Danny DeVito biography

Synopsis

Early Life

Actor, director, producer. Born November 17, 1944 in Neptune, New Jersey. DeVito was raised by his mother, Julia, and his father, Danny, Sr., a small business owner whose various ventures included a dry cleaners, luncheonette, dairy outlet and pool hall. Danny, Jr. attended Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grammar School and Oratory Prep High School in Summit, New Jersey, where he first tried his hand at acting, starring in school productions of St. Francis of Assisi and the Billion Dollar Saint.

A diminutive 5-feet tall, DeVito says he longed to be taller as a youth. He recalls, "I was plagued; I couldn't slow-dance with the girls I wanted to because my face would be in a spot where I might be thought of as moving too fast." His height also made him a target for neighborhood bullies. "I took a lot of lumps," DeVito remembers. "But I had a lot of friends who helped me and looked out for me."

Although he acted in high school, when DeVito graduated in 1962 he did not consider acting a viable career path. DeVito recalls, "I wasn't sure what I wanted to do when I got out of high school. College didn't seem a likely or desirable option, and I didn't want to go too far away." DeVito was lounging around the house one day when his older sister suggested he work as a hairdresser at the salon she owned. He remembers thinking, "Well, I'm not doing anything else, and I could meet a lot of girls there."

Breaking into Acting

After 18 months—and no romances—at his sister's salon, DeVito decided to switch to the more lucrative cosmetics profession. He applied to take makeup classes at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Applicants must perform a monologue to get into any of the school's programs, and after his monologue received positive feedback, DeVito decided to take acting classes as well. He quickly realized that acting was his true calling. DeVito graduated from the American Academy in 1966, and worked briefly at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut, where he met and befriended fellow actor Michael Douglas. While in Connecticut, DeVito read Truman Capote's In Cold Blood; after seeing an advertisement for Hollywood auditions for a movie version of the book, DeVito moved to Los Angeles.

Danny DeVito did not land a part in In Cold Blood, or—at first—in anything else. Instead, he recalls, "I worked as a car parker and I hung around the Sunset Strip with all the flower children. I had long hair and I wore a raincoat and sneakers and I fit right in. But I wanted to act." DeVito soon moved back to New York, where he landed parts in several off-Broadway plays. While acting in a 1970 off-Broadway production of The Shrinking Bride, DeVito met actress Rhea Perlman, best known today for her long-running role on the TV sitcom, Cheers. They moved in together two weeks after