Danny DeVito Film acting When did DeVito start acting? DeVito played Martini in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, reprising his role from the 1971 off-Broadway play of the same title.
What other film roles did he have?
What other film roles did Danny DeVito have, besides playing Martini in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?
DeVito played Martini in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, reprising his role from the 1971 off-Broadway play of the same title. He gained fame in 1978 playing Louie De Palma, the short but domineering dispatcher for the fictional Sunshine Cab Company, on the hit TV show Taxi. After Taxi ended, DeVito began a successful film career, starting with roles in 1983's Terms of Endearment, as the comic rogue in the romantic adventure Romancing the Stone, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, and its 1985 sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. In 1986, DeVito starred in Ruthless People with Bette Midler and Judge Reinhold, and in 1987, he made his feature-directing debut with the dark comedy Throw Momma from the Train, in which he starred with Billy Crystal and Anne Ramsey. Two years later, DeVito reunited with Douglas and Turner in The War of the Roses, which he directed and in which he co-starred.  DeVito's work during this time includes Other People's Money with Gregory Peck, director Barry Levinson's Tin Men as a competitive rival salesman to Richard Dreyfuss' character, two co-starring vehicles with Arnold Schwarzenegger (the comedies Twins and Junior), and playing The Penguin as a deformed sociopath in director Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992) as well in the 1996 film adaptation Matilda in which he played the villainous car dealer and Matilda's father Harry Wormwood.  Although generally a comic actor, DeVito expanded into dramatic roles with The Rainmaker (1997), Hoffa (1992), which he directed and in which he co-starred with Jack Nicholson, Jack the Bear (1993), L.A. Confidential, The Big Kahuna, and Heist (2001), as a gangster nemesis of Joe Moore (Gene Hackman).  DeVito has an interest in documentaries: In 2006, he began a partnership with Morgan Freeman's company ClickStar, on which he hosts a documentary channel called Jersey Docs. He was also interviewed in the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, about his interest in and ownership of electric vehicles. CANNOTANSWER
in 1983's Terms of Endearment, as the comic rogue in the romantic adventure Romancing the Stone, starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner,
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. He gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983), which won him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. He plays Frank Reynolds on the FX and FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2006–present).

He is known for his film roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Terms of Endearment (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Twins (1988), The War of the Roses (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Jack the Bear (1993), Junior (1994), Get Shorty (1995), Matilda (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Big Kahuna (1999), Big Fish (2003), Deck the Halls (2006), When in Rome (2010), Wiener-Dog (2016) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). He is also known for his voice roles in such films as Hercules (1997), The Lorax (2012) and Smallfoot (2018).

In 2017, he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in the Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's The Price. DeVito and Michael Shamberg founded Jersey Films. Soon afterwards, Stacey Sher became an equal partner. The production company is known for films such as Pulp Fiction, Garden State, and Freedom Writers. DeVito also owned Jersey Television, which produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. DeVito and wife Rhea Perlman starred together in his 1996 film Matilda, based on Roald Dahl's children's novel. DeVito was also one of the producers nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for Erin Brockovich (2000).

Early life
DeVito was born in Neptune Township, New Jersey, the son of Daniel DeVito Sr., a small business owner, and Julia DeVito ( Moccello). He grew up in a family of five, with his parents and two older sisters. He is of Italian descent; his family is originally from San Fele, Basilicata, as well as Calabria. He was raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

DeVito was raised as a Catholic. When he was 14, he persuaded his father to send him to boarding school to "keep him out of trouble", and graduated from Oratory Preparatory School in Summit, New Jersey, in 1962. While working as a beautician at his sister's salon, his search for a professional makeup instructor led him to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he graduated in 1966. In his early theater days, he performed with the Colonnades Theater Lab at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. Along with his future wife Rhea Perlman, he appeared in plays produced by the Westbeth Playwrights Feminist Collective.

Career

Film work

DeVito played Martini in the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, reprising his role from the 1971 off-Broadway play of the same title.

