The little giant of the big movie: 5 little-known facts from the life of Danny DeVito

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Despite his mediocre appearance and small stature, this man has achieved enchanting success in cinema. He not only became a favorite of the public all over the world, which was eagerly awaiting and waiting for films with the great and unsurpassed Danny de Vito, an actor who played dozens of roles: from comical and ridiculous to incredibly wise and soulful, but also conquered Hollywood, becoming his integral part. But few people know about what kind of person he really is outside the observation deck and thunderous applause.

1. The thorny road of marriage

In March 2017, shocking news sounded: De Vito and his wife, Rhea Perlman, after thirty-five years of marriage, parted for good. Their union was often called one of the longest and most stable in Hollywood, but this only suggests that not everything is as smooth as it seems at first glance. In a CBS News column, it was said that DeVito made a statement labeling it as a footnote to the main interview: “We're not getting a divorce, but we did break up, yes,” he said. When asked if his ex-wife was at the opening of his new Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Price, he said with great pleasure: “Of course, we are very close. Just think, we have been friends for more than forty years, and we also love each other. As it turned out, this was not the first time in the De Vito family.

In October 2012, Entertainment Tonight received confirmation from their rep that they had split up. And only a few months later, Extra arranged an interview with De Vito about the split, during which he said that they were working on reconciliation in much the same words that he said five years later. Obviously, he didn't want to talk much on this topic. But it just so happened that in 2015, Variety raised another equally sensitive topic related to the family estate in Beverly Hills, which was put up for sale, somewhere in the region of thirty-two million dollars, and this despite the fact that this the event was kept in strict confidence.

2. He started out as a hairdresser

Many actors can take a rather roundabout path to fame, but DeVito's path was the most unexpected. When he spoke with The Independent in 2006, he told about how he was in the shoes of a student of the Catholic Church, who thought that he was destined to make a career in construction, and not on stage or screen. And then he had to go one more way in order to make ends meet. By the time he started looking for work, his older sister already had her own beauty salon. And then she invited him to work for her.

At first, he was engaged in washing his hair and selecting the necessary funds, and then he became interested in makeup, so much so that he was carried away by it in earnest. As a result, Angela paid for his studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, where he took a full specialization course in beauty. From there, he stumbled upon a theater make-up class, but instead got on an audition that completely changed his future life.

3. He has a trampoline in the dressing room

Each actor has their own way to collect their thoughts and focus on their work. Danny was no exception, who told CBS News that he was crazy about jumping on a trampoline in his dressing room. And when the interviewer Martha Teichner noticed that he really had a lot of energy, he agreed, confirming this fact. It was in 2017 when DeVito was on Broadway with Mark Ruffalo in Arthur Miller's The Price. With eight performances a week, that energy could come in handy. According to George Clooney, who shared the dressing room with DeVito (based on polls from the SeriousFun Children's Network Gala via the Daily Mail), he is still the most attentive roommate he has ever had.

4. His bromance with Michael Douglas is epic

DeVito lived in New York in the late 1960s and his roommate was Michael Douglas. When Douglas was honored with the 37th Lincoln Center Film Society Chaplin Award in 2010, DeVito was there and, to make the party more interesting, he shared the story of Douglas' encounter with a poisonous snake while filming The Pearl of the Nile. When Douglas was bitten by a snake, De Vito stepped forward without hesitation to suck the poison.

DeVito told him. For his part, Douglas ended the evening by calling DeVito his “oldest friend in business,” expressing his deepest gratitude. After playing Danny in Taxi, the actor told The Independent that he faced one of the biggest challenges of his career, and that was getting into the movies. He thanks Douglas for bringing him there, saying:.

5. He goes deeper into the role

De Vito is known for many productions and plays, but most probably remember him from the comedy drama One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Not only did he play Martini in the 1975 film version with Jack Nicholson, but it was also his first off-Broadway role, and his casting in the 1971 production was a major breakthrough for him. On top of that, Danny went to great lengths to make the character as authentic as he could.

He told the New York Post that he spent some time working with patients at the Kirby Asylum and Forensic Psychiatric Center, which was home to those who were considered criminally insane:

The film was filmed at an Oregon State Hospital, where the characters involved were a mixture of actors and real patients, as well as hospital staff. The hospital administrator in the film, Dr. Spivey, was played by the actual hospital director, Dr. Dean Brooks. While filming, DeVito had a bit of a breakdown and sought Brooks' advice on how to deal with the separation anxiety he felt for an imaginary friend made to not be lonely. And yet, the actors and the whole team, while the shooting was going on, had a chance to sleep in hospital beds in real wards.

Continuing the theme -. Believe me, very few people remember them like that, much less saw them.