| # | Fact |
|---|
| 1 | Alongside himself, his Make Room for Daddy (1953) co-stars, Angela Cartwright and Rusty Hamer all appeared in the episode of The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show (1956), on New Years' Day, 1959. |
| 2 | Was very good friends with: Shirley Jones, Florence Henderson, Angie Dickinson, Telly Savalas, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Johnny Carson, Larry Manetti, Cesar Romero, Doris Day, Sheldon Leonard, Bill Bixby, Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Jonathan Winters, Jane Wyman, Ronald Reagan, Joey Bishop, José Ferrer, Rosemary Clooney, Peggy Lee, Garry Moore, Peter Marshall, Steve Allen, Mickey Mantle, Rose Marie, Tony Bennett, Phyllis Diller, Ella Fitzgerald, Patti Page, Ray Anthony, Paul Junger Witt, Paul Lynde, Bob Newhart, Mickey Rooney, Ruta Lee, Shecky Greene, Perry Como, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Charles McGraw, Beverly Garland and Dinah Shore. |
| 3 | Was the only actor to appear in every episode of Make Room for Daddy (1953), except for 11, in the second-to-last season. |
| 4 | Several of his screenplays and lyrics songs were written by Jerry Seelen. |
| 5 | He was most widely known to be a social butterfly. |
| 6 | His uncle Abe Lastfogel was head of the prestigious William Morris Agency. |
| 7 | Surrogate father of Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson and Angela Cartwright. |
| 8 | Inducted into the Tennessee Health Care Hall of Fame in 2015 (inaugural class). |
| 9 | He was considered for the role of Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972) before Marlon Brando was cast. |
| 10 | Before Martin Short went on to have a successful career in comedy, he used to work with Thomas in his early career. |
| 11 | Resided in Los Angeles, California, from 1947 until his death in 1991. |
| 12 | Moved to Detroit, Michigan, from 1932 to 1940. |
| 13 | Was born on a horse farm. He rode horses, when he was young. |
| 14 | According to his Make Room for Daddy (1953) co-star, Angela Cartwright, she said in an interview that Danny was absolutely loud and gregarious, the opposite of her own father. |
| 15 | Long before Carrie McDowell became a member of the Christian pop/dance duo, 'Two Hearts,' with her husband, Michael Hodge, she once opened a show with him, in Reno, Nevada. |
| 16 | Tried to get a television show that starred Tim Conway (formerly of McHale's Navy (1962)), but it failed to sell. Conway provided Thomas with some great laughs, offstage of Thomas's production company. |
| 17 | When Thomas was age 35, his father, Charles Yakhoob, was diagnosed with lung cancer. Like Thomas himself, his father was a heavy smoker. His father died in 1953. |
| 18 | When he was born, he was nicknamed 'Muzzy'. |
| 19 | His widow, Rose Marie Mantell Thomas, died on July 12, 2000, at 86. |
| 20 | When Thomas was working on an episode of The Lone Ranger (1949), he was hired to make sounds of horses' hooves by beating his chest with 2 toilet plungers. |
| 21 | Was invited back to take part in a show to benefit the Lebanese Red Cross in Beirut. [1974]. |
| 22 | Before he was a successful comedian, both he and Rose Marie Mantell Thomas worked as amateur entertainers at WMBC in Detroit, Michigan. |
| 23 | His granddaughter, Dionne, was named after Dionne Warwick. |
| 24 | His daughter, Terre Thomas, began singing in grade school. |
| 25 | Interviewed in "The Great Comedians Talk About Comedy" by Larry Wilde. [1968] |
| 26 | His nephew, Rodney Abbas, a beloved local celebrity in Redford Township, Michigan, died August 13, 2013, at the age of 71. |
| 27 | Was a posthumous recipient of the 2004 Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. |
| 28 | Was a spokesperson for Union Fidelity Life Insurance Company in the 1980s. |
| 29 | Attended the University of Toledo, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. |
| 30 | Began his show Make Room for Daddy (1953) at age 41. |
| 31 | Was born during a snow blizzard. |
| 32 | His widow, Rose Marie Mantell Thomas, was Italian. |
| 33 | His series Make Room for Daddy (1953) was actually based on 14 years of Thomas' own life, depicted the comedian as an entertainer whose main problem was spending as much time as possible with his family. |
| 34 | Before he was a successful comedian, he did everything from bussing tables, to punch-press operator's assistant, and a lumber yard watchman. |
