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Biography of Dan Hedaya
Daniel G. Hedaya was born in Brooklyn, New York, July 24, 1940. There, he was raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, in a large Sephardic Jewish family mostly by his father, who immigrated to America from Aleppo, Syria. Hedaya first performed on-stage in Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," while studying literature at Tufts University in Massachusetts, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 1962. Although he enjoyed acting Hedaya decided to continue studying at Tufts University and later became a teacher of English and math at a junior high school in New York City for job security and in order to make ends meet. However, this only lasted for a decade before he decided to return to acting in 1973 where he landed a role in a Joseph Papp Stage Production of "Macbeth." He continued on to perform with the New York Shakespeare Festival, also known as Shakespeare in the Park, an outdoor public theater in Central Park. There, he even shared the stage with Al Pacino, in a David Rabe's play, in a Vietnam War trilogy called "The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel" (1977). As well as appeared alongside with Kevin Kline in "Henry V" (1984). Hedaya made his U.S. film debut in the political drama "The Seduction of Joe Tynan" (1979), which starred Alan Alda, Barbara Harris and Meryl Streep.
Hedaya is best known for his eyebrows which have become his signature attribute. Because of this attribute of a rougher, stone-like character, Hedaya is typically portrayed as a sleazy villain or as a smart-alecky wise guy. However, it is because of this rougher exterior that it can be played towards his favor or against, and conversely appears as a comical role, or comic relief. Such as in Clueless (1995), where he plays Mel Horowitz, the father of Alicia Silverstone's Cher and a stern yet quippy attorney. Alongside a successful career in the movies (Please see Appendix A for a list of Hedaya’s Filmography), Hedaya has also performed in several TV roles. One most notable and popular character includes Nick, Carla Tortelli's ex-husband on the sitcom Cheers. This character was so well received a spinoff, called The Tortellis, was created. Unfortunately, this was short-lived. His more recent appearance on TV includes the NBC series The Book of Daniel (2006), where he played an Italian-American priest.
Hedaya is rarely a main character; however, in Blood Simple (1984) he is one of the leading roles as the jealous and violent husband of a woman he suspects is having an affair with an employee, leading him to hire a private detective to kill both. The neo-crime/horror noir film, marked the debut of brothers Joel and Ethan Coen and cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, as well as earned “Blood Simple” 98 on American Film Institute’s “100 Years... 100 Thrills” and 73 on Bravo TV's “100 Scariest Movie Moments.”
Awards
Awards for Dan Hedaya include:
· 1994, nominated for an Emmy (Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series) for his guest role as the shady man in Lou the Werewolf.
· 1999, nominated for Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role, Comedy or Musical in “Dick.”
· 1996, National Board of Review: Best Acting by an Ensemble, "The First Wives Club."
· 2006. P.T. Barnum Award from Tufts University for his exceptional work in the field of media and entertainment.
I apologize, despite my best attempts I was not able to change font color from black to white. :(
ReplyDeleteThis has been my favorite film so far, It really kept my attention and the thing about the windows last night, about in the other films having blinds and this one NOT having anything on the windows. I thought this was a bit ironic because in the earlier noir films they cant show you everything you only get a peek and the rest is up to your imagination hence the blinds... in last nights film they let it all hang out in comparison there were sex, drugs, and violence!! No window coverings.
ReplyDeleteI really like that they cast this actor in the lead role. He may get stereotyped for these types of roles, but it's because he's so good at it. Yet, I never feel he's portraying the same character in each film. (although it's still hard not to think of Nick Tortelli when I see him) lol He seems to fit well in the film noir setting and convey what we expect from the character.
ReplyDeleteI also think he was a great choice for this role. I have never actually seen him in anything where he was as dark of a a character as he was in Blood Simple. The weird thing is, even though he is it works for him, I think he should choose more dark roles like this because he pulls it off quite well.
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