Ted Danson will be honored at the Golden Globes.
Photo: Ted Danson
Ted Danson was named the 2025 Carol Burnett Awardee, it was announced on Monday by the Golden Globes.
The actor and long-time Palisades resident will be honored at a gala dinner on January 3, as part of a special evening dedicated to Danson and to the Cecil B. DeMille Award winner, Viola Davis. They will also be recognized during the 82nd Annual Golden Globes that will be broadcast on January 5.
The Carol Burnett Award was created in 2019 and given to its namesake. The Award is given to a person who has made outstanding contributions to television on or off screen and selected based on their body of work and the lasting impact of their television career achievements. Past recipients, in addition to Burnett, include Norman Lear, Ryan Murphy and Ellen DeGeneres.
In making the announcement, Helen Hoehne, president of the Golden Globes said, “Ted Danson has entertained audiences for decades with his performances that will forever be ingrained in television history. His career is a testament to his remarkable talent and versatility as an actor and bears resemblance to the award’s namesake.”
Danson earned Golden Globes for the 1984 telefilm Something About Amelia (performance by an actor in a limited series, anthology series, or motion picture made for television) and for the NBC sitcom Cheers for 1989 and 1990 (performance by an actor in a television series — musical or comedy).
Ted Danson in ‘The Good Place”
Photo: Courtesy of NBC
Danson is known for an array of exceptional performances, and his role of Boston bartender Sam Malone on Cheers, which ran for 11 seasons. More recently, Danson can be seen playing himself in the comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, which just concluded its 12th and final season on HBO. Danson also starred in the acclaimed NBC comedy The Good Place, for which he was nominated for his 14th Emmy Award for lead actor.
Previously, Danson starred in Mr. Mayor, an NBC comedy series written and executive produced by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock. He also had a prominent role in the second season of FX’s acclaimed series Fargo. Other credits include CBS’ long-running CSI and CSI: Cyber, FX’s Damages and CBS’ Becker – the latter two roles for which he was Golden Globe nominated.
Danson is currently starring in the Netflix comedy series, A Man on the Inside. The series follows a retired man who gets a new lease on life when he answers an ad placed by a private investigator and goes undercover in a retirement home.
Danson’s film appearances include Body Heat, Hearts Beat Loud, Three Men and a Baby, and its sequel, Three Men and a Little Lady. He also had a co-starring role in Steven Spielberg’s World War II epic Saving Private Ryan.
Danson graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to manage the Actor’s Institute.
In addition to acting and producing, Danson is an environmental activist, co-founding the American Oceans Campaign (AOC) in 1987 to draw attention to the life-threatening hazards created by oil spills, offshore development, toxic wastes and sewage pollution.
In a 2019 story, Danson said that working in L.A. is the best. He told Circling the News “my family’s here. My grandkids are here. Home’s here. My wife, Mary’s, here. Basically, in reverse order, that’s why. My wife’s here.”
Actress Mary Steenburgen and Danson first met when he auditioned for the role of her husband in the film Cross Creek in 1983. He did not get the part. They later reconnected in 1993 for Pontiac Moon and married in 1995.
Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen will celebrate their 30th anniversary in 2025.