Biography

Travanti, one of five children, was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to Italian immigrant parents. His father worked at the American Motors assembly plant in that city. During his teen years, Travanti was an athlete and good student, earning scholarships to Harvard University, Princeton University, and Dartmouth College, though he eventually attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1957, before his senior year, he attended the youth government and leadership program called Badger Boys State as a representative chosen from his high school.

In the very early 1960s he played Cathy Lane's besotted beau, "Rock" in an episode of The Patty Duke Show. In 1964, Travanti guest-starred in the episode "Murder by Scandal" of CBS's drama about newspapers, The Reporter. He made his feature film debut in 1965 (credited as "Dan Travanty") playing a deaf-mute nightclub bouncer in the psychological thriller Who Killed Teddy Bear? starring Sal Mineo and Juliet Prowse.

In 1966 he played the role of radio talk-show host and murderer Barney Austin in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Midnight Howler." He (credited as Dan Travanty in all four) was the lead guest-star in the Season 3 episode "Collision Of Planets" of Lost in Space in 1967, appeared in the episode "The Octopus" of the single-season crime drama The Silent Force in late 1970, was featured in the Season 5 episode "Murder Times Three" of Mannix in late 1971, and appeared in the Season 6 episode "Image" of Mission: Impossible in early 1972. Also in 1972 he played a fugitive in The Devil's Playground episode of Cannon with his future Hill Street Blues co-star James B. Sikking. In 1982 Travanti appeared briefly in the Newhart episode "A View From The Bench".

Years later, Travanti earned five nominations and two Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Hill Street Station Captain Frank Furillo. In 1983, Travanti starred in the TV movie Adam for which he received another Emmy nomination. Since then, Travanti has appeared in a number of TV movies and has made appearances in television programs such as Poltergeist: The Legacy (1997) and Prison Break (2005). In 1986, HBO broadcast the made-for-cable biographical film Murrow, with Travanti's portrayal of Edward R. Murrow receiving a Cable Ace nomination. He co-starred in the film Millennium (1989) and as Lt. Ray McAuliffe in the television series Missing Persons (1993).

Travanti has publicly acknowledged his past as an alcoholic who found sobriety through Alcoholics Anonymous, calling the affliction a "disease of loneliness and secrecy." In 1981, he made such a confession to Rona Barrett in an interview on NBC and even recited, from memory, all of the organization's "Twelve Steps" on camera. Captain Furillo, his best-known character, was also a recovering alcoholic, and the character was shown multiple times taking part in AA meetings.

In January-March 2007, Travanti appeared off-Broadway in Oren Safdie's The Last Word... at the Theater at St. Clements in New York City, and in November-December 2008, Travanti played the "Con Melody" in an off-off Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet for Friendly Fire Theater in New York.

In 2010, he appeared in an episode of Criminal Minds as a 75-year-old serial killer suffering from Alzheimer's.

Travanti had a recurring role on the Starz television series Boss.

On 9 May, 2001, Travanti gave the opening remarks for the Disclosure Project's National Press Club conference on government relations with extraterrestrials, in Washington D.C.

Filmography

Many of Travanti's roles prior to the mid-1970s were credited as "Dan Travanty" or "Dan Travanti." Later roles are credited as "Daniel J. Travanti."

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Who Killed Teddy Bear?	Carlo	Film debut
1968	Call to Danger	John Henderson	Television movie
1970	The Love War	Ted	Television movie
1976	St. Ives	Johnny Parisi
1980	It's My Turn	Interviewer	Uncredited
1983	Adam	John Walsh	Television movie Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
1986	Murrow	Edward R. Murrow	Television movie Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actor in a Movie or Miniseries
1988	Midnight Crossing	Morely Barton
1989	Millennium	Arnold Mayer
1990	Megaville	Duprell
1991	Tagget	John Tagget	Television movie
1992	Weep No More, My Lady	Ted	Television movie
1992	The Christmas Stallion	Alan	Television movie
1992	Hello Stranger	Unknown
1995	Just Cause	Warden
1995	The Wasp Woman	Dr. Zinthorp	Television movie
1995	Siao Yu	Mario Moretti
1996	To Sir, with Love II	Horace Weaver	Television movie
2013	One Small Hitch	Max Shiffman

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	General Hospital	Spence Andrews	Unknown episodes
1964	Route 66	Marty Johnson	Episode: "Child of a Night"
1964	East Side/West Side	Paul Jerome	Episode: "The Name of the Game"
1964	The Patty Duke Show	Hank 'Rocky' Elway	Episode: "Block That Statue"
1964	The Reporter	Cutler	Episode: "Murder by Scandal"
1964	The Defenders	Detective Russo	Episode: "The Siege"
1965	Gidget	Tom Brighton	Episode: "Now There's a Face"
1966	The Man from U.N.C.L.E.	Luca	Episode: "The Deadly Goddess Affair"
1966	Perry Mason	Barney Austin	Episode: "The Case of the Midnight Howler"
1966	Flipper	Commander Willard	2 episodes
1967	Lost In Space		Episode: "Collision Of Planets"
1967	Judd for the Defense	Don Oliver	Episode: "A Civil Case of Murder" (as Dan Travanty)
1969	The Mod Squad	George	Episode: "Willie Poor Boy"
1970	The Silent Force		Episode: "The Octopus"
1971	The Interns	Harry Random	Episode: "The Choice"
1971	Mannix	Tom Stabler	Episode: "Murder Times Three"
1972	Mission: Impossible	Tony Gadsen	Episode: "Image"
1974	Gunsmoke	Carl as Dan Travanty	Episode: "The Colonel"
1974	Gunsmoke	Barker as Dan Travanty	Episode: "Like Old Times"
1974	The Bob Newhart Show	Mr. Gianelli	Episode: "The Battle of the Groups"
1974	Kojak	Lt. Charles 'Chuck' Danena	Episode: "A Souvenir from Atlantic City"
1976	Kojak	Captain Badaduchi	Episode: "A Grave too Soon"
1977	Family	Benjamin Maxwell	Episode: "...More Things in Heaven and Earth"
1979	Hart to Hart	Edgar	Episode: "Max in Love"
1980	Knots Landing	Lt. Steinmetz	Episode: "The Constant Companion"
1981-1987	Hill Street Blues	Capt. Frank Furillo	144 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Actor in a Quality Drama Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Television Series Drama Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
1984	Newhart	Himself	Episode: "A View from the Bench"
1988	American Playhouse	Gene Garrison	Episode: "I Never Sang for My Father"
1993-1994	Missing Persons	Lt. Ray McAuliffe	17 episodes
1995	The Outer Limits	Thornwell	Episode: "The Voice of Reason"
1997	Poltergeist: The Legacy	William Sloan	7 episodes
2005-2006	Prison Break	President Richard Mills	2 episodes
2008	Grey's Anatomy	Barry Patmore	Episode: "Here Comes the Flood"
2010	Criminal Minds	Lee Mullens	Episode: "Remembrance of Things Past"
2011-2012	Boss	Gerald 'Babe' McGantry	11 episodes

Charities

Daniel J. Travanti supports the following charitable cause: Obesity.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]