Danny Thomas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Danny Thomas (disambiguation).
Danny Thomas (January 6, 1914 – February 6, 1991) was an American nightclub comedian and television and film actor of Lebanese Maronite Christian descent. Danny Thomas was born Amos Yakhoob in Michigan. He first performed under his Anglicized birth name, Amos Jacobs, before settling on Danny Thomas. He lived in various cities as a child, including Toledo, OH and Rochester, NY.
On the big screen he starred in the 1952 remake of The Jazz Singer and played songwriter Gus Kahn opposite Doris Day in the 1951 film biography I'll See You in My Dreams. But his most famous role was on his television show, Make Room for Daddy (later retitled The Danny Thomas Show to capitalize on Thomas' popularity). Thomas later became a successful television producer, working on many popular shows including The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mod Squad.
Known as a generous philanthropist, Thomas founded the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee in 1962. The hospital has treated thousands of children for childhood cancers. In 1996, two of its researchers won the Nobel Prize for medicine for their research on the immune system of children.
He was, along with Joe Robbie, one of the original owners of the Miami Dolphins, although he sold his share of the team shortly thereafter.
His children are also performers, the most famous being his daughter Marlo, who is married to Phil Donahue. His son Tony Thomas is a noted television producer, and another sister Terre Thomas, is a former actress.
He is sometimes credited for popularizing the use of the spit-take in comedy.
He and his wife, Rose Marie Mantell (born Cassaniti), were likely America's most famous Maronite([1]) couple. Rose Marie was of Italian descent. The Daily Catholic placed him 86 on the list of top 100 Catholics([2]), just above ([3]) the Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi.
He died in 1991 of a heart attack at age 77, and his funeral was at the Church of the Good Shepherd. He had completed filming a commercial for St. Jude's Hospital a few days before his death, and this final commercial aired as a tribute to him.
Danny Thomas and his wife (who died in 2000) are interred in a crypt in a mausoleum on the grounds of the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. He was a posthumous recipient of the 2004 Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.
[edit] External links
- Danny Thomas at the Internet Movie Database
- Danny Thomas at the Notable Names Database
- "Danny Thomas Story" at St. Jude
- Lebanese lobby site
- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Categories: 1914 births | 1991 deaths | American film actors | American television actors | American television producers | American philanthropists | Happy Days actors | What's My Line panelists | Congressional Gold Medal recipients | Lebanese Americans | Maronites | People from Michigan | Tau Kappa Epsilon brothers | Catholic comedians | Hollywood Walk of Fame
