Taxi's Tony Danza traded in his boxing gloves for a yellow cab
Tony Danza, known for his role as Tony Banta on the 1978 series Taxi, was risking his face in the boxing ring before he used it to make money as an actor.
He was either going to become a top fighter and never need to act, or suffer facial injuries that would end his acting career. This was the gamble Danza took for years before transitioning to full-time acting.
According to a 1980 interview with Indiana Gazette, Danza described himself as an "okay" middleweight boxer with a 10-3 professional record.
"As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, and later on Long Island, all I really cared about was fighting and one day becoming the champion of the world."
Danza continued to participate in fights while on Taxi, but he gave up on boxing once he realized he had a real chance at a future in acting. It was safer, less violent, and involved fewer risks than boxing.
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"You have to understand that boxing is like swimming," Danza said. "When you go swimming, you're going to get wet and when you box, you're going to get hit."
He began to focus solely on acting, and having a co-starring role on Taxi was the best training he could have had. Like in boxing, he went with the punches and started working hard on his acting career.
"Taxi has spoiled me," Danza said. "We did 114 shows and I don't think there was one that we were embarrassed by. My friend John Ritter says that doing Three's Company often embarrassed him, but I was never embarrassed."
Although he had little experience with acting before he began his role on Taxi, Danza said he mostly learned by doing and by watching icon and co-star, Judd Hirsch.
"I think I'm pretty good at acting now," Danza said. "And I like it because I get the same charge out of it that I got out of boxing—both give me a real high."
"When I started on Taxi, I was pretty much acting by the numbers," Danza continued. "It was like they would point to me and say 'Ok, it's your turn to say the line now,' and I would say it. Like a robot. But no more."
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