Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''
The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...
'', as well as his role as
Luigi
is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...
in the live-action/animated series ''
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' is an American live-action/animated television series airing from September 4 to November 30, 1989, on syndication. The series is based on the video games ''Super Mario Bros.'' and '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' by ...
''.
Early life and career
Wells was born in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
to Eli Westelman (died April 4, 1996) and Eunice Trottenberg (died September 20, 1987) on April 7, 1941. His acting career spanned more than 4 decades, beginning in 1972 on the comedy television show ''
Love, American Style
''Love, American Style'' is an anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup ...
''.
In 1975 Wells made his film debut in ''
The Strongest Man in the World
''The Strongest Man in the World'' is a 1975 American science fiction comedy film directed by Vincent McEveety, produced by Walt Disney Productions and starring Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, and Eve Arden. It is the second sequel to the 1969 film '' ...
''. He then went on to appear in a string of successful movies including ''
Private Benjamin'' (1980) starring
Goldie Hawn
Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
and
Eileen Brennan
Eileen Brennan (born Verla Eileen Regina Brennen; September 3, 1932 – July 28, 2013) was an American actress. She made her film debut in the satire '' Divorce American Style'' (1967), followed by a supporting role in Peter Bogdanovich's ''The ...
, ''
The Woman in Red'' (1984) starring
Gene Wilder
Jerome Silberman (June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016), known professionally as Gene Wilder, was an American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. He is known mainly for his comedic roles, but also for his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Won ...
, ''
Magnolia
''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...
'' (1999), and ''
The Last Kiss'' (2006) where he played the Uncle of
Michael Weston
Michael Weston (born Michael Rubinstein; October 25, 1973) is an American television and film actor. His best-known roles are the private detective Lucas on ''House'', the deranged and sadistic kidnapper Jake in the HBO serial drama '' Six Feet ...
's character Izzy.
Over his prolific career, Wells did most of his work in television, starring or making guest appearances in more than 80 television shows and movies, including ''
Sanford and Son'', ''
CHiPs
''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...
'', ''
The A-Team
''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court marti ...
'', and ''
The Fall Guy
''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonli ...
''. In 1975, he starred in the most notable role of his career: "Charlie the Bartender", on the hit television show ''
The Jeffersons
''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...
''. Wells played Charlie as a recurring role
throughout the entire 11 season run until the show was cancelled in 1985.
In the 1970s, he portrayed the store manager in television ads for
Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inc ...
department stores.
Wells began doing voice work in 1982 when he voiced the character of Stomper #1 in the
Ralph Bakshi
Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...
film ''
Hey Good Looking''. From there he went on to voice numerous characters for film, television and video games, including ''
Descent 3
''Descent 3'' (stylized as ''Descent³'') is a first-person shooter video game developed by Outrage Entertainment and published by Interplay Entertainment. It was originally released for Microsoft Windows in North America on June 17, 1999. ''D ...
'' and ''
Wizardry 8
''Wizardry 8'' is the eighth and final title in the ''Wizardry'' series of role-playing video games by Sir-Tech Canada. It is the third in the ''Dark Savant'' trilogy, which includes '' Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge'' and '' Wizardry VI ...
''. His first television series was ''
Heathcliff and The Catillac Cats'' (1984), which lead to the film ''
Heathcliff: The Movie'' in 1986.
''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!''
Wells voiced several other animated series such as ''
Batman: The Animated Series'', ''
Grossology'' and ''
Johnny Bravo
''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired fr ...
'', but it was in 1989 that Wells starred in and voiced the animated character that he is perhaps best remembered by younger audiences as Luigi from ''
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' is an American live-action/animated television series airing from September 4 to November 30, 1989, on syndication. The series is based on the video games ''Super Mario Bros.'' and '' Super Mario Bros. 2'' by ...
''.
In an interview with "Slam" magazine, Wells recalled the popularity of the show: "We went on the air, three o'clock in the afternoon, with no publicity or P.R. at all. There was no pre-build-up to this show, nothing ... they just threw us out there. In three weeks, we became number one. We beat Disney, we beat everybody, without any publicity, without any help from anybody, this show went to the number one daytime cartoon show. They put us up against Mickey Mouse, it didn't matter, we beat them. It was amazing."