| 35 | His son Tony Thomas ran his own production company with Susan Harris and Paul Junger Witt. |
| 36 | Through Rose Marie, he saw Marjorie Lord in the play 'Anniversary Waltz.' Thomas went to see her backstage and invited her to come down to the studio to discuss her playing one of his weekly dates on Make Room for Daddy (1953), where the two began a lifelong friendship from 1956 until Thomas's own death in 1991. |
| 37 | Never retired from acting. |
| 38 | Began his film career as a contract player for MGM in 1947 and Warner Bros. in 1951. |
| 39 | Appeared on the front cover of TV Guide 9 times. |
| 40 | Had a son, Chris Thomas, who was born out of wedlock. [8 May 1960]. |
| 41 | Before Aaron Spelling had his own production company, he worked for Thomas. |
| 42 | Was healthy and physically active until his death of a heart attack at age 79. |
| 43 | Was always ashamed of his small-town roots, and forsook Deerfield, Michigan. It may also be that he only lived there for such a short time that he didn't feel he owed anyone anything. |
| 44 | Just before Larry Gelbart became a successful comedy writer, he worked for Thomas' radio show, after his father, whom Thomas liked, showed him a lot of jokes Gelbart had written. |
| 45 | His barber, Harry Gelbart (who was the son of M*A*S*H (1972)'s Larry Gelbart) had told some stories about him as a teenager. |
| 46 | His first job was as an extra in a Charles Chaplin film, when he was only age 8. |
| 47 | Just before his death, he made his last guest-appearance on Late Night with David Letterman (1982). |
| 48 | Danny Thomas passed away on February 6, 1991, just prior to the release of his autobiography and a few days after he guest-starred on Empty Nest (1988). |
| 49 | When Danny was age 10, he first became acquainted with the doings of Crotchy Callahan - one of the mainstays of his nightclub act for years. |
| 50 | At Lewis Street Center, he was the center of his basketball team. At the time, he was only 5'10". |
| 51 | The only time he got pied in the face was by his ex-Make Room for Daddy (1953) co-star, Marjorie Lord, who played his second wife on the show. |
| 52 | Interred in a mausoleum on the grounds of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. |
| 53 | His uncle, Abe Lastfogel, died on August 25, 1984. |
| 54 | Pictured on a nondenominated ("forever") USA commemorative postage stamp issued in his honor 16 February 2012. It also commemorated the 50th anniversary of the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, which Thomas founded in February 1962. Price of the stamp on day of issue was 45¢. |
| 55 | His Aunt Julia died in a car crash in 1932 and his uncle Tenoose died the following year. |
| 56 | His father couldn't run the farm alone and his mother was too weak, so she turned to her brother-in-law--the famous Uncle Tonoose--for help. |
| 57 | Was a spokesperson for Post cereals and Dodge automobiles in the 1950s. |
| 58 | Almost like Danny himself, his mother moved to Toledo, Ohio, with her family, when Margaret was only 10. |
| 59 | When Rose gave birth to their last child, Tony Thomas, Danny was set to name him Charles Anthony, in honor of his father and uncle. |
| 60 | Was a good friend of the late Sammy Davis Jr., who appeared at every one of Thomas' St. Jude's benefits. |
| 61 | Was associated with his Make Room for Daddy (1953) co-star's, Angela Cartwright's family, whose sister, Veronica Cartwright, appeared with him on 2 episodes. |
| 62 | While still a young man, Ronald Reagan used to play basketball in Thomas' backyard with the neighborhood kids. |
| 63 | Had always wanted to do a television series, but it took a long time for he and producing partner--and fellow actor--Sheldon Leonard to develop the pilot of Make Room for Daddy (1953), due to Thomas' busy schedule. |
| 64 | In the 1960s he was instrumental in developing the career of a struggling young actress named Mary Tyler Moore, by co-starring her with Dick Van Dyke in a sitcom he was developing--The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961). |
| 65 | When he was only 3, Aunt Julia became a surrogate mother to him. |
| 66 | In 1944, he volunteered to go overseas with Marlene Dietrich's USO Troop. |
| 67 | His first radio show was called "The Happy Hour Club," where he used the antidote, penning his gift for acting the characters and making faces. |
| 68 | His father, Charles Yakhoob, died in 1953. |
