Danny DeVito is a cherished Hollywood actor since his breakout role in One flew over the cuckoo's nest almost fifty years ago. But his career really took off after landing a role in the popular comedy series Cabwhich cemented him as one of the funniest and charismatic actors working in the industry.
The actor would go on to star in over 140 movies and TV shows (and counting), including hits like LA Confidential, Twins, Batman returns, And It's always sunny in Philadelphia, to name a few. Occasionally, DeVito also dipped his toes into the word directing, like Matilda and the cult classic Death to Smoochy. Suffice it to say that the man has had a long and varied career in Hollywood.
But what many people don't realize is that the actor and sometime director also runs his own production company Jersey Films, which he co-founded with Michael Shamberg in 1991. The duo have been responsible for producing a number of hugely successful indie and mid-budget films under their production banner - some of which you've surely heard of. Here are ten movies you might not have known were actually produced by Danny DeVito.
10 Garden state
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Zac Braff's writing and directing debut Garden state was a critical hit and a huge indie darling when it was released in 2001. The film follows a 26-year-old writer and actor (played by Braff) who travels back to his New Jersey hometown after his mother suddenly dies. At home he meets Sam (played by Natalie Portman) and the two fall in love.
Braff drew from his own personal experiences in writing the film, and you definitely get a sense of his passion when you watch the film. Despite the critical discourse surrounding the film (mainly over Portman's character and how she is a prototypical "manic pixie dream girl"), Garden state is nevertheless a sweet and touching film about loss and moving on.
9 Man on the moon
Man on the moon covers the life of popular (and incredibly controversial) comedian Andy Kaufman, whose surreal and "dada" routines made him a legend on the comedy scene. Jim Carrey gives a career-defining (and equally controversial) performance as the late comedian, with his behavior during the film's production justifying his own performance. Heart of DarknessNetflix documentary in style, Jim and Andy: The great afterlife.
Danny DeVito starred alongside Andy Kaufman on the hit show Cab, with Kaufman appearing in nearly every episode of the show. DeVito not only produced the movie, but also stars as George Shapiro, the world-renowned talent manager who represented Kaufman and other comedians like Jerry Seinfeld and Carl Reiner. The film was directed by Milos Forman, who changed DeVito's life in 1975 when he cast him in One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
8 Matilda
Danny DeVito did more than just star Matilda: He also produced and directed the film. Based on the novel of the same name by Roald Dahl, the film follows Matilda (played by Mara Wilson), a child prodigy who uses her psychokinetic abilities to deal with all the mean and problematic adults in her life. The film has since become a beloved family classic, and Danny DeVito was instrumental in the film's eventual success.
But behind the scenes, DeVito's role was even more important. After the film premiered in 1996, it was revealed that Mara Wilson's mother was battling breast cancer during the film's production. DeVito and his wife Rhea Perlman - who plays Mrs. Woodward in the film - did everything they could to make sure Mara was protected and cared for. They even showed her mother a near-final cut of the film a few days before she died. In Wilson's memoirs, entitled Where am I now?, Wilson discusses how generous Devito and his wife were during that difficult time in her life.
7 Get Shortie
Danny DeVito bought the film rights to Elmore Leonard's novel Get Shortie before he even had a chance to read the book, but director Barry Schoenfield was so confident it would be a success that DeVito went ahead anyway and secured the rights. Scott Frank was hired to write the screenplay.
The film stars John Travolta as Chili Palmer, a mobster who travels to Hollywood to settle a debt, but feels called to the glitz and glamor of the movie world. The film was a huge success, with Elmore Leonard himself stating that it is perhaps the best (and his favorite) film adaptation of his works (which, given the size and longevity of his career, is saying something).
6 Out of sight
Get Shortie wasn't the only Elmore Leonard crime novel Danny DeVito produced (and Scott Frank wrote); just a year after the release of Shorty came Out of sightSteven Soderbergh's beloved adaptation.
The crime comedy stars George Clooney as Jack Foley, a bank robber who escapes prison and finds himself attracted to the US Marshall (played by Jennifer Lopez) he has taken hostage. The film was well received by critics when released, but failed to make any significant money at the box office. However, the film has developed a loving cult following in the years since, with even George Clooney considering it one of his favorite films he's ever worked on.
