Ted Danson names the “most remarkable” comedy actor ever
It may not have been his intention when he first got into the business, but since the genre has been responsible for basically all of his most memorable roles and performances, Ted Danson is, by default, a comedy actor by trade and reputation.
He’s carved an impressive career out of it, with the first episode of Cheers and the premiere of Netflix’s A Man on the Inside being separated by 42 years, even if he’s never really been able to shake off the stigma of being a TV actor. He’s been in a lot of movies, yes, but nobody’s ever considered him a movie star.
In between his first and most recent sitcom successes, some of Danson’s other high points include Three Men and a Baby, a comedy film, Becker, a small-screen sitcom, The Good Place, a comedy series, the second season of Fargo, a black comedy anthology, Mr Mayor, another TV sitcom, and a recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm, another comedic show.
He was in Saving Private Ryan, though, so he does have at least one stone-cold cinema classic to his name, and he’ll always be fondly remembered in Scotland for starring in the endearingly terrible and unintentionally cheesy fantasy flick, Loch Ness, in the mid-1990s, but his feature-length filmography pales in comparison to the CSI and Damage‘s veteran’s episodic back catalogue.
As you’ll have gathered, then, Danson has probably forgotten more about comedy acting than most aspiring actors will ever learn, which puts him in a knowledgeable position to comment on who should be called the greatest of all time. For him, it’s not a debate, because the conversation only involves one name.
“The truth is, Dick Van Dyke is my hero,” he explained to People. “I grew up without a television in Arizona. I mean, literally, my first TV was when I was a freshman in college. I found one on the street, hauled it up to my dorm room, tapped into some teacher’s antenna outside the window, turned it on.”
When he did, he saw an old episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, and by the end of the title sequence, “I was smitten.” Beyond his personal preferences, he suggested that the centurion’s relatability and wide-ranging appeal was key to how he connected with audiences of all ages across decades in showbusiness.
“In comedy especially, you’re recognizing a basic kindness within that person, which you have with Dick,” he offered. “He gave people a laugh. He uplifted people, and he did it in such an elegant, funny, extraordinary way.” Not content with ladling it on thick, he’s also described Van Dyke as “one of the most remarkable physical comedians we’ve ever had,” which is hardly stretching the truth.
The fact that he’s still going strong at 100 years old is remarkable in itself, and you get the sneaking suspicion that even if Danson kept going for as long as idol, he’d never consider himself capable of lacing Van Dyke’s comedic boots.