In 2002, Wells starred as film executive
Jack L. Warner
Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...
in the made-for-television movie "Gleason" starring
Brad Garrett
Bradley Henry Gerstenfeld (born April 14, 1960), known professionally as Brad Garrett, is an American actor and stand-up comedian. Possessing a distinctive deep voice, he has appeared in numerous television and film roles in both live-action and ...
as
Jackie Gleason
John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...
.
As composer, Wells wrote the music for the 1979
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
TV movie ''Never Say Never'' starring
George Kennedy
George Harris Kennedy Jr. (February 18, 1925 – February 28, 2016) was an American actor who appeared in more than 100 film and television productions. He played "Dragline" opposite Paul Newman in ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), winning the Academ ...
and
Anne Schedeen
Luanne Ruth Schedeen (born January 8, 1949), known professionally as Anne Schedeen, is an American actress who worked primarily in television. She appeared in numerous guest-starring television roles in the 1970s before portraying the lead role ...
.
''The Jeffersons''
According to his cousin, television reviewer
Alan Sepinwall
Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...
, Wells worked steadily throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1975, Wells landed the role of "Charlie the Bartender" on the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
television show ''The Jeffersons''. His character, Charlie, owned "Charlie's Bar" on the first floor of the Colby East luxury apartment building where the Jeffersons and Willises resided. On the show, Wells' character would offer advice to the residents. A running gag throughout the show's run would be that someone (more often than not, Lionel) would be having drinks with George Jefferson (played by
Sherman Hemsley
Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), Dea ...
), and Charlie would hand them the bill, as George would have already sneaked out before paying.
Charlie the Bartender quickly became a recurring
[ role and towards the end of the series, he even had a few central episodes written specifically for him. In season 9, episode 5 ("Charlie's Angels"), Charlie borrows money from Tom Willis (played by ]Franklin Cover
Franklin Edward Cover (November 20, 1928 – February 5, 2006) was an American actor best known for starring in the sitcom ''The Jeffersons''. His character, Tom Willis, was half of one of the first interracial marriages to be seen on prime-time ...
) in hopes of upgrading his bar and increasing business by way of risque dressed waitresses. Louise (played by Isabel Sanford
Isabel Sanford (born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford; August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms ''All in the Fami ...
) and Helen (played by Roxie Roker
Roxie Albertha Roker (August 28, 1929 – December 2, 1995) was an American actress who portrayed Helen Willis on the CBS sitcom ''The Jeffersons'' (1975–1985), half of the first interracial couple to be shown on regular prime time televisio ...
) take offense when they feel that the changes are exploiting the women. At the beginning of the final season, Charlie is facing eviction. George becomes partners with Charlie and buys the bar. In episode 17 of season 11, ("A Secret in the Back Room") it is discovered that Charlie has been sleeping in the back room due to a serious drinking problem that has separated him from his wife. George and Louise help him get his life back together. In another episode, Charlie's bar is just breaking even. Louise plans to put the bar back in the black with a private party for a biker gang ("The Gang’s All Here").
Death
Wells died in Toronto on November 28, 2013 of cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
at the age of 72. He was buried in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery is the largest Jewish cemetery organization in California.
History
Mount Sinai Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, owned by Sinai Temple of Los Angeles, refers to two Jewish cemeteries in the Los Angeles metrop ...
in Los Angeles, California. For fans of ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'', Wells' death was poignant since it was Nintendo's "Year of Luigi" and the 30th Anniversary celebration of the character (1983). His obituary states that "Danny followed his dreams ... he made them laugh." Wells' headstone inscription reads: "Keep 'em laughing."
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
*
Celebrities: Danny Wells
* List of ''The Jeffersons'' Characters
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Danny
1941 births
2013 deaths
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian male voice actors
Deaths from cancer in Ontario
Jewish Canadian male actors
Male actors from Montreal
Burials at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
20th-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male actors
Anglophone Quebec people