| 69 | His Make Room for Daddy (1953) character was Lebanese, as was Thomas, in real-life. |
| 70 | Had a lot of relatives who grew up on the same street of Toledo, Ohio. |
| 71 | With Thomas' encouragement, after graduating from Woodward High School in Toledo, OH--which was also Thomas' alma mater--Jamie Farr decided to become an actor. |
| 72 | Enjoyed singing, dancing, golfing, spending time with family, helping terminally ill children, dining, smoking, traveling and reading. |
| 73 | His father, Charles Yakhoob, was a horsefarmer, and his mother, Margaret Christen, was a housewife and devoted mother to her other four children. |
| 74 | Was a heavy smoker at an early age. |
| 75 | Was drafted into the US army. |
| 76 | His uncle Tonoose and Aunt Julia were originally from Detroit, MI. |
| 77 | Was a Republican. |
| 78 | Before his death, his final guest-starring appearance was on Empty Nest (1988), which was produced by his son Tony Thomas' production company. |
| 79 | Billboard and Variety Magazines named him Best Newcomer in Radio in 1945, but he was eventually fired. |
| 80 | Remained good friends with Angela Cartwright, during and after Make Room for Daddy (1953). |
| 81 | His mother-in-law, Marie "Mary" Cassaniti, died in 1972. |
| 82 | Was also a friend of the late Telly Savalas. Thomas guest-starred with Savalas on the last episode of Kojak (1973). |
| 83 | Has a street named after him in Memphis, Tennessee. |
| 84 | His entire family moved to Toledo, Ohio, after his birth, until times were better. |
| 85 | Brother of Tom Jacobs. |
| 86 | By the time his mother, Margaret Christen, reached 30, she had 12 pregnancies, but 10 children. |
| 87 | Before he became a successful comedian and producer, he sold candy with his brother, Raymond, in a vaudeville theater called the Continuous Burlesque. |
| 88 | He and his brother, Raymond, were a Vaudeville team, as children. |
| 89 | Was the first actor to legally change his name, twice, before Jane Wyman and Robert Fuller. |
| 90 | Graduated from Woodward High School in Toledo, Ohio, in 1931. |
| 91 | Survived by his wife, Rosie Marie, of 55 years, and 3 children, Marlo Thomas, Terre Thomas and Tony Thomas. |
| 92 | His daughter, Margaret Julia (A.K.A. Marlo Thomas), was named after his mother. She followed in her father's footsteps, being an actress. |
| 93 | After his brother's Raymond's marriage in 1931, young Danny hitchhiked to Detroit, Michigan. |
| 94 | Before he was a successful actor, he used to work at a nightclub in Chicago, Illinois. |
| 95 | Met his future wife, Rose Marie Mantell Thomas, at a Happy Hour Club in Detroit, Michigan, when he was 23. |
| 96 | Before he was a successful actor, he was a radio actor. |
| 97 | Best remembered by the public for his starring role as nightclub singer - Danny Williams on Make Room for Daddy (1953). |
| 98 | Father-in-law of Phil Donahue. |
| 99 | Angela Cartwright's parrot was named after him. |
| 100 | His Make Room for Daddy (1953) co-star, Angela Cartwright, said in an interview that TV producer Irwin Allen was a huge fan of Thomas' show, and asked her to audition for a sci-fi series he was producing that eventually wound up to be Lost in Space (1965), which was loosely based on the novel, "The Swiss Family Robinson". |
| 101 | Godmother of his daughter Marlo Thomas was Loretta Young. |
| 102 | Was offered the lead role in The Jolson Story (1946) after James Cagney turned it down. He also turned it down. |
| 103 | Guest speaker at the 1973 National Boy Scout Jamboree in Butler, Pennsylvania. |
| 104 | Founded St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |
| 105 | Danny Williams, his character on Make Room for Daddy (1953), was ranked #5 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" in its 20 June 2004 issue. |
| 106 | Co-starred on NBC Radio's "Drene Time" (1946-1947). |
| 107 | He was a founding minority owner of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins. |
| 108 | Child of Lebanese immigrants. |
| 109 | Though he was a spokesman for Sanka decaffeinated coffee, he later confessed that he never drank it. He claimed he could drink cup after cup of Maxwell House coffee and still fall asleep minutes later. |
| 110 | He took his stage name from his eldest brother Thomas and his youngest brother Danny. Most of his friends called him "Jake." |
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