Years active 1962–present | Name Dan Hedaya Role Character Actor | |
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Full Name Daniel G. Hedaya Nominations Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Movies Similar People |
Dan hedaya
Daniel G. Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals; four of his best-known roles are as Italian Mafia boss Tony Costello in Wise Guys, a cuckolded husband in the Coen brothers' crime thriller Blood Simple, Carla Tortelli's ex-husband Nick on the sitcom Cheers, and Tom Hanks's boss in Joe Versus the Volcano. He also played Mel Horowitz, the father of Cherilyn "Cher" Horowitz, played by Alicia Silverstone, in the film Clueless.
Contents
![Dan Hedaya Mindy Project Adds Clueless Star as Danny39s Dad Today39s](https://alchetron.com/cdn/dan-hedaya-35e52da9-08e9-484e-8490-117f3c5b1d2-resize-750.jpeg)
Dan hedaya in blood simple
Life and career
![Dan Hedaya danhedayaclueless001jpg](https://alchetron.com/cdn/dan-hedaya-ef805b66-049e-4afa-9b07-7562bfb1139-resize-750.jpeg)
Hedaya was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Sephardic Jewish family from Syria. His father emigrated from Aleppo. Hedaya was raised in Bensonhurst, and worked as a junior high school teacher for many years before deciding to pursue acting full-time.
![Dan Hedaya iamediaimdbcomimagesMMV5BMjE0MzQ3MjY3Nl5BMl5](https://alchetron.com/cdn/dan-hedaya-aef8f24f-ccf9-496c-87c2-e670a958c15-resize-750.jpeg)
Alongside a successful career in the movies, Hedaya has appeared in several TV roles, including Carla Tortelli's ex-husband Nick on the sitcom Cheers and its short-lived spinoff The Tortellis. He played the estranged father of Mallory Keaton's boyfriend, Nick, on the sitcom Family Ties. More recently, he played an Italian-American priest in the controversial and quickly cancelled NBC series The Book of Daniel. Adding to his list of television credits is his performance as the long-lost father of Adrian Monk on Monk. He also guest starred in 1997 and 2005 as a wisecracking lawyer on the medical drama ER.
![Dan Hedaya Dan Hedaya Pictures quotToo Big To Failquot New York Premiere](https://alchetron.com/cdn/dan-hedaya-a4d96876-73d2-43fa-8831-ad030921c43-resize-750.jpeg)
In films, Hedaya has played the evil dictator Arius in 1985's Commando and Mel Horowitz, the father of Alicia Silverstone's Cher, in the 1995 film Clueless. He played Julian Marty in the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple. His physical similarity to Richard Nixon led to his being cast as the former president for the film Dick. Hedaya appeared in several episodes of the television series Hill Street Blues as a corrupt, bigamist cop during the series' first season. During the 1980s Hedaya also appeared in the television series Miami Vice.