Detailed Biography

Daniel Michael "Danny" DeVito, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer, who first gained prominence for his portrayal of "Louie De Palma" on the ABC and NBC TV series Taxi . DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman, founded Jersey Films, a production company known for films such as Pulp Fiction, Garden State, and Freedom Writers. He also owns Jersey Television, which produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. DeVito currently stars as Frank Reynolds on the FX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

Early life

DeVito was born in Neptune, New Jersey, the son of Julia, a homemaker, and Daniel Michael DeVito, Sr., who owned several small businesses, including a dry cleaning store, a dairy outlet, a luncheonette, and a pool hall. DeVito is of Italian descent and was raised a Roman Catholic, growing up in Asbury Park. He boarded at Oratory Preparatory School, in Summit, New Jersey, graduating in 1961. DeVito trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood, California, where he graduated in 1966.

Actor

DeVito played Martini in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, reprising his role from the 1971 off-Broadway play. DeVito gained fame in 1978 on the hit TV show Taxi as Louie De Palma, the dispatcher for the fictional Sunshine Cab Company. After Taxi ended, DeVito continued what became a successful movie career, beginning with a role in 1983's Terms of Endearment and the comic rogue in the romantic adventure Romancing the Stone, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner. All three reprised their roles in the 1985 sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. In 1986, he was in Ruthless People with Bette Midler and Judge Reinhold. In 1987, DeVito made his feature directing debut on dark comedy Throw Momma from the Train, in which he additionally starred, opposite Billy Crystal and Anne Ramsey. Two years later DeVito reunited with Douglas and Turner to direct and star with them in The War of the Roses. Movie poster for Batman Returns featuring Danny DeVito as the Penguin

Other notable work during this time includes Other People's Money with legend Gregory Peck, director Barry Levinson's Tin Men as a competitive rival salesman to Richard Dreyfuss's character, two co-starring vehicles with Arnold Schwarzenegger, the comedies Twins and Junior, and the villain The Penguin in director Tim Burton's Batman Returns . It is said that Jack Nicholson convinced DeVito to play The Penguin since Nicholson enjoyed great success as The Joker in the original Batman from 1989. Rather than portraying the villain as a suave and sophisticated gangster as he was in the comics, DeVito portrayed him as a deformed psychopath.

Although generally a comic actor, DeVito expanded into dramatic roles with The Rainmaker, Hoffa , which he directed and in which he co-starred with Jack Nicholson, L.A. Confidential, The Big Kahuna and Heist , as a gangster nemesis to Gene Hackman.

DeVito has a passion for documentaries. In 2006, he began a partnership with Morgan Freeman's company ClickStar, on which he hosts a documentary channel called Jersey Docs.

Since 2006, DeVito has joined as a cast member on the FX Networks television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, portraying Frank Reynolds.

Producer

DeVito has become a major film and television producer. Through Jersey Films, he has produced many films, including Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Erin Brockovich , Gattaca, and Garden State.

In 1999, DeVito produced and co-starred in Man on the Moon, a movie about the unusual life of his former Taxi co-star, Andy Kaufman.

DeVito produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911! as well as the movie spin off Reno 911!: Miami.

Director

DeVito has directed six motion pictures: Throw Momma From the Train
The War of the Roses
Hoffa
Matilda
Death to Smoochy
Duplex

His films often have a bizarre, neo-surrealistic sensibility and gallows humor, though this was absent in the straightforward Hoffa biopic. This approach served him well at times, especially in The War of the Roses which was a commercial and critical success, as well as Matilda where it matched the style of Roald Dahl's witty story of a young girl and a strict teacher; however his last two films have not been nearly as successful.

Television and voice over work

In addition to his Taxi work, DeVito has voiced Herb Powell, Homer Simpson's half-brother, on two episodes of The Simpsons. In 1997, he was the voice of the goatman named Philoctetes from the 1997 film Hercules.

In 1999, DeVito hosted the last Saturday Night Live episode before the year 2000.

He earned a 2004 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, an episode of Friends, following four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy, for Taxi. In 2006, DeVito joined the cast of the FX Networks television series It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Frank Reynolds.

Personal life

DeVito married actress Rhea Perlman in 1982. They have three children: Lucy Chet DeVito , Grace Fan DeVito and Jacob Daniel DeVito . The family lives in Beverly Hills, California, and has a vacation home in Interlaken, New Jersey. He is an outspoken Democrat, and a supporter of the OneVoice Movement, a non-profit organization that strives to help moderate Israelis and Palestinians to take a more assertive role in resolving the conflict. He is also a member of the steering committee of the Friends of the Apollo, along with his wife and filmmaker Jonathan Demme. DeVito has stated that despite what websites such as IMDb have claimed, he is not a vegetarian and that he does eat meat.

DeVito has part of his family living in New Canaan, Connecticut. He co-owns a restaurant called DeVito South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida. His daughter Lucy starred as Anne Frank in a production of Anne Frank at the INTIMAN Theatre in Seattle, Washington, in 2008.