Dan Hedaya

Description

Dan Hedaya (born July 24, 1940) is an American character actor. He often plays sleazy villains or uptight, wisecracking individuals. <p>Hedaya was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a Sephardic Jewish family from Syria. Hedaya was a junior high school teacher for many years before deciding to pursue acting full-time. <p>Alongside a successful career in the movies, Hedaya has held several TV roles, most notably that of Carla Tortelli's charmingly sleazy ex-husband Nick on the sitcom Cheers. He also had a memorable turn as Mallory Keaton's boyfriend Nick's estranged father on the sitcom Family Ties. More recently, he played an Italian-American priest in the controversial and quickly cancelled NBC series The Book of Daniel. Adding to his list of television credits is his performance as the long-lost father of Adrian Monk on Monk in a special presentation of the show that aired in November 2006. <p>Younger audiences may recognize Hedaya best for his role as Alicia Silverstone's character's father Mel...