Five times Tony Danza played a ‘Tony’ on TV
![The "Taxi" gang included Tony Danza, front row, left, as...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AMDQyY2M2YzYtMDRiOC00%3AYzYtMDRiOC00ZmM0MWE1%2Fimgwg4k_web.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
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.
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