Danny Thomas (born Amos Muzyad Yaqoob Kairouz; January 6, 1912 – February 6, 1991) was an American nightclub comedian, singer, actor, producer, and philanthropist whose career spanned five decades. He created and starred in one of the most successful and long-running situation comedies in the history of American network television, the eponymous Danny Thomas Show. In addition to guest roles on many of the comedy, talk, and musical variety programs of his time, his legacy includes a lifelong dedication to fundraising for charity. Most notably, he was the founder of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, a leading center on pediatric medicine with a focus on pediatric cancer. St. Jude's now has affiliate hospitals in eight other American cities as of early 2020.
Thomas's career began in films in 1947, playing opposite child actress Margaret O'Brien in The Unfinished Dance (1947) and Big City (1948). He then starred in the long-running television sitcom Make Room for Daddy (The Danny Thomas Show for the fourth season onwards) from 1953 to 1964, in which he played the lead role of Danny Williams. Oddly enough, despite his character being the nephew of Uncle Tonoose, he was actually five years older than Hans Conried, who appeared in about 21 episodes as the title character's patriarch and uncle named Tonoose. Danny Thomas was the father of Marlo Thomas, Terre Thomas, and Tony Thomas. He, his daughter Marlo, and Conried also worked on Cricket on the Heath as Caleb, Bertha, and Tackleton, respectively. He also did the voice of the Tin Man in Journey Back to Oz.
He passed away from a heart attack at age of 79 on February 6, 1991.
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