After his time on the Taxi series ended, DeVito devoted more effort to a growing successful film career, appearing as Vernon Dalhart in the 1983 hit Terms of Endearment; as the comic rogue Ralph in the romantic adventure Romancing the Stone (1984), starring Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner; and its sequel, The Jewel of the Nile (1985). In 1986, DeVito starred in Ruthless People with Bette Midler and Judge Reinhold, and in 1987 he made his feature-directing debut with the dark comedy Throw Momma from the Train, in which he starred with Billy Crystal and Anne Ramsey. He reunited with Douglas and Turner two years later in The War of the Roses (1989), which he directed and in which he co-starred.

Other work included Other People's Money with Gregory Peck; director Barry Levinson's Tin Men, as a rival salesman to Richard Dreyfuss' character; the comedies Junior (1994) and Twins (1988) with Arnold Schwarzenegger; playing the villain The Penguin in director Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992); and the film adaptation Matilda (1996), which he directed and co-produced, along with playing the role of Matilda's father, the villainous car dealer Harry Wormwood.

Although generally a comic actor, DeVito expanded into dramatic roles with The Rainmaker (1997); Hoffa (1992), which he directed and in which he co-starred with Jack Nicholson; Jack the Bear (1993); neo-noir film L.A. Confidential (1997); The Big Kahuna (1999); and Heist (2001), as a gangster nemesis of Joe Moore (Gene Hackman).

DeVito has an interest in documentaries. In 2006 he began a partnership with Morgan Freeman's company ClickStar, for whom he hosts the documentary channel Jersey Docs. He was also interviewed in the documentary Revenge of the Electric Car, discussing his interest in and ownership of electric vehicles.

Theatre
In April 2012, DeVito made his West End acting debut in a revival of the Neil Simon play The Sunshine Boys as Willie Clark, alongside Richard Griffiths. It previewed at the Savoy Theatre in London from April 27, 2012, opened on May 17, and played a limited 12-week season until July 28.

DeVito made his Broadway debut in a Roundabout Theatre Company revival of the Arthur Miller play The Price as Gregory Solomon, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. The production began preview performances at the American Airlines Theatre on February 16, 2017, and opened on March 16 for a limited run-through on May 7.

Producing
DeVito has become a major film and television producer. DeVito founded Jersey Films in 1991, producing films like Pulp Fiction, Get Shorty, Erin Brockovich (for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture), Gattaca, and Garden State. In 1999, he produced and co-starred in Man on the Moon, a film about the unusual life of his former Taxi co-star Andy Kaufman, played in the film by Jim Carrey. DeVito also produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911!, the film spin-off Reno 911!: Miami, and the revival on Quibi.

Directing
DeVito made his directorial debut in 1984 with The Ratings Game. He then directed and starred in Throw Momma from the Train (1987), The War of the Roses (1989), Hoffa (1992), Matilda (1996), Death to Smoochy (2002) and Duplex (2003). The War of the Roses was a commercial and critical success, as was the film adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda; Death to Smoochy and Duplex had mixed reviews. He also directed the TV movie Queen B in 2005.

DeVito has directed eight short films between 1973 and 2016, five of which were released across 2010 and 2011. These are The Sound Sleeper (1973), Minestrone (1975), Oh Those Lips (2010), Evil Eye (2010), Poison Tongue (2011), Skin Deep (2011), Nest of Vipers (2011) and Curmudgeons (2016).

Television and voice-over work

In 1977, DeVito played the role of John "John John the Apple" DeAppoliso in the Starsky & Hutch episode "The Collector". DeVito gained fame in 1978 playing Louie De Palma, the short but domineering dispatcher for the fictional Sunshine Cab Company, on the hit TV show Taxi.

In 1986, he directed and starred in the black comedy "The Wedding Ring", a season 2 episode of Steven Spielberg's anthology series Amazing Stories, where his character acquires an engagement ring for his wife (played by DeVito's real-life wife, actress Rhea Perlman). When the ring is slipped on his wife's finger, she is possessed by the ring's former owner, a murderous black widow. That year, DeVito also voiced the Grundle King in My Little Pony: The Movie. In 1990, he and Rhea Perlman played the couple Vic & Paula, commenting on the state of the environment in The Earth Day Special. In 1991 and 1992, DeVito voiced Herb Powell in the episodes "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" and "Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?" of The Simpsons. In 1996, he provided the voice of Mr. Swackhammer in Space Jam. In 1997, he was the voice of Philoctetes in the 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 for an episode of Friends, following four Emmy nominations (including a 1981 win) for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy for Taxi. In 2006, he joined the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as Frank Reynolds.

