Tony Danza

• Danza and his wife, Tracy, announced that they are separating after 20 years of marriage. (September 28, 2006)
• Said he was far from impressed with Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby news - because they having a child out of wedlock. (October 2005)
• Escaped serious injury on 9 May 2005 when the mini stock-car he was driving flipped over and he wasn't wearing a helmet.
• After Tony recovered from his '93 skiing accident, he returned to the tree he crashed into and carved into it T.D. was here - hard.
• Host 81st annual Miss America pageant. (2001)
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Danza was born as Anthony Salvatore Iadanza in Brooklyn, New York, to parents Anne Cammisa (1925–1993) and Matty Iadanza (1920–1983), both of whom died from cancer. 

He has a younger brother, Matty Jr. (born 1954), a Los Angeles restaurant owner. Actor, director, producer. Born Anthony Iadanza on April 21, 1951, in Brooklyn, New York, as one of five siblings. Danza's father, Matty, was a sanitation worker. His mother, Anne, was an Italian immigrant who held a job as a bookkeeper. When Danza was 14, he and his family moved out of Brooklyn, instead relocating to the Long Island community of Malverne. Danza flourished academically and athletically on Long Island and, upon his 1969 graduation from high school, he attended the University of Dubuque on a wrestling scholarship.Danza earned a bachelor's degree in history education upon his graduation from Dubuque in 1973. But he didn't originally picture himself as an educator; instead Danza pinned his hopes on a career as a professional boxer. 

Changing his name to "Dangerous" Tony Danza, he entered the New York Golden Gloves competition in 1975, where he made the lightweight semi-finals. Returning the next year, he advanced to the finals as a middleweight, but lost a key fight by a narrow decision, which cost him the title. After turning professional in August of 1976, Danza compiled a 12-3 record in the ring. Fighting as a middleweight, Danza was a crowd favorite for his slugging style. 

Danza's life changed in 1977, when he was discovered during a workout at his boxing gym by a television producer. The chance meeting led to Danza's first television role as ex-boxer Tony Banta on the popular sitcom Taxi, which he began portraying in 1978. More brawn than brains, Danza's character won viewers—and the affection of co-star Marilu Henner—with his heart of gold. In spite of his TV success, Danza still maintained hopes of becoming a world boxing champion. He scored knockouts in the ring during 1978 and 1979 but, unable to secure a title shot, he retired from boxing in May of 1979 and decided to dedicate himself completely to his acting career.  




After the success of Taxi Danza landed another lucrative sitcom in 1984, this time as widowed housekeeper Tony Micelli on Who's the Boss?. The show was a ratings smash, lasting for eight seasons and making him a solid television star. After Who's the Boss? ended in 1994, Danza returned to TV the next year with the sitcom Hudson Street, but the venture struggled in the ratings. It was canceled after only one season. His next sitcom, The Tony Danza Show (1997) met a similar fate.

Danza is better known for his roles in Taxi (1978–1983), in which he played cab driver and part-time boxer, "Tony Banta". On Who's the Boss? (1984–1992), Danza portrayed a retired baseball player working as a housekeeper and single father, "Tony Micelli."

Danza also starred in the short-lived sitcoms Hudson Street (1995) and The Tony Danza Show (1997), not to be confused with his talk show of the same name. He had a role in the TV drama Family Law from 2000 until 2002. He took his first role, a nonspeaking part as a poker player in National Lampoon's Animal House.

He was nominated for an Emmy Award 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.^[5]

Danza hosted his own TV talk show, The Tony Danza Show, a nationally syndicated program produced each weekday morning in his hometown of New York (where it aired live). 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. Neither he nor Wallace was wearing a helmet at the time. 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.^{[citation needed]}

He starred on Broadway as "Max Bialystock" in The Producers, from December 19, 2006, to March 11, 2007^[6] and reprised his role at the Paris Las Vegas from August 13, 2007,^[7] to February 9, 2008.^[8]

In May 2008 Danza released, Don't Fill Up On the Antipasto: Tony Danza's Father-Son Cookbook,^[9] a cookbook written by him and his son Marc, a chef.

In September 2008, it was reported that Danza would host the 4th season of The Contender, which was filmed in Singapore and began airing in December 2008 on the Versus TV sports channel.^[10] In August 2009, it was reported that Danza would appear in a new A&E reality show Teach: Tony Danza, in which he would co-instruct a 10th Grade English class atNortheast High School in Philadelphia. The series was filmed during the 2009-2010 school year and premiered on October 1, 2010.