Celebrity Nooz: Dan Hedaya

Dan Hedaya (Actor) - Cheers

Updated: 7/10/23

Name: Dan Hedaya

Birth Name: Dan Hedaya

Born: July 24, 1940 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Nickname: Dan "The Man" Hedaya

Claim To Fame: Dan Hedaya is an American actor best known for his supporting roles in numerous films like Blood Simple (1984), Commando (1985), The Addams Family (1991), Rookie of the Year (1993), Clueless (1995), The First Wives Club (1996), Alien: Resurrection (1997), just to name a few, and on TV as Carla Tortelli's ex-husband Nick on the sitcom Cheers and its short-lived spinoff The Tortellis.

Family Life: N/A

Info: Born to a Sephardic Jewish family from Aleppo, Syria.

Graduated from Tufts University in 1962.

Before becoming an actor he taught junior high school for several years.

Studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.

He often plays Italian-American characters on-screen.

Trivia: During the 1980s Hedaya also appeared in the television series Miami Vice.

Along with 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.

In films, Hedaya has played the evil dictator and the secondary antagonist Arius in 1985's Commando and Mel Horowitz, the father of Alicia Silverstone's Cher, in the 1995 film Clueless.

He played a husband who plots his wife's murder in the first Coen Brothers film, Blood Simple.

His resemblance to Richard Nixon led to his being cast as the former president for the film Dick.

He also appeared as the long-lost father of Adrian Monk on Monk.

Where Are They Now: We haven't seen Dan Hedaya on the big or small screen since 2021. Hopefully, it's just a brief pause for the talented character actor. I'd love to see him again. Maybe there could be a Cheers revival series? Fingers crossed!

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