Danny DeVito has revealed he essentially worked as a part-time mortician before finding fame as he styled the hair of dead clients while working at a hairdresser.

The award-winning actor, who has starred in everything from Taxi to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, has been a household name for decades, and it’s hard to imagine him doing something other than acting.

Danny has spent the last 15 years appearing as the gross – but brilliant – Frank Reynolds in It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, which recently became the longest-running live action comedy of all time.

And, as a Christmas treat for listeners, co-stars Rob McElhenney, Charlie Day and Glenn Howerton invited Danny on the weekly Always Sunny Podcast to discuss his life and career – and to say there were revelations would be an understatement.

Danny, 78, explained he had never considered becoming an actor when he was growing up, and once he finished school his sister ‘forced’ him to go to beauty school and work at her salon.

Once qualified, Danny began work at the salon and was given the task of looking after the elderly women, eventually ‘graduating into doing styles’ – such as a ‘pageboy puff, a bouffant or a beehive.’

‘I got really friendly with all these women, they were in their 70s, 80,’ Danny recalled.

Danny recalled getting ‘really friendly’ with the clients who were in their 70s and 80s (Picture: Getty Images)

‘But then the first thing happened that was really weird. One of my clients died.’

As the hosts gasped, Danny clarified she didn’t die ‘in the chair… thank God.’

‘She died, but her family asked me to do her hair. For the coffin.’

‘That was the first time that happened but subsequently I did several,’ Danny revealed, because ‘my sister kept giving me [the elderly clients.]’

Charlie pointed out that Danny was essentially ‘a part-time mortician’ as Danny continued: ‘I would go to the morgue and they’re there, they’re dead, they’re done up by the mortician, they’re in the box, they’re in the whole thing. And I would take their hair and use the dry setting lotion and curl the hair, set the hair, take it out and fluff it up a little.’

The Hollywood star worked as a hairdresser – and essentially mortician – before finding fame as an actor (Picture: Getty Images)

Danny made the revelations on the latest Always Sunny podcast (Picture: YouTuebe_

He explained that usually morticians would do the hair of the deceased person, but in this case the families would specifically request ‘Mr Dan’ to do their loved ones’ hair one last time.

It’s far from the first insane Danny story revealed on the podcast, as one of the first episodes saw the gang reminisce on how they got the acclaimed actor to join the show.

At a first meeting set up by FX bosses, Rob, Glenn and Charlie admitted they weren’t sure whether Danny was already in character  as the deplorable Frank Reynolds or whether he was simply a bit of a weirdo.

Charlie, doing an impression of Danny, said: ‘He was having these conversations like, “My Dad used to keep a box of like, watches and teeth, and it could be like that.”‘

Danny joined acclaimed series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia in 2006 and the show has gone from strength to strength since (Picture: Rex/Shutterstock)

He was interrupted by Glenn, aka Dennis Reynolds, who said: ‘Hold on a second, I just want to clarify.

‘You’re not making something up right now, that was the conversation,’ with Charlie agreeing: ‘It’s word for word.’

Glenn continued: ‘He was saying that his grandfather – or his father – kept a box of watches and teeth, and was telling us some sort of a story, and we were like: “Is he telling us a story as himself or is he being Frank right now?”‘

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The gang found it hard to tell if he was in character ‘for the entire’ meeting, and Charlie went on to say that the show ‘became about a lunatic who would definitely keep a box of watches and teeth, so he was spot on’.

The Always Sunny Podcast is available on YouTube, Spotify, Google and Apple Podcasts.

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