Danny DeVito has been a household name since the 70s, when he starred alongside Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1975 and brought home Golden Globe and Emmy Awards for his work on the hit network show Taxi from 1978-83. Not only has he been working steadily in film and television since then, but he's also directed and starred in some of the biggest movies of the 80s and 90s. Perhaps his most notable characteristic, height (4' 10"), results from a rare genetic disorder affecting bone growth. What isn't involved, however, is his confidence, star power, or his impressive career.
DeVito revealed his comedic agility as Louie De Palma in Taxi, fueling viewers' interest in screenings of big-screen comedy offerings like Renaissance Man, Mars Attacks!, and Death to Smoochy. DeVito was integral in making Tim Burton's Batman Returns a favorite in the franchise with his polarizing yet maniacally cheeky Penguin, aka Oswald Cobblepot, a performance mesmerizing in its singularity. When he's not making movie magic, he's dispensing laughs on the long-running FX television show It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and he shows no signs of stopping. Fans of DeVito hope he never does.
10 'Get Shorty' (1995)
Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld
Get Shorty is a comedy adapted from an Elmore Leonard book centered around Miami film buff loan shark Chili Palmer (John Travolta), who travels to Hollywood to collect an outstanding debt. In a never-ending Russian doll plot, Chili finds himself in the home of B-movie producer Harry Zimm (Gene Hackman), who has amassed a sizable debt but has also made films admired by Chili. Overcome by his passion for cinema, Chili pitches a movie idea to Zimm, resulting in his new career: producing movies. In the spirit of Leonard's Jackie Brown (adapted by Tarantino from the pulp novelist's crime caper Rum Punch) and Out of Sight (adapted by Scott Frank from Leonard's novel of the same name) everything moves quickly, impossibly cool with sardonic humor and random acts of violence. The supporting cast is composed of an eclectic mix of actors from Rene Russo and James Gandolfini to cameos from Harvey Keitel and Penny Marshall as the director of the movie within the movie.
Surprisingly, Travolta wasn't Barry Sonnenfeld's first choice to play the lead role. DeVito was the actor Sonnenfeld had in mind for Chili, but he had to settle for a minor part (Martin Weir) due to shooting conflicts with the now-beloved movie Matilda. What DeVito does with the sliver of screen time became one of the funniest moments in the film. As the ego-inflated movie star, Weir, DeVito performs an impromptu audition for Chili, hilariously trying and failing to create the "look" of a mobster no one would want to "mess with." Hamming it up for the paparazzi, DeVito plays Weir with peacock-like confidence, securing the role in Chili's film and the memory of audiences in perpetuity.
Get Shorty
RComedyCrimeThrillerA mobster travels to Hollywood to collect a debt, and discovers that the movie business is much the same as his current job.
Release Date October 20, 1995 Director Barry Sonnenfeld Cast John Travolta , Gene Hackman , Rene Russo , Danny DeVito , Dennis Farina , Delroy Lindo Runtime 105 Main Genre Comedy Writers Elmore Leonard , Scott Frank Studio Jersey Films, MGM Tagline Attitude plays a part. The mob is tough - but it's nothing like show business Expand9 'Drowning Mona' (2000)
Directed by Nick Gomez
It's Ruthless People all over again in this hysterical black comedy where Bette Midler plays the title character, Mona, a woman everyone would like to see dead. Set in Verplanck, New York, the movie opens with a disclaimer about the town's background; it was the original testing site for the Yugo. The affordable hatchback car, now obsolete, was available in many colors and the only car driven by every resident -- including Mona, who drowned in a yellow one belonging to her son. Stuffed with an A-list cast consisting of Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy, Midler, and more, DeVito's Sheriff Wyatt Rash struggles to find Mona's murderer among a community of people who all had a reason to kill her.
One of the few reasonable residents in town, Sheriff Rash is a kind man and loving father with a penchant for Broadway musicals. DeVito's assignment isn't to play Sheriff Rash with humor; instead, he's perpetually orbiting audacious characters and scenarios, and the difficulty therein is not to laugh. Though he is repeatedly regaled with stories of Mona's equal opportunity abuse by the townspeople, DeVito handles Sheriff Rash with sincerity and grace reserved for monks. Rather than file suit with everyone in the community and offer disparaging descriptors, he says Mona was a "passionate and committed woman" when everyone knew she was horrible. Even if the proper adhesive wasn't applied to Jamie Lee Curtis' unfortunate wig, DeVito was the glue holding the town and the movie together.
