Danny DeVito

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Danny DeVito (2013)

Daniel Michael "Danny" DeVito (born November 17, 1944 in Asbury Park , New Jersey ) is an American actor , director and film producer .

Life

The son of Italian parents began as a beautician at his sister's beauty salon and went to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City to become a makeup artist , but then switched to acting. During his studies he shared his room with fellow student Michael Douglas . DeVito has been married to the actress Rhea Perlman , known from the sitcom Cheers , since 1982 . They met in 1970 at the Broadway performance The Shrinking Bride . They have three children together, including actress Lucy DeVito .

Because of his small height - DeVito is one of the smallest actors in Hollywood at around 1.50 meters - DeVito initially had a difficult time gaining a foothold in the film business. One of his first roles was the insane Martini in the stage version of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest . When the book was made into a film with Jack Nicholson seven years later , Michael Douglas remembered his student friend as the producer of the film and hired him for the project. The great success of the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with the audience and in the criticism, DeVito helped to break through.

From 1978 to 1982 DeVito starred in the sitcom Taxi alongside Andy Kaufman . He also directed some episodes. In the mid- 1980s he made the adventure films In the Hunt for the Green Diamond and In the Hunt for the Jewel of the Nile with Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner and established himself as a Hollywood star and one of the leading film comedians. In 1987 DeVito acted for the black comedy Throw the mom off the train! , a variant of Der Fremde im Zug , for the first time as a director in a movie. DeVito had other great successes with Twins alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger and his third directorial work Der Rosenkrieg , in which Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner also participated. In 1992 he made Hoffa , a portrait of the influential union leader Jimmy Hoffa , who was involved in organized crime .

In addition to his acting career, DeVito has always shown a keen sense of the word as a (executive) producer. In 1992 he founded the production company Jersey Films together with his wife and Michael Shamberg and was instrumental in the making of successful films such as Reality Bites , Pulp Fiction , Snap Shorty , Out of Sight , Garden State and Erin Brockovich . For the latter, he received an Oscar nomination in the Best Picture category. One of DeVito's most personal films is The Moon Man with Jim Carrey from 1999. It is about his former taxi colleague Andy Kaufman , who died of cancer at a young age . The composer David Newman was responsible for the music of all of his films .

Most of the time DeVito was dubbed by Gerd Duwner ( Barney Geröllheimer from the Feuerstein family and Ernie from Sesame Street ), after his death in 1996 by Klaus Sonnenschein (standard dubbing voice for Morgan Freeman and John Goodman ).

On August 18, 2011, DeVito was honored with a star in the television category on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Ahead of the 2020 Democratic Party's presidential primaries and presidential elections , DeVito reiterated its support for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders .

Filmography

actor

Direction / production

Awards (selection)

Web links

Commons : Danny DeVito  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Short biography Danny DeVito
  2. Alex Biese: Bernie Sanders gets Danny DeVito endorsement in 2020 presidential race. USA TODAY NETWORK'S EUROPEAN UNION EXPERIENCE, December 17, 2019, accessed on March 7, 2020 .