Danny DeVito

Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. was born on November 17, 1944, at Raleigh Fitkin-Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital in Neptune Township, New Jersey, the son of Daniel DeVito Sr., a small business owner, and Julia DeVito, née Moccello. He grew up in Asbury Park, New Jersey, with his parents and two older sisters, and is of Italo-Albanian descent, with family roots in San Fele, Basilicata, and the Arbëresh Albanian community of Calabria. Raised Catholic, DeVito persuaded his father at age 14 to enroll him in boarding school, and he graduated from Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, New Jersey, in 1962. While employed as a beautician at his sister's salon, his search for a professional makeup instructor brought him to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, from which he graduated in 1966. In his early theater years, he performed with the Colonnades Theater Lab at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, and appeared alongside his future wife, Rhea Perlman, in productions by the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective.

Before establishing himself as an actor, DeVito worked as a cosmetologist in a morgue, styling the hair of the deceased, a practice that began after a client from his sister's salon died and her family asked him to prepare her for her funeral. He launched his acting career off-Broadway in 1969, appearing in Shoot Anything With Hair That Moves and The Man with the Flower in His Mouth. His feature film debut came in the 1970 drama Dreams of Glass, followed by early roles in Lady Liberty (1971), Hurry Up, or I'll Be 30 (1973), and Deadly Hero (1975). He played Martini in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, directed by Milos Forman, reprising the role he had originated in the 1971 off-Broadway production of the same title.

DeVito rose to widespread prominence beginning in 1978 with his portrayal of Louie De Palma, the domineering dispatcher for the fictional Sunshine Cab Company, on the television series Taxi, a role he held through 1983. The performance earned him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries, or Television Film. Since 2006, he has played Frank Reynolds on the FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

His film career spans decades and encompasses a wide range of genres. He appeared in the James L. Brooks comedy-drama Terms of Endearment (1983), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and took the role of Ralph in the romantic adventure Romancing the Stone (1984) alongside Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, a pairing that continued in The Jewel of the Nile (1985). He starred opposite Bette Midler and Judge Reinhold in Ruthless People (1986), directed Barry Levinson's Tin Men (1987), and co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in Twins (1988) and Junior (1994). In 1992, he portrayed Oswald Cobblepot, the Penguin, in Tim Burton's Batman Returns, and that same year directed and co-starred in the biographical drama Hoffa, with Jack Nicholson in the title role. Additional film credits include Jack the Bear (1993), Get Shorty (1995), the legal thriller The Rainmaker (1997), the neo-noir L.A. Confidential (1997), The Big Kahuna (1999), Big Fish (2003), Deck the Halls (2006), When in Rome (2010), Wiener-Dog (2016), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). He provided voice performances in the Walt Disney animated film Hercules (1997), The Lorax (2012), Smallfoot (2018), and Migration (2023). In 1996, he directed and starred in Matilda, based on Roald Dahl's novel, in which Perlman also appeared. He was among the producers nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture for Erin Brockovich (2000).

As a producer, DeVito co-founded Jersey Films with Michael Shamberg, with Stacey Sher later joining as an equal partner. The company's productions include Pulp Fiction (1994), Garden State (2004), and Freedom Writers (2007). He also owned Jersey Television, which produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911.

DeVito's stage career includes a West End engagement from 2012 to 2013, during which he played Willie Clark in the revival of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. He made his Broadway debut in 2017, playing Gregory Solomon in the revival of Arthur Miller's The Price, a performance that earned him both a Tony Award nomination and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. He returned to Broadway in 2023 in Theresa Rebeck's I Need That.