8 'Throw Momma from the Train' (1987)
Directed by Danny DeVito
Owen Lift is an adult man living with his overbearing elderly mother (a formidable Anne Ramsey), quietly enrolled in a creative writing class at the local community college when he begins to fantasize about killing her. His writing instructor, Larry (Billy Crystal), is generally preoccupied with his ex-wife Margaret's (Kate Mulgrew) success with her debut novel because he believes she stole his book idea. Owen discovers Larry's distaste for Margaret and misconstrues Larry's writing instruction to "watch some Hitchcock movies for insight into motives and alibis," thinking Larry has agreed to reenact a murder-swapping plan from Strangers On A Train. Unbeknownst to Larry, Owen sets out to murder Larry's ex-wife, assuming Larry will kill Momma once the deed is done.
DeVito is child-like as the oft-berated live-in son of a terrifying Ramsey as his Momma. He plays Owen with a wondrous naïveté audiences haven't seen from DeVito before. Viewers are rooting for him despite planning matricide because Momma's treatment of Owen is difficult to witness. Conversely, Crystal plays Larry with initial frustration and limited patience until he meets Momma in person and agrees that she needs to go. Crystal is terrific here, continuously bewildered by Owen's thought process but conscious that Owen needs help. The pair of comedians work together with a synergy that ought to be revered, complete with outrageous physical comedy including, but not limited to, falling down a set of stairs and blows to the head with a frying pan. For fans of DeVito, this one is required viewing.
7 'Junior' (1994)
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Expect the unexpected when Austrian geneticist Dr. Alex Hesse (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and his colleague Dr. Larry Arbogast (DeVito) invent a fertility drug, "Expectane," in Ivan Reitman's second movie featuring the proportionally oppositional pair. Without approval from the FDA, the two doctors are forced to discontinue their research into reducing the chance of miscarriage in pregnancy. Determined to see their research to the end, they decide to resume testing by impregnating Dr. Hesse using an anonymous donor egg named "Junior," accidentally creating a child with fellow researcher Dr. Diana Reddin (Emma Thompson).
While the premise seemed far-fetched (especially in 1994), the winning combination of Schwarzenegger, DeVito, and especially Thompson (in one of her comedic bests) not only worked, but it was a riot. Opening the day before Thanksgiving, the movie grossed $10 million in three days and $108 million worldwide with a budget of only $60 million. Audiences and critics were split -- Roger Ebert loved it, awarding a generous 3.5 out of 4 stars for the comedy initially passed on by Woody Harrelson and Mel Gibson. The symbiotic chemistry between DeVito and Schwarzenegger audiences experienced in Twins was resurrected, and the dynamic between Thompson and Schwarzenegger was tender and playful, adding a layer of dimension to a movie that could've easily been reduced to a gimmick. With these ingredients, fans would eagerly wait in line to receive another dose administered by this crew.
6 'Hercules' (1997)
Directors: John Musker and Ron Clements
DeVito gets animated and dives in, voice first, into the character Phil, the satyr responsible for training Hercules (Tate Donovan). In this iteration, Hercules must go from "zero to hero" in a movie that deviates from the historical mythological telling of Hercules or Heracles, opting instead for a modern spin. An outcast, Hercules embarks on a journey of self-discovery to become a great hero and return to Mt. Olympus. Throughout this metamorphosis, the muses narrate through song, emulating the sound of an R&B soul group in an innovative move for the animation studio. As he rises to fame, Hercules is treated like a modern-day star, with a branded shoe design ("Air-Hercs") and figurines made in his likeness. He defeats the villain and saves his love, Meg (Susan Egan), trapped by Hades (James Woods), and with the help of his friends, becomes the man he imagined.