In 2011, DeVito received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television. In 2012, he voiced the title character in the animated version of Dr. Seuss's The Lorax. In 2013, along with Rashida Jones, he voiced Herb for the third time on "The Changing of the Guardian" episode of The Simpsons (aired January 27, 2013). He appeared in the Angry Birds Friends "Champions for Earth" tournament advertisement in September 2015. Following the Japanese release of the Nintendo 3DS game Detective Pikachu, dedicated Pokémon fans submitted a 40,000-signature petition requesting that DeVito be the English voice actor for the title character. However, he declined to audition for the role, commenting that he was unfamiliar with the franchise.

Appearances in other media
DeVito played a fictional version of himself in the music video of One Direction's song "Steal My Girl". He also appeared in the short film Curmudgeons, which he also produced and directed.

In 2021, DeVito wrote a 12-page story centered on the Penguin and Catwoman for the anthology comic Gotham City Villains.

Personal life
DeVito's short stature is the result of multiple epiphyseal dysplasia (Fairbank's disease), a rare genetic disorder that affects bone growth.

On January 17, 1971, DeVito met Rhea Perlman when she went to see a friend in the single performance of the play The Shrinking Bride, which featured DeVito. They moved in together two weeks later, and married on January 28, 1982. They have three children: Lucy Chet DeVito (born March 11, 1983), Grace Fan DeVito (born March 1985), and Jacob Daniel DeVito (born October 1987).

Perlman and DeVito have acted alongside each other several times, including in the television show Taxi and the feature film Matilda (where they played Matilda's parents). They separated in October 2012, after 30 years of marriage and over 40 years together, then reconciled in March 2013. They separated for a second time in March 2017, but remained on amicable terms, and Perlman stated they had no intent of filing for divorce. In 2019, Perlman told interviewer Andy Cohen that she and DeVito have become closer friends after their separation than they were in their final years as a couple.

DeVito and Perlman resided in a 14,579 square foot (1,354 m2) house in Beverly Hills, California, that they purchased in 1994, until selling it for US$24 million in April 2015. They also own a bungalow near Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and a multi-residence compound on Broad Beach in Malibu.

DeVito and Perlman are members of the steering committee of the Friends of the Apollo, supporting a theater in Oberlin, Ohio, as was filmmaker Jonathan Demme. DeVito co-owned a restaurant called DeVito South Beach in Miami Beach, Florida, which closed in 2011. Politically, DeVito is a Democrat and a staunch supporter of Bernie Sanders.

Filmography

DeVito has an extensive film career, dating back to the early 1970s.

Selected work:

Awards and nominations
DeVito has a large and varied body of work as an actor, producer and director in stage, television and film. He has been nominated for Academy awards, Creative Arts Emmy awards, Golden Globe awards, Primetime Emmy awards, Producers Guild awards, Screen Actors Guild awards and Tony awards. In 2011 he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 6909 Hollywood Blvd., for his contributions to television.

References

External links 

 
 
 
 
 Danny DeVito's Guest DJ Set on KCRW KCRW Guest DJ Set
 Danny Devito at Emmys.com
 

1944 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American comedians
21st-century American male actors
American Academy of Dramatic Arts alumni
American film directors of Italian descent
American male comedians
American male comedy actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American social democrats
Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe (television) winners
Catholics from New Jersey
Comedians from New Jersey
Comedy film directors
Film directors from New Jersey
Film producers from New Jersey
Male actors from New Jersey
New Jersey Hall of Fame inductees
Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Primetime Emmy Award winners
People from Asbury Park, New Jersey
People from Neptune Township, New Jersey
Television producers from New Jersey
Sanjay Ram is an Indian film director and producer who has worked on Tamil films and was active in the late 2000s. Throughout his career, he worked on several films which failed to have a theatrical release. Furthermore, several of his films have been criticised for their gore content and excessive bloodshed on screen.

