Ted Danson
Ted Danson is an Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award-winning actor known for an array of exceptional performances, most memorably for his portrayal of Boston bartender Sam Malone on NBC’s multi-award winning and iconic comedy “Cheers,” which ran for 11 seasons and won three Emmys as Best Comedy Series. More recently, Danson can be seen playing himself in the quintessential comedy “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which recently concluded its 12th and final season on HBO. Danson also starred in the acclaimed NBC comedy “The Good Place,” for which he was nominated for his 14th Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor and received a Critics Choice Award for his role as ‘Michael’.
Previously, Danson starred in "Mr. Mayor,” an NBC comedy series written and executive- produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. Danson also had a prominent role in the second season of FX’s critically acclaimed series “Fargo.” Other credits include CBS’ long-running “CSI” and “CSI: Cyber,” FX’s “Damages” (playing tycoon Arthur Frobisher) and CBS’ “Becker” – the latter two roles for which he was Golden Globe nominated.
Next, Danson will be starring the upcoming Netflix comedy series, “A Classic Spy,” written and executive produced by “The Good Place” creator, Mike Schur. Based on the Oscar-nominated documentary, “The Mole Agent,” the series will follow a retired man who gets a new lease on life when he answers an ad placed by a private investigator and goes undercover in a retirement home.
In film, Danson appeared in “Hearts Beat Loud,” a musical drama that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2018. He has also appeared in several other high-profile projects, including the 1987 blockbuster hit “Three Men and a Baby” and its sequel, “Three Men and a Little Lady.” He also had a co-starring role in Steven Spielberg’s World War II masterpiece “Saving Private Ryan.”
Raised outside Flagstaff, Ariz., Danson attended Stanford University and became interested in drama during his second year in school. He then transferred to Carnegie Mellon University and graduated with his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama. After graduation, he was hired as an understudy in Tom Stoppard’s Off Broadway production “The Real Inspector Hound.” Danson relocated to Los Angeles in 1978 to manage the Actor’s Institute for a year-and-a-half while he taught there. Six months after his arrival in L.A., Danson earned a role in “The Onion Field” and also co-starred in the TV movie “The Women’s Room.”
In addition to acting and producing, Danson is an environmental activist, co-founding the American Oceans Campaign (AOC) in 1987 to alert Americans to the life-threatening hazards created by oil spills, off-shore development, toxic wastes, sewage pollution and other ocean abuses. The AOC merged with Oceana in 2001. Oceana works to show citizens how they can participate in protecting and restoring marine resources, and to show Congress that Americans are concerned with these issues.
Danson resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Mary Steenburgen.