While the movie doesn't pack the devastating punch of The Lion King or contain hit musical numbers like Aladdin before it or Frozen, Moana, and Trolls after that, Hercules is a Disney classic worthy of a second look. The movie came during a turning point for Disney, following the departure of creative leader Jeffrey Katzenberg in 1994 and a shift in viewership from animation to live-action superhero movies beginning to crop up. Still, despite the obstacles, Hercules endures. The supporting cast of talented voice actors bolstered the film, namely, the always amusing, grumpy Phil, the dependably entertaining curmudgeon DeVito was born to play.
Hercules
GAnimationAdventureComedyfamilyFantasyMusicalRomance Release Date June 20, 1997 Director Ron Clements , John Musker Cast Tate Donovan , Josh Keaton , Roger Bart , Danny DeVito , James Woods , Susan Egan Runtime 86 Main Genre Animation Writers Ron Clements , John Musker , Don McEnery , Bob Shaw , Irene Mecchi , Barry Johnson Studio Walt Disney Pictures Tagline A Comedy of Epic Proportions Expand5 'Matilda' (1996)
Directed by Danny DeVito
By bringing Roald Dahl's novel Matilda to life, DeVito created something magical, capturing the essence of Dahl's story about vulnerability and the powerlessness often felt by children. Co-produced, directed, and starring the versatile actor, DeVito portrays Harry Wormwood, the crooked car sales representative and all-around abysmal parent to Matilda (Mara Wilson), joined by real-life wife, Rhea Perlman, as the equally unfortunate Zinnia Wormwood. Intelligent beyond her six years, young Matilda devours books and craves knowledge, to her philistine parents' dismay. Essentially traded for a used car, Matilda is enrolled in Crunchem Hall Elementary, overseen by an oppressive principal, Trunchbull (Pam Ferris). Despite every opportunity to be defeated, Matilda finds kindness and encouragement from her teacher, Mrs. Honey (Embeth Davidtz), and she's finally allowed to be her authentic self.
Clad in offensively grotesque suits, DeVito's Wormwood is a caricature of the sleaziest tax-evading, child-neglecting parent one could imagine. While Harry Wormwood is not funny, DeVito's reaction to what Matilda does to him is humorous, resulting in a memorable performance (he also narrates the feature because he wasn't doing enough already). Considered a failure at the box office, earning only a little over $10 million more than the film's budget, Matilda spread through homes like wildfire once available on video, making it more than a success. It became a children's classic. DeVito's vision, coupled with an extraordinary performance by Wilson, was a gift of validation to children worldwide and a lasting legacy for the director with the courage to bring Dahl's dark material into the light.
Matilda
PGComedyFamilyFantasy Release Date August 2, 1996 Director Danny DeVito Cast Mara Wilson , Danny DeVito , Rhea Perlman , Embeth Davidtz , Pam Ferris , Paul Reubens Runtime 98 Main Genre Comedy Writers Roald Dahl , Nicholas Kazan , Robin Swicord Tagline Somewhere inside all of us is the power to change the world. Website http://www.sonypictures.com/ Expand4 'Twins' (1988)
Directed by Ivan Reitman
Separated at birth, non-identical twins Vincent (DeVito) and Julius (Schwarzenegger) were engineered through an experimental genetics lab using six different fathers; the birth of the twins was concealed from their mother. Believing she'd only given birth to a son who didn't survive, scientists from the laboratory sent Vincent to an orphanage; Julius, the preferred specimen, was sent to live abroad and subjected to rigorous physical and mental training. Vincent grew up to become a petty thief, and Julius shows up to bail him out of jail in an attempt to explain their wild origin story, supplying documents Julius swiped from the scientists. In a moving tale of misled, lonely people discovering family and belonging, Twins was one of Reitman's best.
Channeling Vincent, DeVito demonstrated his range as he navigated an emotional journey of discovery from a resentful loner to a caring sibling in under two hours. After Twins generated commercial success, Reitman called upon Schwarzenegger for two subsequent collaborations in Kindergarten Cop and Junior, with favorable results. Initially, the spectacle created by DeVito alongside a towering Schwarzenegger might've seemed like a fun visual stunt, but perhaps what Reitman and studio executives didn't account for was the overwhelming reception and enduring love of the movie, more likely attributed to the comedic mastery of the players.
