Five times Tony Danza played a ‘Tony’ on TV
The "Taxi" gang included Tony Danza, front row, left, as Tony Banta. Credit: ABC
With Broadway’s Tony Awards being handed out Sunday, we figured this would be as good a time as any to hand out our “Tony” Awards: We’re not talking stage performances here, mind you, rather we’re honoring Malverne High grad Tony Danza, a man who has played five characters named Tony during his long career:
TONY (NO LAST NAME) on “Fast Lane Blues” (1978) In this pilot for a sitcom (that was not picked up by the network), Danza played a street-wise guy, one of the participants in a high-stakes cross country auto race created by an oil-company magnate (Bert Parks).
TONY BANTA on “Taxi” (1978-83) Danza’s breakthrough role as the part-time, mostly unsuccessful boxer supplementing his ring income by driving for NYC’s Sunshine Cab Co.
TONY MICELLI on “Who’s the Boss?” (1984-92) In his longest-running TV role, Danza played a retired baseball player and single father, who became the housekeeper for a high-powered advertising executive (Judith Light).
TONY CANETTI on “Hudson Street” (1995-96) In this sitcom, Danza was a recently divorced Hoboken detective who became romantically involved with a police reporter (played by Hauppauge’s Lori Loughlin).
TONY DIMEO on “The Tony Danza Show” (1997) Not to be confused with his same-named, talk show (2004-06), this short-lived sitcom starred Danza as a newly separated sports writer trying to raise his two daughters.
Andy Edelstein, Newsday's entertainment editor, supervises coverage of TV, celebrities, movies and pop music. He has written three books on popular culture, including "The Brady Bunch Book."
Most Popular
Top Stories
