Danny DeVito won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of cantankerous cab dispatcher Louie De Palma on “Taxi,” but it might not have happened after he took a big risk in his audition.
“You audition all the time. I never looked at the log line [when auditioning for a role] like: ‘Audition for male, six foot four,’ you know, ‘250 pounds,’ I’d go for the audition,” the 80-year-old told AARP this month of his aspiring actor days. “I don’t care what the description is. Once I get in the room, I’m going to do what I’m going to do. Like with ‘Taxi.’”
DeVito said that despite wanting to land the part of the diminutive bully boss on the 1978-1983 sitcom, “I walked in, they’re all sitting around, and I said with my script in my hand, ‘One thing I want to know before we start: Who wrote this s—?’ and I threw it on the table.”
He continued, “It was almost like a nanosecond of ‘Did I screw everything up?’ They fell on the floor. Louie walked into their lives. The rest is history.”
“Taxi” was DeVito’s breakthrough role, for which he won a Golden Globe in 1980 for best supporting actor and an Emmy in 1981. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for the part three times, and his portrayal earned him four total Emmy nominations.
The part eventually led to movie stardom in films like “Ruthless People,” “Twins,” “Batman Returns,” “Get Shorty” and “Matilda.”
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He also starred on the FX comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” from 2007 to 2023.
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DeVito, now 80, continues to work, but says family is a top priority for him.
“In two years, my daughters have had a baby each and since these babies have been born you’ve got to tamper me down in the joy department, I’m just like busting,” he told AARP. “There’s that saying ‘A watched pot never boils,’ so I apply that to my kids … I’ll look at them all the time, because I don’t want them to boil, I want them to take their time and grow. I tell my kids that, too. Don’t miss a thing. Don’t look away because when you look back that kid’s going to be hula-hooping.”
DeVito shares two daughters, Lucy, 41, and Grace, 39, and one son, Jacob, 37, with “Cheers” star Rhea Perlman. The couple, now separated, first met in 1971. Perlman had a recurring role as DeVito’s girlfriend on “Taxi,” and the pair also starred in “Matilda” together.
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Most recently, DeVito worked with his daughter Lucy in the movie “A Sudden Case of Christmas.”
“It was basically a story that your whole family can watch and my family’s in it,” he told AARP. “It’s just a real warm wonderful movie.”
