Danny Thomas (Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 - February 6, 1991) was an American actor, singer, comedian, producer, and philanthropist.
With a long, varied career working in nightclubs and on radio, Thomas became an early star of US network TV, frontingThe Danny Thomas Show (aka Make Room for Daddy) (1953-1964). He also starred in the 1952 remake of The Jazz Singer, and the later followup to his earlier show, Make Room For Granddaddy (1970-1971). But he was also very prolific behind the scenes as a producer, most famously with The Andy Griffith Show (which debuted via a Poorly Disguised Pilot episode of Make Room for Daddy in which Thomas's character Danny Williams gets arrested in Mayberry, North Carolina for running a stop sign).
His other major legacy is as the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee in 1962, named by the devoutly Catholic Thomas after his favorite saint (the patron saint of desperate causes).
He was married to Rose Marie Mantell Thomas and had three children, including actress Marlo Thomas and producer Tony Thomas.
Thomas died in 1991 at the age of 79 after suffering a heart attack.
Filmography
Film Roles
- 1947: The Unfinished Dance as Mr. Paneros
- 1948: Big City as Cantor David Irwin Feldman
- 1951: Call Me Mister as Stanley
- 1951: Ill See You In My Dreams as Gus Kahn
- 1952: The Jazz Singer as Jerry Golding
- 1964: Looking For Love as Danny Thomas
- 1966: Dont Worry Well Think Of A Title as Diner Customer (Uncredited Role)
- 1972: Journey Back to Oz as The Tinman
- 1978: Three On A Date as Man in Airport (uncredited) (also producer)
- 1988: Side By Side as Charlie Warren
Television Roles
- 1953-1964: The Danny Thomas Show as Danny Williams/Robert Browning
- 1958: The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour as Danny Williams
- 1961: The Joey Bishop Show as Danny Williams
- 1970-1971: Make Room For Granddaddy as Danny Williams (also producer)
- 1953-1959: The Jack Benny Program as Danny Thomas (2 episodes)
- 1959-1961: Zane Grey Theatre as Ed Dubro/Gino Pelletti (2 episodes)
- 1963: The Dick Van Dyke Show as Kolak
- 1965: The Lucy Show as Danny Thomas
- 1967: The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour as Cameo
- 1967: Get Smart as Man on Street
- 1969-1971: That Girl as Danny Thomas/Priest (2 episodes)
- 1971: The Mod Squad as The Good Friend
- 1973: Here's Lucy as Danny Gallupi
- 1974: McCloud as Marcus Rubin
- 1976-1977: The Practice as Dr. Jules Bedford
- 1978: Happy Days as Sean Cunningham
- 1978: Kojak as Assistant Chief Howard Brokaw
- 1980-1981: Im A Big Girl Now as Dr. Benjamin Douglass
- 1982-1984: Benson as Albert Breyer/Charlie Rosano (2 episodes)
- 1986-1989: It's a Living as Mr. Dee/Dr. Jacobs (2 episodes)
- 1991: Empty Nest as Dr. Leo Brewster
Shorts
- 1952: Screen Snapshots Hollywood On The Ball as Danny Thomas
Himself
- 1967-1968: The Danny Thomas Hour As Himself (also producer)
Producer
- 1957-1963: The Real Mc Coys
- 1959: Love And Marriage
- 1961-1964: The Joey Bishop Show
- 1961-1966: The Dick Van Dyke Show
- 1963: The Andy Griffith Show
- 1963-1964: The Bill Dana Show
- 1964: The Tycoon
- 1967: Rango
- 1967: Cricket on the Hearth
- 1967-1968: The Guns Of Will Sonnett
- 1968-1973: The Mod Squad
- 1969: The New People
- 1969: The Over The Hill Gang
- 1969: Wake Me When The War Is Over
- 1969: The Monk
- 1969: The Pigeon
- 1969: The Ballad Of Andy Crocker
- 1970: Carters Army
- 1972: Second Chance
- 1974: Remember When
- 1979: Samurai
- 1979: The Return Of The Mod Squad
- 1979: Starting Fresh (short)
- 1979: Featherstones Nest (short)
- 1979: The Unbroken Circle A Tribute To Mother Maybelle Carter
Director
- 1962-1964: The Danny Thomas Show (35 episodes)
- 1964: The Bill Dana Show
- 1967: The Danny Thomas Hour
- 1970: Make Room For Granddaddy
Writer
- 1950: All Star Revue
- 1960-1968: The Andy Griffith Show
Tropes pertaining to Thomas' works:
- Premature Aggravation: The "jack story", popularised by him. A travelling salesman gets a flat tire on a country road, and he starts walking along the road looking for a house to borrow a jack from. He gets increasingly aggravated during the troublesome journey, and starts imagining various reasons he's going to get rejected—they don't have a jack, he looks too suspicious, etc.—and after he finally reaches a house and knocks, as soon as the door is opened he just shouts "Keep your damn jack!" and storms off.
