Few `Cheers' for Danson // Television star runs into detours on road to Hollywood

LOS ANGELES There I was, in a hotel room with Ted Danson - just thetwo of us. He was fondling my tape recorder, and I was wondering howmuch I could get for it when I got back to the real world, where allhis fawning female fans live.

Don't get me wrong. I certainly think Danson, or Sam Malone asI more intimately know him from television's "Cheers," has something.I like the way Sam gets that quizzical look on his face before hesays something stupid, and all right, yes, I've always been apushover for a jock.

But, to be honest, I never thought of Danson as a sex symbol or,as he puts it - "The kind of actor who has some fans interested inhis belt buckle" - until I mentioned his name to a few friends andgot drools in response.

And then I overheard this telltale exchange, at the airport, onthe way to the interview:

Male passenger: "Can you tell me what movie you'll be showing onthe flight? Please say it's not `Just Between Friends!' "

First airline clerk: "I'm sorry, sir. But it is."

Second airline clerk: "Listen, why don't you stay here and I'llgo. Ted Danson's in that! Who could ever see enough of Ted Danson?"

First airline clerk: "Sigh."

That's what I was thinking about when Danson finally put my taperecorder down and started talking about his latest movie, BlakeEdwards's "A Fine Mess," which opened Friday at Chicago areatheaters.

Danson and Howie Mandel star in the film as two friends who getmixed up in a fixed horse race. Danson is the suave, connivingplayboy who gets them in trouble. Mandel is his laid-back "how didyou get me into this?" pal.

The movie is pure and simple slapstick, nothing that stretchesDanson's acting ability. His character is just a more obnoxiousrendition of Sam Malone. And Danson knows it.

"He's a distant relative of Sam, kind of a womanizing fellow,and just ever so slightly a con man," Danson said of his character.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, but playing asimilar character in a feature film could be viewed as a careernegative.

Danson didn't want to dwell on anything negative now. He'strying to move forward, not look back. He has had enough painfulacting experiences, enough second-guesses, enough regrets. So he explains "A Fine Mess" away as a film forchildren and grandfathers, not adults. It was a fun film to make -did I hear how Howie blew his toilet up on the set one day? - and hehad his reasons for doing it.

"I wanted to work with Blake Edwards," he said. "A lot of timesI've signed on for movies because I liked the actors. A lot of timesI haven't really picked. They've come to me. A lot of times it wasthat I didn't care what we were doing just, `Let's do it!'

"And then there are realities - a studio isn't going to turnaround and hand me $15 million tomorrow to do anything I want to do,because I haven't made a movie that made $100 million."

Danson is candid about his film career.

His first parts, supporting roles in "The Onion Field" and "BodyHeat," brought him critical and popular acclaim, but so far, hisstarring vehicles have been another matter. "Just Between Friends," a1986 release with Mary Tyler Moore, received poor reviews - althoughDanson himself wasn't singled out for any criticism. Another 1986movie, "Little Treasure" with Burt Lancaster, was barely released andand soon will be seen on cable. Judging from early reviews, "A FineMess," his third starring vehicle, seems to headed for a similarfate.

Television has been much kinder to Danson. He has received fourEmmy nominations for his role on "Cheers." "Something About Amelia,"a 1984 television movie in which he played a sexually abusive father,brought him an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe Award.

His mixed track record has caused him to reconsider hispriorities. "I think I'm only now getting clear," Danson said. "WhatI need to do is find work that I can feel 100 percent responsible andproud of. A lot of times, I've picked things for career reasons.Career being, `Please make me a star,' as opposed to what stretchesyou as an actor - the work."

What has caused this revelation, this "growing up" as Dansonlikes to think of it, is another TV movie, "When the Bough Breaks,"adapted from Jonathan Kellerman's best-selling mystery about a childpsychologist dragged into a multiple murder case. It is scheduled toair on NBC this fall.

Danson plays the child psychologist. He also makes his debut asan executive producer. And the experience of producing, of beingtotally involved in the project from beginning to end, has given hima new perspective on acting.

Before "When the Bough Breaks," he wasn't always secure in hisrole as an actor. He had trouble with assessments, by others andhimself, of his performance.

"I was beginning to bore myself with my negativity," he said."I'd be very positive while I was working, but then afterward, I'dturn around and feel unsatisfied. So now I know that I have to dowhatever it takes for me to walk away being satisfied and complete.And, for me - not for everyone else, because I've seen other actorswho don't need it - that means being as totally involved in a projectas I can." Danson is very tired. He has been working two nightsstraight on "When the Bough Breaks." Tired or not, he doesn't lookthe way I expected. He looks more like someone who resembles TedDanson. He's taller, 6 feet 2 inches, than he appears onscreen. Andmuch thinner, almost gaunt. His graying temples and sculptedcheekbones make him look older than his 38 years.

He grew up in Flagstaff, Ariz., the son of an archeologist. Heattended Stanford University and graduated from Carnegie-Mellon. Hehas one sister, four years older, who has "lots of masters degrees,"he said.

After graduation in 1972, Danson moved to New York City. Whilethere, he played in the Off-Broadway hit "The Real Inspector Hound,"made commercials, and appeared on the soap operas "The Doctors" and"Somerset."

His big break came in 1982 when he took on the role of SamMalone, the charming cad of "Cheers." During the series' four-yearrun, Sam has had a love-hate relationship with the barmaid DianeChambers (played by Shelley Long). Danson doesn't know where therelationship will go next.

In last season's cliffhanger episode, Sam proposed over thephone to a woman, identity unknown. "Cheers" fans know Long isreturning for her final season, but Danson can only guess about theobject of Sam's affections. "In my mind, it's Diane," he said. "Ifyou're going to get your act together to call someone up and say,"Will you marry me?' it had better be the one you have the largestinvestment in. But the writers have the option. It could have beena wrong number."

Offscreen, his love life has been somewhat less rocky. WhenDanson met his second wife, environmental designer Casey Coates, "wefell madly in love and wondered where we'd been all our lives," hesaid. They were married in 1978.

It's no secret that Danson adores his wife. Before theinterview began, as soon as we walked into his hotel room, Dansonexcused himself to call her, telling her - not once, but twice - thathe loved her and missed her. When their first daughter, Kate, 6, wasborn, Casey suffered a stroke and Danson nursed her back to health.Now they have two children - Alexis, who was adopted, is 2.

His family has been affected by his new role as a producer. "Itfeels like we're a bit in over our heads right now. Because of whatI learned from producing `When the Bough Breaks,' my wife and I arefeeling kind of like we don't know who we are. We hold hands atnight and look at the ceiling for hours. It's all so new."

After "When the Bough Breaks" is finished, Danson and "Cheers"go back into production. He has signed on for two more seasons."I'll do six years on `Cheers,' " he said. "That's enough. Whatmakes `Cheers' work is that it's a good story, a good setup with agroup of goodcharacters.

"I asked my mother once what she thought I had to contribute asan actor. And she said she always saw me as having a merry, tragicsignature. I like that. I like humor that comes out of dealing withflaws. It's a good combination for me to play. Sam is one of thosepeople who has flaws and deals with them.

"As for the people who are more interested in my belt buckle, orrather, Sam's, than in my acting, that's nice," Danson said. "But,really, I'm not confused about what it is. Sometimes my wife orpeople close to me will get irritated because people shoulder themout of the way to get to me. The truth is, I get shouldered out ofthe way, too. I'm very clear that it's Sam. So it's easy to handle.It means that what I'm doing as an actor is working."