Danza Moves Beyond The Jokes
For over 20 years Tony Danza has made people laugh with his comedy work on television, but recently he has switched gears, tackling dramatic roles on both Broadway and TV. Now he's joined the cast of Family Law, which has its season premiere Monday night.
The show also stars Kathleen Quinlan as a family attorney who had to scramble to keep her family and her law firm together, after her husband left her and took most of their joint law practice with him.
In Family Law, Danza plays a left-wing lawyer who would do anything for the little guy.
Danza told CBS News Early Show Correspondent Mark McEwan that acting in a drama takes more of a commitment than acting in a sitcom.
"It's a grind to to try and constantly be the best you can be, but it's a good grind," said Danza.
Although Family Law is a drama, Danza said playing lawyer Joe Celano is fun.
"I really like him. It sort of mirrors my own political journey," said Danza. "I grew up in the '60s and went to school during the Kent State upheaval that was America at that time. So I was really left-wing, sort of power to the people, anti-establishment."
"Then you make a little money. Then you become the radical who got mugged," Danza said. "The way things are now…with globalization -- and I'm not dissing it entirely -- but with the consolidation of all the businesses, certainly in the entertainment field, you do feel like the little guy, you know, needs somebody to stand up for him."
"So I kind of like the fact that this guy sees it that way," explained Danza. "His father was a garbage man like my father and his mother was a union organizer, so he comes from that kind of background."
"In this business, there is a tendency to pigeonhole. In order to be around, you have to be constantly evolving," said Danza.
"I come from working people. I love to work. I don't want to just sit around. My mother and father worked every day of their lives...I like to have some place to go. That is who I am."
Danza said his mother always wanted him to be a lawyer. "Now I play one on TV...Funny, my mom never wanted me to be a taxi driver, then I played one on TV."
Danza's fans may be surprised that his goal is to sing and dance in a Broadway musical.
"I want to do it before I get too old. I want to be the lead, I don't want to play the dad," said Danza.
Danza, who is a big Louis Armstrong fan, also learned to play the trumpet in recent years.
"As you get older, the years fly by," said Danza. "Take advantage of that if you take up something late in life. If you stick with it, you've done it for five years, you're not going to be so bad."