Happy Birthday Beard of the Day

Ted Danson

Actor. Born Edward Bridge Danson III, on December 29, 1947, in San Diego, California. Danson was raised by his father, Edward Danson, a prominent archaeologist, on a Navajo reservation in Arizona.


In 1966, Danson attended Stanford University in Stanford, California, where his interest in acting was motivated by a girlfriend and fellow drama enthusiast. In 1968, the aspiring actor transferred to the drama department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated with a drama degree, but soon abandoned stage acting for the profitable world of television commercials, where he won attention as the suave "Aramis Man."


Danson's first continual TV role was that of a villain on the NBC soap opera Sommerset (1974-76). Movie offers soon followed, and Danson landed his first part as a cop in the 1979 film The Onion Field. In the early ‘80s, he was featured in a few unsuccessful TV movies, including The Women's Room (1980) and Our Family Business (1981). His most acclaimed project during this period was in the sultry film noir Body Heat (1981), alongside stars Kathleen Turner and William Hurt.


Danson first achieved national recognition for his portrayal of the skirt-chasing bartender Sam "Mayday" Malone on NBC's comedy series Cheers (1982). Danson played the role for 11 seasons, during which he earned a Golden Globe Award, two Emmy Awards, and several Emmy nominations. During this time, he also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Miniseries for Something About Amelia (1984), as a father who seeks help for sexually abusing his daughter.


While he enjoyed continued success on the small screen, he intermittently tried his hand at film. In 1987, Danson, along with co-stars Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenberg, achieved critical acclaim with the hit Three Men and a Baby. A few years later, the trio of actors reprised their roles in the sequel Three Men and a Little Lady (1990).


In 1992, Danson ended his 15-year marriage to Casey Coates. Soon after, he embarked on a short-lived and highly publicized romance with actress Whoopi Goldberg. Danson is presently married to actress Mary Steenburgen. The couple wed in 1995, and manage their own production company, Anasazi Productions. Danson has two daughters: Kate, born in 1979, and Alexis, born in 1985.


In 1996, Danson returned to TV in the highly acclaimed miniseries Gulliver's Travels, and in the short-lived sitcom Ink, which paired him with Steenburgen. In the late 1990s, he landed the title role in the CBS sitcom Becker (1998), and also starred in the feature film Mumford (1999).


During his career, Danson has directed his energies toward philanthropic causes and founded the American Oceans Campaign, an organization dedicated to preserving oceans and marine wildlife.