The American actor Edward Danson III, better known asTed Danson, has been active on television and the big screen since 1975, embodying severalscene-stealing charactersin different genres, from comedy, to crime drama, to science fiction. His most famous movie roles includeThree Men and a Baby,Body Heat,Saving Private Ryan, andThe One I Love, and he has received several accolades, including a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries, an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series, and a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
After appearing onLaverne & Shirley,Family,Benson,Taxi,Magnum, P.I., andThe Amazing Spider-Man, Danson’s big break finally came in 1982 with the beloved NBC sitcomCheers, in which he starred as the proprietor of the titular Boston bar. The show ran for 11 seasons and received a whopping 179 Primetime Emmy nominations, of which it won a total of 28.
FromCheerstoMr. Mayor, here are the versatile actor’s mostmemorable TV roles.
10Himself in Curb Your Enthusiasm
On HBO’s improvisational black comedy seriesCurb Your Enthusiasm, Danson plays a fictionalized version of himself, as the lead Larry David’s frenemy. Their characters squabble over everything, from sandwiches, to gifts, to money donations, to business ventures. “It’s always fun to play with Larry David. It’s kind of effortless. You don’t have to learn lines because there are no lines,” the actor toldUSA Today.
9Neil Bremer in Mr. Mayor
Created by Tina Feyand Robert Carlock for NBC, the sitcomMr. Mayorstars Danson asNeil Bremer, a well-off retired billboard ad businessman who becomes Mayor of Los Angeles for his daughter Orly’s (Kyla Kenedy) sake, opposite Holly Hunter as Arpi Meskimen, his deputy.
Orly:Mom wouldn’t have helped me cheat my way into the Youth Leadership Program.
Neil:Orly, if you don’t think that you got this job on your own, you’re free to quit.
Orly:No, quitting is what a privileged brat would do. Those other kids, they worked really hard to be here, and now it’s my turn.
Neil:You don’t want to start by maybe unloading the dishwasher at home?
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PerNPR, “Danson takes the spotlight and shines once again, playing a character who’s clearly delighted by the job he ran for, and won, on a whim. Mayor Bremer’s relationship with his 15-year-old daughter Orly gives the show as much comic potential as the political workplace. Especially since Danson takes the script and sticks every landing on every line — even the absurdly inappropriate toss-aways.”
8D.B. Russell in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
The hit police procedural drama showCSI: Crime Scene Investigationaired on CBS for 15 seasons, from 2000 to 2015, and spawned several spin-offs. Danson’s character,D.B. Russell, is an expert botanist, the graveyard shift CSI Supervisor, and the Director of the Las Vegas Crime Lab. He then transfers to the FBI as the Director of Next Generation Cyber Forensics, and later retires following a gun wound.
D.B.:I wear a mask. And that mask, it’s not to hide who I am, but to create what I am.
Sara:I give up. Are you quoting Sun Tzu?
D.B.:Eh, no, no, no. A different warrior: Batman, volume 1, number 624.
7John Becker in Becker
Set in the Bronx, the sitcomBeckerfeatures Danson asJohn Becker, a gruff, twice-divorced doctor running a small neighborhood practice who is constantly annoyed by everything and everyone, from a flickering light, to a noisy neighbor, to his own colleagues and patients. Some of his most memorable quotes include, “Why do women always scream when they’re surprised? Can’t you just clutch your heart and drop dead like a man?” “Romance is like the cheese in the mousetrap - it baits you into position, so the cold, metal bar of reality can come down and snap your neck,” and “The world is full of idiots, and someone needs to point it out to them, or they will never know.”
6George Christopher in Bored to Death
“A little failure is good for you. Gives your face some texture.”
Bored to Deathis a neo-noir detective dramedy that ran on HBO for three seasons, from 2009 to 2011. The series’ lead, a journalist and aspiring private investigator named Jonathan Ames (Jason Schwartzman), has Danson’s character,George Christopher, a jaded magazine editor, socialite, and womanizer, as a sort of a mentor and father figure.
