Tony Danza

Danza was a professional boxer with a record of 9 wins and 3 losses (9 knockouts, 7 in the first round), with all but one of his fights ending in a knockout, including three technical knockouts.[13]

Danza in 2012

Shortly after his college graduation from the University of Dubuque, Danza was discovered by a producer at a boxing gymnasium in New York.[14] He then earned a spot on the television show Taxi, playing a cab driver and part-time boxer Tony Banta, and later starred on Who's the Boss?, in which he portrayed Tony Micelli, a former baseball player, housekeeper, and single father. For his contribution to the television industry, in 1988, Danza was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7000 Hollywood Boulevard. Danza also plays the role of Mel Clark, a baseball player, in Angels in the Outfield (1994).

Danza also starred in the short-lived sitcoms Hudson Street (1995) and The Tony Danza Show (1997), not to be confused with his 2004–2006 talk show, The Tony Danza Show. He had a role in the TV drama Family Law from 2000 until 2002.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award[15] for a guest-starring 1998 role in the TV series The Practice. His movie debut was in the comedy The Hollywood Knights (1980), which was followed by Going Ape! (1981). He received critical acclaim for his performance in the 1999 Broadway revival of the Eugene O'Neill play The Iceman Cometh. In 2002, Danza released his debut album The House I Live In as a 1950s-style crooner.[16]

Danza hosted his own TV talk show, The Tony Danza Show, that was produced each weekday morning in his hometown of New York and was syndicated across the US. On May 9, 2005, during a go-kart race with NASCAR star Rusty Wallace, who was a guest on the show, Danza's kart flipped after Wallace accidentally bumped him.[17] Neither he nor Wallace was wearing a helmet at the time, and both were uninjured. Danza returned to go-kart racing on October 20, 2005, to challenge IndyCar driver Danica Patrick, but his brakes malfunctioned and he skidded into a wall, unharmed. His daytime talk show ended in May 2006; the last live episode aired on May 26, 2006.

He starred on Broadway as Max Bialystock in The Producers, from December 19, 2006, to March 11, 2007,[18] and reprised his role at the Paris Las Vegas from August 13, 2007,[19] to February 9, 2008.[20]

Danza hosted the 4th season of The Contender in 2008.[21]

A Broadway adaptation of the 1992 film Honeymoon in Vegas opened on a pre-Broadway run at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse on September 26, 2013, co-starring Danza and Tony nominee Rob McClure, with Gary Griffin directing.[22] Danza was inducted into the Ride of Fame in December 2014, and the double-decker sightseeing bus commemorated his role in the Broadway musical.[23]

Danza starred as Tony Caruso Sr. in the 2018 Netflix series, The Good Cop as "a disgraced, former NYPD officer who never followed the rules." It was cancelled after one season.[24][25]

During the 2009–2010 school year Danza filmed A&E reality show Teach: Tony Danza, in which he co-instructed a 10th grade English class at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. It premiered on October 1, 2010. The book I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had: My Year as a Rookie Teacher at Northeast High (ISBN 9780307887863), which was released in 2012, was based on his year of teaching.