Who is Danny Thomas? A Brief Look at His Life!

• Danny was Born in Deerfield, Michigan, on January 6, 1912, to Lebanese parents.
• He Adopted the stage name “Danny Thomas” at the age of 20.
• Thomas moved to Detroit at the age of 20 and began singing on “The Happy Hour Club.”

Danny Thomas, born as Amos Muzyad Yahkoob, was a talented performer from Michigan, excelling in comedy, TV, singing, writing, producing, and humanitarian work.

He was born in Deerfield, Michigan, on January 6, 1912, to Lebanese parents. Danny later adopted the stage name “Danny Thomas,” taking “Danny” from his younger brother and “Thomas” from his older one.

Around the age of 20, he moved to Detroit and began singing on a radio show called “The Happy Hour Club.” During this time, he met Rose Mantell, a fellow performer on the show, and they fell in love, getting married in 1936.

They lived in Detroit at 93 Adelaide Street and had three children, with their daughter Marlo being the most well-known. Danny Thomas and Rose remained married until his passing.

In 1940, he moved to Chicago and later to California, where he became an actor and starred in movies, notably “The Jazz Singer” in 1952. The next year, he got his own TV show called “The Danny Thomas Show” or “Make Room For Daddy,” playing a character named Danny Williams, a family man with a wife and two kids.

At first, I thought he seemed mean on the show because he was always yelling at everyone, but I later realized it was just his way of being funny. People laughed at how exasperated he acted.

The show had a sponsor, Sanka decaffeinated coffee, which he promoted even though he said he never drank it. His preferred coffee was Maxwell House. Despite his grumpy TV persona, in real life, he was the opposite. He did something really good by founding St. Jude Hospital in 1962. People knew him as a generous and easygoing person.

He played a role in launching some of the early popular TV shows like “The Andy Griffith Show,” “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” “The Real McCoys,” “The Joey Bishop Show,” and “The Mod Squad,” among others. In an episode of “The Danny Thomas Show,” the character Sheriff Andy Taylor, played by Andy Griffith, was introduced.

In that episode, Danny’s character was caught speeding in Mayberry and was held in a cell until he paid the fine. Shortly after, Andy’s own show premiered.