5 A walk among the tombstones
Scott Frank - who also wrote Get Shortie And Out of sight for DeVito's production company - wrote and directed the film A walk among the tombstonesstarring Liam Neeson as Matt Scudder, a private investigator hired by a major drug kingpin to track down the people responsible for his wife's kidnapping and murder.
Adapted from a novel written by Lawrence Block, the film is the tenth book in a series of nineteen starring former police officer/private investigator Matthew Scudder. The movie was a minor success when it was released, thanks to Liam Neeson's late-career resurgence as a major action movie star, but the movie didn't really connect enough with critics or audiences to warrant any follow-up. Unlike many of the other movies produced by DeVito, this one doesn't have much - if any - humor. Rather, it's a gritty, seedy neo-noir, and as we'll see, it's just one example of the many diverse films DeVito has starred in.
4 Gattaca
Andrew Niccol's bleak, dystopian sci-fi film Gattaca may not seem like the type of movie the funny Danny DeVito would produce, but the actor was one of four producers working on the movie. The film is set in a eugenics-driven future society, where children are conceived through careful genetic selection. Victor Freeman, played by Ethan Hawke, was born "natural" and must overcome his genetic flaws to achieve his dream of going to space.
Speak with The independent after the film's release, DeVito said that reading the script for Niccol's previous film, The Truman Show, led him to collaborate with the groundbreaking director. When Niccol brought his script for Gattaca to DeVito, he found the story "incredible" and immediately signed on to produce, saying "Andrew has a great, twisted, paranoid mind, and he's a visionary." Although the film was a commercial failure when it was first released in 1997, it was adored by critics and has since found new life in the home video market, and is a staple in biology classrooms across the country.
3 Erin Brockovich
Danny DeVito earned his first and only Oscar nomination for producing Erin Brockovich, which garnered five nominations at the 73rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture. The Steven Soderbergh-directed biographical legal drama stars Julia Roberts as the aforementioned Erin Brockovich, an out-of-work paralegal and environmental activist battling Pacific Gas and Electric Company after discovering they covered up the Hinkley groundwater contamination incident, which saw the energy conglomerate illegally dumped 300 million liters of chromium-contaminated sewage, negatively impacting the health of the township's residents.
Julia Roberts performance in the film was praised by critics and earned her an Oscar win for Best Actress (her third nomination and first win). And while Steven Soderbergh did win the Oscar for Best Director that year, it wasn't for that Erin Brockovichbut rather Traffic (which was also nominated for Best Picture).
2 The survivor
One of Danny DeVito's more recent production credits is for Barry Levinson The survivor, a biographical drama starring Ben Foster in a powerful performance as Harry Haft, a real-life Auschwitz concentration camp survivor who was forced to box other inmates in order to survive. Levinson also cast his friend Danny DeVito (the two had worked together on the 1987 film Tin men) as famed boxing trainer Charlie Goldman, who trains Haft and takes him under his wing after he is freed from the infamous prison camp.
The film made a big splash when it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2021 and was immediately picked up by HBO Films. However, given the oversaturated state of streaming in a post-COVID world, the movie flew under many people's radar when it was released. Nevertheless, if you haven't had a chance to check it out, make sure you move The survivor to the top of your watchlist.
1 Pulp Fiction
Not long after DeVito founded his production company in 1991, he hired Stacey Sher—a prolific film producer in her own right—to serve as president of production at the company. When Sher met a then-fresh Quentin Tarantino at a movie premiere for Terminator 2: doomsday in 1991, the two began exchanging ideas for a new film, which would eventually become his masterpiece Pulp Fiction.
Tarantino was introduced to DeVito after the premiere of his directorial debut, Reservoir dogs to discuss his follow-up. DeVito hadn't even seen it Reservoir dogs at the time, but immediately knew he wanted to work with Tarantino after meeting him, saying, “It was just about him. I loved the way he talked about it. That guy was just so cool. It seemed simple to me.”
DeVito took the script to Columbia TriStar chairman Mike Medavoy, who liked the script but was concerned about the possible negative backlash for the film's excessive violence. DeVito kept poking around the script and eventually ended up with Miramax Pictures, who loved the story so much they decided to finance the film entirely themselves - a first for the studio. And it paid off, like Pulp Fiction would eventually become the first independent feature film to gross more than $200 million at the box office, and is revered as a true film classic.
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