Ted Danson Says People Kept Mistaking Him For Another Famous Actor—Even Though They Don't Look Alike

Hollywood does have some lookalikes, but Ted Danson, the inimitable Cheers star, got himself into one riotous case of mistaken identity that lasted almost five whole years. Recently appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show, 76-year-old Danson shared a side-splitting funny anecdote that had everybody in stitches. For a good half-decade, the public kept confusing him with another '80s sitcom sweetheart, Tony Danza—even though the two simply didn't look like each other in the slightest.

"The first time it happened to me, I was in New York," Danson recalled, his voice dripping with humor. "A bunch of construction workers walked by and yelled, 'Hey, Tony!' I didn't even turn around because, well, my name is Ted." The encounter didn't stop there. Then, the workers said, "Tony Danza! What, are you too good for us now?" But all Danson did was not respond. Instead, he chose to do the most curious thing: he just kept walking, secretly enjoying the slight inconvenience he might be causing Danza. At one moment of pure comedic gold, he even admitted to signing an autograph using Danza's name, leaving Hudson amused.

It wasn't exactly a random mix-up. Both Danson and Danza were sitcom royalty of the same era of time. Danson played the lovable bartender, Sam Malone, on Cheers from 1982 until 1993 and Danza played the lovable housekeeper, Tony Micelli, on Who's The Boss? from 1984 to 1992; Danson's character in Cheers and Danza in Angels in the Outfield both also played baseball. Curiously enough, the mix-up seemed more about phonetic similarity than physical appearance. "We don't look anything alike," said Danson, employing his hands to indicate just how different they were in height and build, as per People.

Despite being mixed up all the time, Danson still has his signature humor going on. Currently, he is still active in the entertainment world; recently, his appearance in A Man on the Inside on Netflix showed the world he still enjoyed acting. In the series, he plays a retired man who has just become an amateur private investigator, going undercover in a retirement community, as per Entertainment Weekly.

Talking about his career, which is very much an ongoing one, the enthusiasm is currently overflowing from Danson. "I feel the same joy I did in my late 20s when I drove through the studio gate," he said. Growing older has done nothing to dim his love for acting—if anything, it has grown more. "One of my greatest joys is to explore what it means to be funny at 76," Danson said. "What does it feel like to try and make people laugh at my age? Oh my God, it's my absolute greatest joy to be funny in every possible way I can."