NAME: Ted Danson
BORN: 29/12/1949
BIRTH PLACE: San Diego, CA, USA
BIOGRAPHY
Though probably one TV’s most famous Bostoners, thanks to ‘Cheers’, Danson actually grew up near the Navajo reservation in Arizona.
His father was a prominent museum director and archaeologist, and sent Ted to Kent School, Connecticut. From there, Ted moved back out west to Stanford University.
Whilst attempting to impress a female student, who was an aspiring actress, Ted found himself at his first acting audition. Loving it, he transferred his studies to the drama department at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1978, Ted trained with Dan Fauci at the famous Actor’s Institute.
Ted initially only secured non-speaking roles, and moved into the world of TV commercials, with some performances which would come back to haunt him later.
It was playing a slimy villain in ‘Somerset’ on NBC that Danson first came to prominence. In 1978, he received his first film role, as a murdered policeman in ‘The Onion Field’. This was followed by a performance in the 1981 movie, ‘Body Heat’, and an occasional part in the hit TV comedy, ‘Taxi’.