According toThe Columbus Dispatch, “The show’s creator didn’t just sketch George’s persona from the likes of famous journalists. He modeled George’s clothes after pictures of Gay Talese’s colorful wardrobe. He drew inspiration for plots from news about the Manhattan media. And he infused the script with references to the state of print publishing. The concept for George was a Plimpton-esque figure, as the first name suggests. Plimpton’s misadventures and boozy man-about-town image as editor ofThe Paris Reviewseemed the perfect inspiration.”
5Arthur Frobisher in Damages
Thelegal dramaand psychological thriller seriesDamagesstarred Glenn Close and Ryan Phillipe and spanned five seasons, from 2007 to 2012. Danson portrays the role of the charismatic and arrogantArthur Frobisher, a billionaire and family man accused of embezzlement. On playing this type of character, Danson confessed toThe Denver Post, “I’ve never had carte blanche to be as narcissistic, except in real life, as I did in this part. When I was in my 30s, playing an easygoing, womanizing bartender was great. But when you’re in your ’60s, this is way more fun. I’m so grateful to be part of this cast, part of this show. It has made me really excited about going to work as an actor again, and that is worth everything to me.”
4Sam Malone in Cheers
“I’ve never met an intelligent woman I’d want to date.”
Danson will mostly be remembered for his breakout role as the cynical bar owner, philanderer, and recovering alcoholicSam Malonein the beloved sitcomCheers, from 1982 to 1993, opposite Kirstie Alley, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger, Kelsey Grammer, and Woody Harrelson. Though the show made him a star, the actor was never comfortable portraying someone so different from himself.
PerMel Magazine, “Danson wasn’t a drinker, wasn’t really a jock, never considered himself god’s gift to women. He didn’t have Sam’s strut, and he certainly didn’t know how to mix a cocktail. He didn’t think it would work, so, of course, he was perfect in the role. When he tells that story now about his initial insecurities, people are always surprised he thought he was all wrong to be Sam. Sam Malone is a guy in real life you ought to hate. But despite his horndog worldview, he’s a lovely guy — loyal to his friends, a good boss, happy to put people at ease.”
Sam:I’m Sam Malone, by the way.
Henri:Ooh. I’ve heard about you in France.
Sam:Oh yeah. You follow baseball?
Henri:No, stewardesses.
Danton also appeared as Sam Malone inCheers' spin-off comedy series,Frasier, which followed his psychiatrist friend, Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), back to his hometown of Seattle as a radio show host.
3Admiral Thomas Perry in The Orville
Inspired by the iconicspace opera showsStar Trek: The Original SeriesandStar Trek: The Next Generation, as well as theStar Warsmovies,The Orvilleis both a parody and an homage to the genre. Danson appears in seven episodes asAdmiral Thomas Perry, a capable leader who excels in diplomatic talks but later betrays the Planetary Union.
2Sheriff Hank Larsson in Fargo
In season two of the award-winning black comedy crime anthology dramaFargo, Danson portrays the role ofHank Larsson, a Minnesota Sheriff and a World War II veteran. The story is set in 1979, and Hank has to deal with an interstate crime conflict while protecting his beloved granddaughter. In an interview withVariety, the actor expressed his admiration for the show’s first season and described his character as “an old-time quiet cowboy hero kind of guy. He’s not overwhelmed by the senselessness around him, the violence, but he’s saddened. So, he tries to do something about it. But for me, it’s just wonderful; he’s this guy who ends up standing up against the bad guys in this gunfight he can’t win.”
1Michael in The Good Place
“This is magic. We’re talking about ethics and decency and what it means to live a good life, and that there are consequences to your actions. I love when 12-year-olds and their parents come up and tell me how much they love watchingThe Good Place.I’m just really grateful that I got to be part of a show that I think actually, in a wonderful, silly, happy, uplifting way, means something."
- Danson toVanity Fair
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Netflix’s critically acclaimed fantasy comedy seriesThe Good Placefollows several people in the afterlife over the span of four seasons. It stars Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and D’Arcy Carden. As for Danton, he plays the complex immortal demonMichael, an afterlife architect and torturer who is fascinated with human quirks, their food, and their ordinary, mundane objects. He grows so fond of the tight-knit group of people under his supervision that he aspires to lead a mortal, human life.
