Danny DeVito

Acting

Danny DeVito

Born 1944-11-17 · Asbury Park, New Jersey, USA

Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. (/dəˈviːtoʊ/ də-VEE-toh; born November 17, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and filmmaker. Known for his short stature, raspy voice, distinct accent, and energetic comedy roles, he gained prominence for his portrayal of the taxi dispatcher Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983), which won him a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. Since 2006, he has played Frank Reynolds on the FX/FXX sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. DeVito is known for his film roles in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Terms of Endearment (1983), Romancing the Stone (1984), The Jewel of the Nile (1985), Ruthless People (1986), Throw Momma from the Train (1987), Twins (1988), The War of the Roses (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Jack the Bear (1993), Junior (1994), Matilda (1996), L.A. Confidential (1997), The Big Kahuna (1999), Big Fish (2003), Deck the Halls (2006), When in Rome (2010), Wiener-Dog (2016), and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019). He has voiced roles in such films as Disney's Hercules (1997), The Lorax (2012), Smallfoot (2018), and Migration (2023). In 1991, DeVito and Michael Shamberg founded production company Jersey Films. Soon afterwards, Stacey Sher became an equal partner. The production company is known for films such as Pulp Fiction (1994), Garden State (2004) and Freedom Writers (2007). He would later create a second production company, Jersey Films 2nd Avenue, with his daughter, Lucy, and son, Jake. DeVito also owned Jersey Television, which produced the Comedy Central series Reno 911!. DeVito and his wife Rhea Perlman starred together in his 1996 film Matilda, based on Roald Dahl's children's novel. DeVito was also one of the producers nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture for Erin Brockovich (2000). From 2012 to 2013, DeVito played Willie Clark in the West End revival of Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. He made his Broadway debut as Gregory Solomon in the revival of Arthur Miller's The Price (2017), earning a Tony Award nomination for his performance. He returned to Broadway in the Theresa Rebeck play I Need That (2023). Description above from the Wikipedia article Danny DeVito, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice poster
6.9

After a family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still haunted by Betelgeuse, Lydia's life is turned upside down when her teenage daughter, Astrid, accidentally opens the portal to the Afterlife.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

2024

Jumanji: The Next Level poster
6.9

As the gang return to Jumanji to rescue one of their own, they discover that nothing is as they expect. The players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored in order to escape the world’s most dangerous game.

Jumanji: The Next Level

2019

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest poster
8.4

A petty criminal fakes insanity to serve his sentence in a mental ward rather than prison. He soon finds himself as a leader to the other patients—and an enemy to the cruel, domineering nurse who runs the ward.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1975

Migration poster
7.4

After a migrating duck family alights on their pond with thrilling tales of far-flung places, the Mallard family embarks on a family road trip, from New England, to New York City, to tropical Jamaica.

Migration

2023

The Lorax poster
6.5

A 12-year-old boy searches for the one thing that will enable him to win the affection of the girl of his dreams. To find it he must discover the story of the Lorax, the grumpy yet charming creature who fights to protect his world.

The Lorax

2012

Men in Black poster
7.2

After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies.

Men in Black

1997

Hercules poster
7.5

Bestowed with superhuman strength, a young mortal named Hercules sets out to prove himself a hero in the eyes of his father, the great god Zeus. Along with his friends Pegasus, a flying horse, and Phil, a personal trainer, Hercules is tricked by the hilarious, hotheaded villain Hades, who's plotting to take over Mount Olympus!

Hercules

1997

Matilda poster
7.2

Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.

Matilda

1996

Batman Returns poster
7.0

The monstrous Penguin, who dwells in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with corrupt mayoral candidate Max Shreck to topple the Batman once and for all. But when Shreck's timid assistant Selina Kyle finds out, and Shreck tries to kill her, she's transformed into the sexy Catwoman. She teams up with the Penguin and Shreck to destroy Batman, but sparks fly unexpectedly when she confronts the caped crusader.

Batman Returns

1992

Mars Attacks! poster
6.4

A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim, "come in peace." U.S. President James Dale receives assurance from science professor Donald Kessler that the Martians' mission is a friendly one. But when a peaceful exchange ends in the total annihilation of the U.S. Congress, military men call for a full-scale nuclear retaliation.

Mars Attacks!

1996

Space Jam poster
6.8

With their freedom on the line, the Looney Tunes seek the help of NBA superstar Michael Jordan to win a basketball game against a team of moronic aliens.

