Danny Thomas

Acting

Danny Thomas

Born January 6, 1914

Died February 6, 1991 · aged 77

Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor and producer, whose career spanned five decades. Thomas was best known for starring in the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy (also known as The Danny Thomas Show). He was also the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. He is the fathe…

Known For

The Jazz SingerThe Jazz Singer · 1953
The Jazz Singer
6.01953
MovieMusicDrama
A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer.
Remember WhenRemember When · 1974
Remember When
7.01974
MovieDramaTV Movie
An uncle's (Jack Warden) memories give strength to a New England family with four sons fighting in World War II.
The Over the Hill GangThe Over the Hill Gang · 1969
The Over the Hill Gang
5.81969
MovieWesternComedy
A retired Texas Ranger and three aged pals help to clean up a town run by a crooked mayor, a drunken judge and a trigger-happy sheriff.
Journey Back to OzJourney Back to Oz · 1972
Journey Back to Oz
5.41972
MovieAnimationFamily
Dorothy and Toto return to Oz to find the Scarecrow ruling the Emerald City. Unfortunately for the new overseer, the wicked Mombi is conspiring to take over the city. With the help of the Tin Woodsman, the Cowardly Lion and other familiar friends, Dorothy sets out to save Oz.
Carter's ArmyCarter's Army · 1975
Carter's Army
4.51975
MovieTV MovieWar
A racist officer is put in charge of an all-black squad of troops charged with the mission of blowing up an important hydro-dam in Nazi Germany. Their failure would delay the Allies' advance into Germany, thus prolonging the war.
The MonkThe Monk · 1969
The Monk
8.01969
MovieMysteryThriller
Underworld attorney Leo Barnes hires Gus Monk to safeguard a valuable envelope containing information on a mobster. Monk refuses — until he meets Mrs. Barnes and jumps on a merry-go-round of viciousness and murder.
Cricket on the HearthCricket on the Hearth · 1967
Cricket on the Hearth
5.31967
MovieAnimationFamily
A delightful, animated musical version of Charles Dickens' classic tale. A Cricket on the Hearth, tells the story of a poor toymaker and his daughter whom a helpful Cricket named Crocket befriends on Christmas morning. When tragedy strikes the family, it's Crocket who comes to the rescue and restores peace and happiness.
SamuraiSamurai · 1979
Samurai
9.01979
MovieActionCrime
Lee Cantrell, a young San Francisco attorney by day, at night becomes a samurai warrior, and battles a crazed multi-millionaire who is planning to destroy the city with an earthquake machine.

Filmography

Sort
The Andy Griffith ShowThe Andy Griffith Show · 1960
The Andy Griffith Show
7.61960
SeriesComedyFamily
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.

Producer

The Lucy ShowThe Lucy Show · 1962
The Lucy Show
7.01962
SeriesComedy
The Lucy Show is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from 1962–68. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965–66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program for its second season, remained. For the first three seasons, Vivian Vance was the co-star. The earliest scripts were entitled The Lucille Ball Show, but when this title was declined, producers thought of calling the show This Is Lucy or The New Adventures of Lucy, before deciding on the title The Lucy Show. Ball won consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the series' final two seasons, 1966–67 and 1967–68.

Danny Thomas

Get SmartGet Smart · 1965
Get Smart
8.01965
SeriesComedySci-Fi & Fantasy
Get Smart is an American comedy television series that satirizes the secret agent genre. Created by Mel Brooks with Buck Henry, the show stars Don Adams, Barbara Feldon, and Edward Platt. Henry said they created the show by request of Daniel Melnick, who was a partner, along with Leonard Stern and David Susskind, of the show's production company, Talent Associates, to capitalize on "the two biggest things in the entertainment world today"—James Bond and Inspector Clouseau. Brooks said: "It's an insane combination of James Bond and Mel Brooks comedy." This is the only Mel Brooks production to feature a laugh track. The success of the show eventually spawned the follow-up films The Nude Bomb and Get Smart, Again!, as well as a 1995 revival series and a 2008 film remake. In 2010, TV Guide ranked Get Smart's opening title sequence at No. 2 on its list of TV's Top 10 Credits Sequences, as selected by readers.

Man on Street (uncredited)

The Lucy–Desi Comedy HourThe Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour · 1957
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
8.71957
SeriesComedy
The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour is a collection of thirteen one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960, and originally served as part of Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse. Its original network title was The Ford Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the first season, and The Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse Presents The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show for the following seasons. It was the successor to the classic comedy, I Love Lucy, and featured the same major cast members. The production schedule avoided the grind of a regular weekly series. Desilu produced the show, which was mostly filmed at their Los Angeles studios with occasional on-location shoots at Lake Arrowhead, Las Vegas and Sun Valley, Idaho. CBS reran the show under the "Lucy-Desi" title during the summers of 1962-1967, after which it went into syndication.

Danny Williams

RangoRango · 1967
Rango
1967
SeriesWesternComedy
Rango is an American Western situation comedy starring comedian Tim Conway which was broadcast in the United States on the ABC television network in 1967. In Rango, Conway played an inept Texas Ranger who had been assigned to the quietest post the Rangers had, Deep Wells, so as to keep him from creating unnecessary trouble. The Rangers apparently had wanted him removed from the service altogether but were prevented from doing so by the fact that his father was their commander. But he seemed to bring his own trouble with him, as crime suddenly returned to a place that had seen very little of it the prior 20 years. Also appearing in Rango was the American Indian character Pink Cloud, an overly-assimilated Indian who was very fond of the ways of the whites and whose command of the English language was generally better than theirs. The theme song co-written by Earle Hagen and sung by Frankie Laine. The series ran for less than a year. TV Guide ranked the series number 47 on its TV Guide's 50 Worst Shows of All Time list in 2002.

Producer