Ted Danson Actor Profile and Early Career
Ted Danson is an American actor, producer, and author born Edward Bridge Danson III on December 29, 1947, in San Diego, California. He graduated from Stanford University in 1970 with a B.A. in drama and later studied at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Danson began his professional acting career in the late 1970s, making his television debut in the 1978 TV movie The Dain Curse. His breakthrough came with the role of Dr. John Becker in the CBS sitcom Becker, which ran from 1998 to 2004, but he first gained widespread recognition as a lead in Cheers, which aired from 1982 to 1993 and was produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions for NBC.
Danson's early film work includes supporting roles in Body Heat (1981), Three Men and a Baby (1987), and Cousins (1989). He founded the production company Cloud Nine Productions in the 1990s, which developed several comedy and drama projects for broadcast and streaming platforms. His career trajectory reflects a sustained presence in both network television and major studio films, supported by roles in projects tied to companies such as Warner Bros. Television and CBS Studios.
Major Television Roles and Awards
Ted Danson is best known for playing Sam Malone in Cheers (1982–1993), which aired on NBC and was produced by Charles-Burrows-Charles Productions and Paramount Television. He later starred as Dr. John Becker in Becker (1998–2004) on CBS, and as D.B. Russell in the CBS procedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation from 2011 to 2015. In 2024, he returned to television with the Apple TV+ limited series A Man on the Inside, produced by Aggregate Films and 20th Television.
Danson has received multiple Emmy Awards and Golden Globe nominations for his television work. He won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for Cheers and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2000. His performance in the 1993 HBO film The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleading-Murdering Mom earned him additional critical recognition. He has also been nominated for Screen Actors Guild Awards for ensemble work in television.
Ted Danson Net Worth, Personal Life, and Recent Projects
As of recent public reporting, Ted Danson's estimated net worth is approximately $80 million, accumulated through decades of television and film work, production deals, and endorsement partnerships. He has been married to actress Mary Steenburgen since 1995, and the couple frequently appears together at industry events and philanthropic initiatives. Danson has been active with environmental organizations, including the American Oceans Campaign, which he co-founded in the 1980s.
In recent years, Danson has continued to work across film and television. He appeared in the 2022 film BlackBerry and the 2023 limited series A Man on the Inside for Apple TV+. He also serves as an executive producer on several projects through Cloud Nine Productions and has been involved in content deals with major studios and streaming platforms including Apple, Netflix, and Amazon Studios. Public records and industry databases list him