Career
Sanjay Ram began his career by penning the script for the film Shree (2002) and Anbe Anbe (2003). Sanjay Ram worked on two village centric action films in 2006; Thoothukudi featuring choreographer Harikumar and Aadu Puli Attam featuring newcomers. Thootukudi won positive reviews and became a surprise success at the box office. He then made the Saravanan-starrer Veeramum Eeramum (2007) and Iyakkam (2008), which he also produced. In 2008, Sanjay Ram worked on Sivamayam, a tale based on the Mahabharata, featuring Shaam, Megha Nair, Sridevika and Prakash Raj in the lead roles. Despite beginning shoot in Chennai and Coimbatore and recording songs, the film did not have a theatrical release. Furthermore, another film he worked titled Surla featuring Ajay Krishna and Sanchita Shetty also failed to have a theatrical release. He also announced a film titled Lingam with Mammootty and Sarath Kumar, but the project did not materialise. Sanjay Ram worked on a film titled Poova Thalaiya during 2008 with Udhaya and Shirin, but the film ran into production troubles. As the film geared up for release in 2011, Shirin complained to the Nadigar Sangam that Sanjay Ram was trying to release the film without finishing her portions. The film then had a low key release in 2011.

Sanjay Ram's next release was the family drama, Gowravargal (2010) starring Sathyaraj and Vignesh, which was jointly produced by ten financiers. Sanjay Ram next worked on a film title Sethu Samuthiram with Sarath Kumar, but the film was later dropped. He then began work on a multi-hero gangster subject titled Karuvarai Kutravaligal with himself, Ajay Krishna and Vaali in the lead roles but the film did not complete production. Likewise another project featuring Ajay Krishna, titled Meenkothi, was similarly incomplete. In 2012, he began work on the comedy drama film titled Kutralam, which was later rechristened as Rosa, starring Vaali and himself in the lead roles alongside Neenu Karthika but the film also failed to have a theatrical release.

In 2013, he began a film titled Kiliyanthattu: Thoothukudi 2, a sequel to his earlier film. Despite having an audio launch event, yet again, the film did not have a theatrical release.

Filmography
Director

References

Living people
21st-century Indian film directors
Tamil film directors
Year of birth missing (living people) James Francis Lanphier (August 31, 1920February 11, 1969) was an American actor who did a variety of work for Blake Edwards. He portrayed Saloud in the 1963 film The Pink Panther, and also appeared in films such as Darling Lili (1970) and the television series Peter Gunn (1958–61).

Biography
Lanphier was born at Mitchel Field, New York, to Janet Grant Cobb and Thomas George Lanphier Sr. He had two brothers, Thomas Jr. and Charles.

Lanphier made his stage debut as a juvenile in an army post drama. He debuted on Broadway as a dancer in Mexican Hayride in 1944 and played Mr. Atkins in a production of Dark of the Moon the following year. He began his acting career on American television in 1949.

In 1957 Lanphier made his feature film debut in an uncredited role in The Deadly Mantis (1957). Several other minor roles followed including small roles in Blake Edwards' The Perfect Furlough (1958), Operation Petticoat (1959) and High Time (1960), then two appearances on Edwards' Peter Gunn television series. On the third season of the show Lanphier became a regular where he played Leslie, a former mobster and gourmet.

He played a landlord in Edwards' Experiment in Terror (1962) then acted as a dialogue coach on Edwards' Days of Wine and Roses (1962) and The Pink Panther (1963) where he played Saloud, one of his many roles where he played a Middle Eastern or Indian gentleman. He made minor appearances in more of Edwards' films, including What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966) as an Italian villager, The Party (1968) as Harry, and his final role in Darling Lili (1970) as a Hungarian maître d'hôtel, released after his death.

Lanphier died on February 11, 1969.

Filmography

References

External links 
 
 

1920 births
1969 deaths
American male film actors
20th-century American male actors
People from Hempstead (town), New York