Twins
3 'Romancing the Stone' (1984)
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Joan Wilder (Kathleen Turner), a romance novelist, has traveled from America to traverse the wilds of Columbia in search of her kidnapped sister, carrying with her a treasure map to die for. In the first of several on-screen collaborations with Michael Douglas and Turner, DeVito stars in the adventure romance comedy as Ralph, a diminutive smuggler of antiquities half responsible for Joan's sister's capture. Mudslides, monster-truck off-road chases, and shoot-outs lead up to a thrilling culmination, as Ralph tracks Joan and exotic bird smuggler Jack Colton (Douglas) as they scramble to deliver the map and rescue Joan's sister before she's fed to the crocodiles.
The movie was so successful that it spurned a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, with DeVito returning as Ralph, joining forces with Joan and Jack. Studio executives were nervous Romancing the Stone would be a massive flop, but the movie surprised everyone by becoming one of the biggest hits of 1984, grossing over $115 million. Carrying a hefty Rotten Tomatoes score of 86% fresh, the movie has since become a beloved classic, emulated by romance adventure movies today; the most recent example is the Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum vehicle, The Lost City. Since the release of Romancing the Stone, there have been murmurs of further sequels, which is a testament to its stars, DeVito being one of the primary sources of repeated entertainment.
Romancing the Stone
2 'Ruthless People' (1986)
Directors: Jim Abrahams, David and Jerry Zucker
DeVito, starring as Sam Stone, reunites with Bette Midler, playing his wife Barbara, whom he hates with prejudice, after marrying her in the hopes of obtaining her family fortune. Still, her ailing father wouldn't die. Actively plotting to have his wife killed, Sam is surprised to receive a call from kidnappers (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater) who have abducted Barbara and are demanding a hefty ransom (for 1986, at least). Unaware that they're doing Sam a favor, the kidnappers are baffled that he will not pay for Barbara's release; instead, Sam purposefully ignores their demands. After offering a discounted ransom to no avail, Barbara settles in, begins exercising, and forms an unexpected bond with her captors, Ken and Sandy. Eventually, a convoluted blackmail scheme backfires, Bill Pullman gets his movie debut, and Sam is fed his just desserts.
DeVito is devilishly disgusting as a man devoid of scruples, but he's also fun to watch; in one scene, he audaciously yells into the phone at the kidnappers, "I dare you to kill her!" DeVito is committed to the role of Sam, lending an air of practiced indifference regarding the fate of another human being akin to his diabolically greedy character, Larry Garfield, from Other People's Money. Audiences loved the movie, paving the way for further opportunities for Midler and DeVito to join forces again, mainly because of how versed the actors are at creating and executing diabolical characters that viewers can't get enough of. The recent success of streaming series like Netflix's Beef proves audiences like to watch people behaving badly. DeVito, Turner, Douglas, and Midler were some of the first to do it.
1 'The War of the Roses' (1989)
Directed by Danny DeVito
The War of the Roses is possibly the best cinematic cautionary tale about the (albeit extreme) effects of accumulation and suppression of resentment in marriage. Parlaying the chemistry ignited in their previous on-screen romances in Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, Douglas and Turner return this time as Oliver and Barbara Rose, a couple once madly in love, now seeking legal advice from friend and divorce attorney Gavin D'Amatto (DeVito). Borrowing the name from a historic battle for supremacy was intentional, as the Rose's declared war against each other and their beloved house, neither party willing to concede ownership. The story of Rose's marriage is told through flashbacks by D'Amatto as he warns a new client about the pitfalls of nasty divorces, urging him to reconsider.
Appearing in front and behind the camera once again, DeVito's talent is indisputable because audiences remember Gavin despite the grandiose lengths of spiteful vengeance supplied by Douglas and Turner. DeVito is excellent as a friend-turned-legal-adviser of the Rose's. He is saddened by his inability to help them in the end but also devilishly witty while delivering the couple's story to his rapt client. Barbara and Oliver take things too far, which becomes brutal and amusing, but viewers rely on DeVito for moments of levity, and he delivers in spades. Fans of this often shocking and surprisingly funny deterioration of a relationship are legion and a testament to DeVito's gifts as an actor and director, firmly sealing his status as a screen legend.
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