Ted Danson has been a strong advocate of his daughter Kate Danson’s show business career, but rarely does he step out with her to a fancy red-carpet affair.
The Cheers alum, 78, made an exception to the rule as he brought Kate as one of his very special plus-ones to the 28th Annual Television Hall of Fame in Los Angeles on Thursday.
There, he was honored among the other inductees including Jean Smart, Ted Sarandos, the late Ed Bradley, and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Danson has Kate – and another daughter Katrina, 40 – with ex-wife Casey Coates, who he was married to from 1977 to 1993.
Joining the smiling father-and-daughter duo at the event was Danson’s current wife, Mary Steenburgen, 73, who didn’t seem to mind sharing the spotlight. Danson is also stepdad to Steenburgen’s two children, Lilly, 45, and Charlie, 43, from her previous marriage to actor Malcolm McDowell.
The six-foot-two Danson stood out in the crowd in a dark suit and tie that complemented Kate’s navy print frock and Steenburgen’s black dress perfectly.
Ted Danson brought nepo daughter Kate Danson as one of his special plus-ones at Thursday’s 28th Television Academy Hall of Fame ceremony where they were also joined by his wife Mary Steenburgen
The six-foot-two Danson stood out in the crowd in a dark suit and tie that complemented Kate’s navy print frock and Steenburgen’s black dress perfectly
Back in March, Kate and her father similarly caused cameras to crowd around as they attended The Actor’s Awards while Steenburgen stayed home to babysit Kate’s toddler son Sonny.
Kate is one of the original Hollywood nepo babies, having carved a career both onstage and onscreen.
Her credits have included small roles in TV shows including Raising the Bar and a 2013 episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, in which she played a lawyer who goes ‘head-to-head’ with the night shift supervisor and director of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, played by Danson.
‘The CSI team have done something wrong. So I come pretty hard at my dad and dig into him, which was a lot of fun to play,’ she told E! News at the time. ‘I was really fortunate to get to work with him on CSI. It was really great going head-to-head with him.’
She also raked in some experience on the New York stage as an actress, producer and director. She made her directorial debut with French Waitress, followed by Nocturne and Stockholm.
Most recently, Kate directed one of the 23 short segments of the 2022 collaborative indie drama Everything I Ever Wanted to Tell My Daughter About Men.
Neither Danson nor Kate have shared many details about their relationship publicly, but she did have something to say in 2019 after her father was arrested with fellow environmental activist Jane Fonda at a climate change protest.
‘Setting a good example for your children? Why Yes Indeed!’ Kate wrote alongside a photo of her father smiling and handcuffed. ‘I honestly couldn’t be prouder of you, dad, and felt this photo deserved a shout out on social media…The only thing that upsets me is that you didn’t bring the whole family with you.’
In June, Danson appeared on Who’s with Me?, a new podcast hosted by comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell, with their conversation partly focused on the blackface performance Danson delivered while dating Whoopi Goldberg at the height of their relationship.
The Cheers star met Steenburgen in 1983 but they didn’t start dating until a decade later before finally tying the knot in 1995
Danson was honored at the event among the other inductees including Jean Smart, Ted Sarandos, the late Ed Bradley, and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Kate accompanied Danson to the 2026 Actors Awards in March while Steenburgen babysat her toddler son Sonny
Danson has Kate – and another daughter Katrina, 40 – with ex-wife Casey Coates, who he was married to from 1977 to 1993; pictured in 1989
Danson’s routine, which took place during a Friars Club roast honoring Goldberg, drew widespread condemnation and remains one of the most controversial moments of the star’s long career.
‘I would like to address this and apologize forever,’ Danson told Bell.
‘I know what was in my heart. So, I have no problem talking about this, but I need to and want to apologize for the rest of my life because somebody today can go on the Internet, you’re right, and go, “What the f***? Wow. I feel betrayed. I feel angry and whatever.” And I did that.’
Danson explained his blackface performance took place as his relationship with Goldberg was coming to an end and after the pair had unsuccessfully tried to withdraw from the event.
‘So my brain was going, “Okay, here is one of the most outrageous, funny, Black women in the world at that point. I’m supposed to be roasting her. And I’m not a stand-up. I can’t run with the bulls.”‘
He said he eventually decided to approach the appearance as what he described as ‘performance theatre,’ before settling on an idea he now regards as fundamentally wrong.
‘I thought I could pull this off… (it was) so arrogant and stupid on my part.’
