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Friday, August 2, 1996
J-Pegged
Danny DeVito

By Jane Wollman Rusoff

ANNY DEVITO'S birth put a crimp in his mother's bowling plans for the day, which may explain why he came into the world with a bowling pin-shaped birthmark on his thigh. ("It was so embarrassing; all my relatives would be sitting around having coffee, and my mother would tell the story. When I was a baby, I didn't know any better, so when she said, 'Pull down your pants and show them,' I did. But when I got older, I rebelled. As soon as they started telling the story, I ran outta there--no way would they get me to drop trou.")

He stands just five feet tall, but measured on talent, he is a giant. He won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his memorable portrayal of cab dispatcher Louie DiPalma on TV's Taxi. He has gone on to star in the hit movies Ruthless People, Twins, and Batman Returns, and to direct four films, including The War of the Roses. His latest effort--which he produced, directed, and co-stars in with his wife, Rhea Perlman --is Matilda , based on Roald Dahl's darkly funny children's story. His thirteen-year-old daughter, Lucy, insisted that he read the book. ("We passed it around and read a little every night. I just thought it was the cat's pajamas. When I was editing the movie, I showed it about six times to several hundred kids and each time it got good marks. My own kids gave me even higher marks than they gave the book.")

His acting-producing collaborations with Perlman began when they met, twenty-five years ago. He says that directing her in Matilda was a trouble-free experience. ("Rhea's really smart. She's always pitching and throwing things at you, and that's good because that's the way it should be.")

He found that working with the child actors on Matilda was a challenging experience. He says they had a hard time with some of the computer-generated special effects. ("In the carrot scene, for instance, there was no carrot; Mara [Wilson, who plays Matilda] had to look at a piece of dust that was backlit. I said, 'Keep your eye on the dust! Now send the dust back to your brother!' What the fuck is that--excuse my language--for a little kid to be doing!")

He is fearless about taking creative chances, which sometimes gets him in trouble with studio executives. ("I feel comfortable with things that might inhibit somebody else. I love the fact that in Matilda I had the opportunity of trying to make believable a woman picking up a little girl by her pigtails and throwing her over a fence. We had the movie at Universal at one time, and they said, 'This is the first thing that goes.' I just lie down and die to keep stuff like that in. You have to stretch the envelope as far as you can.")

He was born in Neptune, New Jersey, on November 17, 1944, and raised with his four siblings in neighboring Asbury Park. He was especially close to his mother. ("She was an angel, a great mom, and pretty funny. She was born in Asbury Park and lived there all her life. She quit smoking when she was seventy-eight because she was worried. But she didn't have any major disease, she just died of old age, at eighty-six.")

He spent his summer vacations in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn at the home of his Uncle Joe and Aunt Connie. ("I had more Huckleberry Finn experiences in Brooklyn than I did down on the Jersey Shore. In those days, Flatbush was a swamp. We used to build a raft, go out into the reeds, and smoke something we called 'punk,' which we made from cattails.")

He began his comedic training as the class clown at parochial school. ("We were pretty wild. I wasn't the most concentrated student the nuns ever met.") He managed to get into a few fist fights, too. ("I had to defend myself a couple of times. But I was never the instigator.")

He now looks back on his youth as one bad haircut. ("I used to get trimmed every week, like a ritual. It was ridiculous.")

He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and started his professional acting career off-Broadway--where he met Perlman. His first major film role was in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. His first feature as director was Throw Momma From the Train, in which he co-starred with Billy Crystal . He now has his own production company, Jersey Films, which he started to "help young filmmakers," and which is about to move from Sony to Universal. ("It was a total nightmare at Sony. Even though they were paying our overhead, they wouldn't make any of our films. We did Reality Bites at Universal, Pulp Fiction at Miramax, and Get Shorty at M-G-M. If Sony had made Pulp Fiction and Get Shorty, they probably wouldn't be in such trouble now--Pulp Fiction grossed three hundred million dollars. I better quit talking because if I keep it up, I'm gonna start bad-mouthing everybody.")

He and Perlman have been married fourteen years and live in Beverly Hills with their three children: thirteen-year-old Lucy, eleven-year-old Gracie, and eight-year-old Jake. His son became fast friends with Matilda star Mara Wilson, who is also eight. ("Jake used to visit the set, and he was always clowning around; the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. He'd give me a big hug and wind up stealing the shot list out of my pocket and giving it to Mara. She picked up on it right away and did the same thing. Every day she'd give me this really warm 'Hi Danny' hug, and the next thing I knew, my reading glasses or my tea were missing.")

He endeavors to work out daily and feels healthiest when avoiding fatty foods. His self-discipline caved in, however, when shooting a scene for Matilda in which a fat boy is made to stuff himself with chocolate cake. He went home and made a cake of his own. ("It was the absolute best chocolate cake you'd ever eat. I'm telling you, it was terrific.")

He favors New York bagels over those available in Los Angeles, but remembers the dark days before L.A. had bagels at all. ("When I came here in 1975, there was no bread. Forget about bagels--there was nothing to eat! Then they opened up I & Joy Bagels, which were the closest thing you could get to a New York bagel. In New York, we used to go to a bagel store on about 83rd Street, across from Zabar's. They had really good bagels.")

He feels quite comfortable at a computer and uses it for a variety of activities. ("I write, send mail, fax, and draw on it. I go online and roam around.")

He sleeps in a king-size bed and is partial to wearing sexy pajamas. ("Black silk ones.")


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