Space Jam

1996

Austin Powers in Goldmember poster
6.0

The world's most shagadelic spy continues his fight against Dr. Evil. This time, the diabolical doctor and his clone, Mini-Me, team up with a new foe—'70s kingpin Goldmember. While pursuing the team of villains to stop them from world domination, Austin gets help from his dad and an old girlfriend.

Austin Powers in Goldmember

2002

L.A. Confidential poster
7.8

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

L.A. Confidential

1997

The Virgin Suicides poster
7.1

A group of male friends become obsessed with five mysterious sisters who are sheltered by their strict, religious parents.

The Virgin Suicides

2000

Romancing the Stone poster
6.8

Though she can spin wild tales of passionate romance, novelist Joan Wilder has no life of her own. Then one day adventure comes her way in the form of a mysterious package. It turns out that the parcel is the ransom she'll need to free her abducted sister, so Joan flies to South America to hand it over. But she gets on the wrong bus and winds up hopelessly stranded in the jungle.

Romancing the Stone

1984

Last Action Hero poster
6.5

After his father's death, a young boy finds solace in action movies featuring an indestructible cop. Given a magic ticket by a theater manager, he is transported into the film and teams up with the cop to stop a villain who escapes into the real world.

Last Action Hero

1993

Big Fish poster
7.7

Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.

Big Fish

2003

Dumbo poster
6.6

A young elephant, whose oversized ears enable him to fly, helps save a struggling circus, but when the circus plans a new venture, Dumbo and his friends discover dark secrets beneath its shiny veneer.

Dumbo

2019

Jumanji: Open World poster
NR

Our heroes have escaped the ever-changing jungles of Jumanji before, but this time the game comes to us - as Jumanji breaks free of its console, unleashing its chaos into our world.

Jumanji: Open World

2026

Man on the Moon poster
7.2

The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.

Man on the Moon

1999

The Rainmaker poster
7.0

Fresh out of law school and desperate for work, idealistic rookie Rudy Baylor takes on a powerful insurance company accused of denying a dying boy’s claim. Teaming up with a scrappy, unlicensed paralegal, he finds himself in a David-versus-Goliath courtroom battle that tests his ethics, courage, and belief in justice.

The Rainmaker

1997

Throw Momma from the Train poster
6.2

Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.

Throw Momma from the Train

1987

Smallfoot poster
6.8

A bright young yeti finds something he thought didn't exist—a human. News of this “smallfoot” throws the simple yeti community into an uproar over what else might be out there in the big world beyond their snowy village.

Smallfoot

2018

Junior poster
5.2

A research scientist becomes the world's first pregnant man in order to test a drug he and a colleague have designed for expectant women. To carry out the trial, he has an embryo implant, believing that he will only carry the baby for three months – hardly expecting to face the prospect of giving birth.

Junior

1994

Behind the camera

Matilda poster
7.2

Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.

Matilda

1996

Matilda poster
7.2

Matilda Wormwood is an brilliant and intelligent little girl. Unfortunately, her parents, Harry and Zinnia, fail to see that fact. As time passes, she finally starts school and has a kind teacher, loyal friends, and a terrifying, sadistic headmistress. As she becomes fed up with the constant cruelty, she discovers she has a special gift that she just might be able to use to outwit the unruly adults around her.

Matilda

1996

A Walk Among the Tombstones poster
6.3

Private investigator Matthew Scudder is hired by a drug kingpin to find out who kidnapped and murdered his wife.

A Walk Among the Tombstones

2014

Gattaca poster
7.6

Vincent is an all-too-human man who dares to defy a system obsessed with genetic perfection. He is an "In-Valid" who assumes the identity of a member of the genetic elite to pursue his goal of traveling into space with the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation.

Gattaca

1997

Erin Brockovich poster
7.4

A twice-divorced mother of three who sees an injustice, takes on the bad guy and wins -- with a little help from her push-up bra. Erin goes to work for an attorney and comes across medical records describing illnesses clustered in one nearby town. She starts investigating and soon exposes a monumental cover-up.

Erin Brockovich

2000

Man on the Moon poster
7.2

The story of the life and career of eccentric avant-garde comedian, Andy Kaufman.

Man on the Moon

1999

Freedom Writers poster
7.9

A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

Freedom Writers

2007

Throw Momma from the Train poster
6.2

Larry Donner, an author with a cruel ex-wife, teaches a writing workshop in which one of his students, Owen, is fed up with his domineering mother. When Owen watches a Hitchcock classic that seems to mirror his own life, he decides to put the movie's plot into action and offers to kill Larry's ex-wife, if Larry promises to murder his mom. Before Larry gets a chance to react to the plan, it seems that Owen has already set things in motion.

