score Yet | 63% | Mr. Mayor | Neil Bremer (Character) | 2021-2022 |
No Score Yet | 62% | The Kelly Clarkson Show | Guest | 2021-2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Ellen DeGeneres Show | Guest | 2012-2013 2017-2018 2021-2022 |
92% | 91% | Curb Your Enthusiasm |
Himself (Guest Star), Self |
2000 2002 2004-2005 2007 2009 2017 2021 |
No Score Yet | 61% | Late Night With Seth Meyers | Guest | 2015-2016 2018-2019 2021 |
97% | 89% | The Good Place | Michael (Character) | 2016-2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Brain Games | Guest | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rachael Ray | Guest | 2008-2011 2013 2016 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter | Guest | 2017 2019 |
No Score Yet | 41% | Jimmy Kimmel Live! | Guest | 2009 2012 2014 2017 2019 |
No Score Yet | 19% | The Late Late Show With James Corden | Guest | 2015 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Talk | Guest | 2010-2011 2013 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Inside the Actors Studio | Guest | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Finding Your Roots | Guest | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Conan | Guest | 2014 2017 |
34% | 37% | CSI: Cyber | D.B. Russell (Character) | 2015-2016 |
93% | 85% | Fargo | Sheriff Hank Larsson (Character) | 2015 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Tavis Smiley | Guest | 2015 |
No Score Yet | 80% | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | D.B. Russell (Character) | 2011-2015 |
No Score Yet | 91% | American Dad! | Dr. Ray Petit (Guest Voice) | 2015 |
No Score Yet | 100% | The Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson | Guest | 2014 |
100% | 90% | Late Show With David Letterman | Guest | 2014 |
No Score Yet | 82% | CSI: New York | D.B. Russell (Guest Star) | 2013 |
79% | 81% | Bored to Death | George Christopher (Character) | 2009-2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Jimmy Fallon | Guest | 2009-2011 |
91% | 88% | Damages | Arthur Frobisher (Character) | 2007 2009-2010 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Lopez Tonight | Guest | 2009 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Late Night With Conan O'Brien | Guest | 2007 |
50% | No Score Yet | Help Me Help You | Unknown (Character) | 2006 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Colbert Report | Guest | 2006 |
33% | No Score Yet | Heist | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2006 |
No Score Yet | 97% | Becker | Dr. John Becker (Character) | 1998-2004 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Daily Show | Guest | 1999 2001 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Veronica's Closet | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1998 |
44% | No Score Yet | Ink |
Mike Logan (Character), Executive Producer |
1996-1997 |
73% | No Score Yet | Pearl | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1997 |
95% | 94% | Frasier | Sam Malone (Guest Star) | 1995 |
85% | 76% | The Simpsons | Sam Malone (Guest Voice) | 1994 |
87% | 95% | Cheers | Sam Malone (Character) | 1982-1993 |
No Score Yet | 62% | Saturday Night Live | Host | 1989 |
No Score Yet | 62% | Taxi | Vincenzo Senaca (Guest Star) | 1982 |
No Score Yet | 95% | Magnum, P.I. | Stewart Crane (Guest Star) | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Benson | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1981 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Laverne & Shirley | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1980 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | B.J. and the Bear | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1979 |