One of 10 children, Danny Thomas was born as Amos Muzyad Yakhoob Kairouz on January 6, 1912, in Deerfield, Michigan, to Charles Yakhoob Kairouz and his wife Margaret Taouk. His parents were Maronite Catholic immigrants from Lebanon. Kairouz and Taouk are two prominent families from Bsharri. Thomas was raised in Toledo, Ohio, attending St. Francis de Sales Church (Roman Catholic), Woodward High School, and finally the University of Toledo, where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Thomas enjoyed a successful 11-year run (1953-1964) on Make Room For Daddy, later known as The Danny Thomas Show. Jean Hagen and Sherry Jackson were his first family. The Hagen character died in 1956, replaced by Marjorie Lord. Jackson left the series in 1958, and Penny Parker replaced her in the 1959-1960 series. Parker was written out of the series with her marriage to the character Patrick Hannigan, played by comedian Pat Harrington, Jr. Lord and Harrington died a few weeks apart between November 2015 and January 2016.  On January 1, 1959, Thomas appeared with his other Make Room For Daddy child stars, Angela Cartwright and the late Rusty Hamer, in an episode of NBC's The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford.  The show was produced at Desilu Studios, where Lucille Ball was appearing alongside Desi Arnaz Sr. in I Love Lucy, and it featured several guest stars who went on to star in their own shows, including Andy Griffith (The Andy Griffith Show, Mayberry RFD), Joey Bishop, and Bill Bixby (My Favorite Martian and others). He also scored a major success at the London Palladium, in the years when many big American stars appeared there.  In 1970, the program was revived for a season under the title Make Room for Granddaddy. (See below.)  Angela Cartwright (who spoke about her on- and off-camera relationship with her TV stepfather, Danny Thomas, on a groundbreaking ABC TV show, Make Room for Daddy) had said: "I thought Danny was hilarious and he was always cracking me up. He was loud and gregarious, nothing like my real Dad who is far more reserved than that. So, it was fun to be able to make smart remarks and get away with it. I would never have talked to my real parents that way, but in the make-believe world of the Williams family I got away with that." Cartwright also added that by the time Thomas' show had ended, she wanted to join the cast of The Sound of Music: "I went on an interview for the part of Brigitta. I was still filming The Danny Thomas Show, but I knew the series was coming to an end. After several auditions, I was the first von Trapp cast. I asked Danny Thomas if he would let me out of my contract so I could be in the movie and he was very gracious to let me out of the last show of the season. He didn't have to do that and I am very grateful he did."

what was special about it?
The show was produced at Desilu Studios, where Lucille Ball was appearing alongside Desi Arnaz Sr. in I Love Lucy,