Edward Bridge Danson III was born on December 29, 1949 in San Diego, California to parents Edward Junior, an archaeologist, and mother Jessica. Sister Jan rounded out the Danson family. He grew up living in close proximity to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona. Many of his friends were Hopi and Navajo kids. Ted started attending Kent School, a private, co-educational, prep school in Kent, Connecticut, in 1961. He excelled in Basketball there. After graduation from Kent in 1966, Danson enrolled at Stanford. Read this interesting article and learn some little known facts about actor Ted Danson you’re sure to enjoy!
Career Change
His good looks and charming personality have always been assets to Danson. Especially when it comes to the ladies. Initially, he wasn’t interested in becoming an actor. A little known fact about actor Ted Danson is that he decided to study Drama after he found himself attending an audition. He got there by trying to impress an attractive female student. Afterwards, Danson decided to transfer from Stanford to Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Drama there.
Acting Roles
One of Ted Danson’s first acting gigs was NBC’s daytime soap opera “Somerset”. It was a spin off of “Another World”. It ran from 1970 to 1976. His first film was “The Onion Field” in 1979. Some of his most known movies are “Something About Amelia ” (1984), which earned him a Golden Globe Award; “Three Men and a Baby” (1987), “Three Men and a Little Lady” (1990), “Made in America” (1993), and “Saving Private Ryan” (1998).
Of course, Ted Danson will always be known as the woman-chasing bartender “Sam Malone” in the hit sitcom “Cheers.” That show aired on NBC from 1982 to 1993. The six-foot-three-inch Danson holds the honor of being just one of the three actors who appeared in the 273 tapings of “Cheers.” A little known fact about actor Ted Danson is that he was earning $450,000 for every episode in the show’s final season.
Romance
Danson was married to actress Randy Gosch from 1970 to 1975. He then married designer Cassandra “Casey” Coates in 1977. A little known fact about actor Ted Danson is, in 1979, when his career was beginning to flourish, he nobly set his work aside for several months to care for his wife. While Casey was giving birth to the couple’s first daughter, Kate, she suffered a debilitating stroke. Their second daughter Alexis was born in 1985.
During the filming of “Made in America” in 1992, Danson and actress Whoopi Goldberg began having an affair. He and his wife divorced the following year. A little known fact about actor Ted Danson is that this made the “highest settlements of lump sum payments” list published by askmen.com. Casey-Coates Danson received $30 million in the divorce settlement.
Danson’s relationship with Goldberg ended after he showed up in blackface at a Friar’s Club roast for her in 1994.
Ted Danson then fell in love with his “Pontiac Moon” costar, Mary Steenburgen. They married in 1995 and remain married today. Danson and Steenburgen have no children together. She has a son and daughter from a previous marriage.
Being that Steenburgen is a friend of former president Bill Clinton, she and (fellow Democrat) Danson sometimes shared the Lincoln bedroom in the White House when they were dating.
Final Note: Ted Danson was named one of People Magazine’s “Sexiest Men Alive” in 2006.