Throw Momma from the Train

1987

Along Came Polly poster
6.0

Reuben Feffer is a guy who's spent his entire life playing it safe. Polly Prince is irresistible as a free-spirit who lives for the thrill of the moment. When these two comically mismatched souls collide, Reuben's world is turned upside down, as he makes an uproarious attempt to change his life from middle-of-the-road to totally-out-there.

Along Came Polly

2004

How High poster
6.4

Jamal and Silas, two ordinary guys who smoke something magical, pass their college entrance exams with flying colors and end up at Harvard. Ivy League ways are strange but Silas and Jamal take it in a stride -- until their supply of supernatural smoke runs dry. That's when they have to start living by their wits and rely on their natural resources to make the grade.

How High

2001

Get Shorty poster
6.5

Chili Palmer is a Miami mobster who gets sent to L.A. to collect a bad debt from Harry Zimm, a Hollywood producer who specializes in cheesy horror films. When Chili meets Harry's leading lady, the romantic sparks fly. After pitching his own life story as a movie idea, Chili learns that being a mobster and being a Hollywood producer really aren't all that different.

Get Shorty

1995

The War of the Roses poster
6.9

Barbara and Oliver Rose live happily as a married couple. When Barbara starts to wonder what life would be like without Oliver and likes what she sees, the two begin a campaign to force each other to leave their house, with their divorce lawyer D'Amato caught in the middle.

The War of the Roses

1989

Out of Sight poster
6.7

Meet Jack Foley, a smooth criminal who bends the law and is determined to make one last heist. Karen Sisco is a federal marshal who chooses all the right moves … and all the wrong guys. Now they're willing to risk it all to find out if there's more between them than just the law.

Out of Sight

1998

Be Cool poster
5.5

Disenchanted with the movie industry, Chili Palmer tries the music industry, meeting and romancing a widow of a music executive along the way.

Be Cool

2005

Reality Bites poster
6.5

A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As they struggle to map out survival guides for the future, the Gen-X quartet soon begins to realize that reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Reality Bites

1994

Duplex poster
6.1

When a young couple buys their dream home, they have no idea what the sweet little old lady upstairs is going to put them through!

Duplex

2003

Death to Smoochy poster
5.9

Tells the story of Rainbow Randolph, the corrupt, costumed star of a popular children's TV show, who is fired over a bribery scandal and replaced by squeaky-clean Smoochy, a puffy fuchsia rhinoceros. As Smoochy catapults to fame - scoring hit ratings and the affections of a network executive - Randolph makes the unsuspecting rhino the target of his numerous outrageous attempts to exact revenge and reclaim his status as America's sweetheart.

Death to Smoochy

2002

Relative Strangers poster
5.3

An uptight professional meets his lower-class biological parents for the first time.

Relative Strangers

2006

Hoffa poster
6.3

A portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt.

Hoffa

1992

Hoffa poster
6.3

A portrait of union leader James R. Hoffa, as seen through the eyes of his friend, Bobby Ciaro. The film follows Hoffa through his countless battles with the RTA and President Roosevelt.

Hoffa

1992

Reno 911!: Miami poster
5.8

A rag-tag team of Reno cops are called in to save the day after a terrorist attack disrupts a national police convention in Miami Beach during spring break. Based on the Comedy Central series.

Reno 911!: Miami

2007

The Caveman's Valentine poster
5.9

Romulus, a misunderstood musician turned recluse hiding from personal demons in a New York City cave, finds the frozen body of a young drifter in a tree. The authorities, including his police officer daughter, claim the death is accidental. Romulus is convinced the man was murdered by a prominent art photographer but how can he prove he's right when everyone thinks he's insane?

The Caveman's Valentine

2001

Even Money poster
5.6

Gambling addiction bring the stories of three otherwise unconnected people together as it destroys each of their lives.

Even Money

2007

Feeling Minnesota poster
5.4

Sam Clayton's marriage to ex-stripper Freddie comes about when she's strong-armed into the match by Red, a club proprietor who once did her a favor. But Freddie falls in love with Jjaks, Sam's brother, and the pair tries to escape the situation together. It isn't long before both Sam and Red catch up with them, resulting in threats against the two of them -- although tension also starts to build between Sam and Red.

Feeling Minnesota

1996