STRAIGHT TALK
By Jeffrey Zaslow
Issue date:
Nov. 7-9, 1997
Tony Danza:
How did he survive a bad accident, a quake and his mother's death? He made the most of second chances.
 hen his mom was dying of brain cancer four years ago, actor Tony Danza moved home to Malverne, N.Y. For six months he cared for her, retiring each night to his childhood bedroom. He was a loving son, "but after she died, I wished I could do it over. I knew I could do better. I wanted another shot."
| |  | | | On TV: Danza plays a single dad with two daughters on The Tony Danza Show (Wednesdays, 8 p.m. ET, NBC).
In photo: At The Little Door restaurant in Los Angeles. |
He dealt with his emotions in 1995 by producing, writing and acting in a 28-minute film about a son looking after his dying mother. He shot it at his mom's house. "In one scene, the son says, 'When will this be over?' Then he realizes what he's said." Danza, 46, says life is all about looking for "another shot." The former boxer has done that on many levels.After hitting it big in two sitcoms, Taxi and Who's the Boss?, he flopped in 1995's Hudson Street. Now he's back with The Tony Danza Show. At press time, it was struggling in the ratings, but he vows it will remain a family sitcom that his daughters can watch. (Danza and wife Tracy have two girls, Katie, 10, and Emily, 4; he has a son, Marc, 26, from his first marriage.) And when the show ends? He dreams of hosting a television variety show. "You have to hear this!" he says, playing a rare recording of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. in concert. Recently, Danza has gotten good reviews singing and shticking at casinos and supper clubs. He's a Rat Pack wannabe. "It's every Italian's dream: a microphone, a tuxedo and a stool." His smile fills his face, and he says bad times can remind you to embrace life's possibilities. He talks of his '93 skiing accident, when he slammed into a tree, collapsing his lung, crushing his ribs and pulling his leg from his hip socket. A month later, the Northridge earthquake destroyed his L.A. home. He has built a new house he says is so solid it's virtually quake-proof. "In an earthquake, I shouldn't run out of the house -- I should run into it."
Get a second chance, you can do things right, Danza promises.
Photo Credit: WAYNE STAMBLER FOR USA WEEKEND
ADVICE
"My theory on parenting": "Hold back the tide. Keep your kids innocent as long as possible. It's like a dike and you've got your fingers and toes in the holes, holding back an unending amount of [inappropriate] information." Danza has two daughters, 4 and 10, and a grown son.
Get comfortable with middle age: "Don't try too hard to be young. Be who you are. I did Vibe [the syndicated talk show] and I felt old and paternal. I've got ties older than people in that audience. I had a talk with myself. I said, 'You've got to deal with this better.' ''
The younger generation is gaining on you: "You can't help but see a lot of young people storming the fort. It's hard for the guy who's been around 20 years to be the hot guy."
"Keep your mind on what you're doing": Moments before his 1993 skiing accident, Danza says, "I was thinking about my mother instead of skiing. It was my first Christmas without her. I was having a big-time blah. Then -- boom!"
ASK DANZA FOR ADVICE
Tony Danza will write or call a reader who seeks advice. By Nov. 16, write to "Straight Talk," P.O. Box 3455, Chicago, Ill. 60654 (fax: 312-661-0375; e-mail: talk@usaweekend.com).
Zaslow is an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.
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