Danny Thomas (actor)
Danny Thomas , actually Amos Alphonsus Muzyad Yaqoob (born January 6, 1912 in Deerfield , Michigan , † February 6, 1991 ), was an American film and television actor and comedian .
Life
Amos Alphonsus Muzyad Yaqoob was born to Charles and Margaret Jacobs in Deerfield, Michigan. He was of Lebanese descent. First he performed under his Anglicised name Amos Jacobs , then later under the stage name Danny Thomas . This name was made up of the first names of his two brothers.
He played The Jazz Singer (1952), a remake of the 1927 original . In 1951 he played the songwriter Gus Kahn at the side of Doris Day in the film I'll See You in My Dreams (Eng. In all my dreams you are ).
He became a well-known television producer after the After Make Room for Daddy in the first season and later known as the Danny Thomas Show . He has worked on many well-known shows such as The Dick Van Dyke Show , The Andy Griffith Show and The Mod Squad . Thomas also produced two series for Walter Brennan : The Tycoon and The Guns of Will Sonnett , both broadcast by the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in the 1960s .
Known as a great philanthropist, Thomas founded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis , Tennessee , in 1962 . This hospital treated thousands of children with cancer . In 1996 two of the researchers there received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for their research on children's immune systems .
Danny Thomas had been a member of the Freemasonry Association since March 15, 1984 and was very active with the Shriners .
Danny Thomas died of pneumothorax on February 6, 1991 at the age of 79 on his estate at 1187 North Hillcrest Road . A few days earlier he had finished a commercial for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Danny Thomas and his wife (died 2000) lie in a tomb in a mausoleum at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis. He was posthumously awarded the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2004.
His children are also artists. The best known is his daughter Marlo Thomas , who is married to Phil Donahue . His son Tony Thomas is a television producer and another daughter, Terre Thomas , is also an actress.
Filmography (selection)
- 1947: The Unfinished Dance
- 1951: I'll See You in My Dreams
- 1952: Jazz Singer (The Jazz Singer)
- 1970–1971: Make Room for Granddaddy (TV series, 24 episodes)
- 1974: Journey Back to Oz
- 1988: Three pensioners iron everything down (Side by Side)
Awards (selection)
- 1971 : Nomination for Best Actor in a Series - Comedy or Musical for Make Room for Granddaddy
Individual evidence
- ↑ Danny Thomas, active Freemason and Shriner website of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia at Yukon. Retrieved April 3, 2011
- ↑ The Movieland Directory: 1187 N Hillcrest Rd, Beverly Hills, California ( Memento of 27 April 2014 Internet Archive ) (English; accessed on 27 April 2014)
Web links
- Danny Thomas in the Internet Movie Database (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thomas, Danny |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Amos Alphonsus Muzyad Yaqoob (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American film and television actor and comedian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 6, 1912 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Deerfield , Michigan |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 1991 |