Editing Taxi (TV series) (section)

== Cast and characters ==
===Main===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="white-space:nowrap;"
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Character
! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Actor
! scope="col" colspan="11" | Seasons
|-
! scope="col" style="width:3em;" | 1
! scope="col" style="width:3em;" | 2
! scope="col" style="width:3em;" | 3
! scope="col" style="width:3em;" | 4
! scope="col" style="width:3em;" | 5
|-
| scope="row" | Alex Reiger
| [[Judd Hirsch]]
| colspan="5" {{CMain}}
|-
| scope="row" | Bobby Wheeler
| [[Jeff Conaway]]
| colspan="3" {{CMain}}
| colspan="1" {{CRecurring}}{{efn|Conaway is credited alongside the main cast for two episodes, which were held over from season 3, and makes one further appearance credited as a special guest star.}}
| colspan="1" |
|-
| scope="row" | Louie De Palma 
| [[Danny DeVito]]
| colspan="5" {{CMain}}
|-
| scope="row" | Elaine O'Connor Nardo
| [[Marilu Henner]]
| colspan="5" {{CMain}}
|-
| scope="row" | Anthony Mark "Tony" Banta
| [[Tony Danza]]
| colspan="5" {{CMain}}
|-
| scope="row" | [[Latka Gravas]]
| [[Andy Kaufman]]
| colspan="5" {{CMain}}
|-
| scope="row" | John Burns
| [[Randall Carver]]
| colspan="1" {{CMain}}
| colspan="4" |
|-
| scope="row" | [[Jim Ignatowski|Reverend Jim "Iggy" Ignatowski]]
| [[Christopher Lloyd]]
| colspan="1" {{CGuest}}
| colspan="4" {{CMain}}
|-
| scope="row" | Simka Gravas
| [[Carol Kane]]
| colspan="1" |
| colspan="1" {{CGuest}}
| colspan="1" |
| colspan="1" {{CRecurring}}
| colspan="1" {{CMain}}
|-
|}
{{reflist|group=N}}
{{notelist}}

[[File:Taxi cast ABC first season.jpg|thumb|upright=1.14|Cast of the debut season ([[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], 1978–79). From left to right: (back) Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch; (front) Andy Kaufman, Jeff Conaway, Randall Carver, Danny DeVito, Tony Danza]]
[[File:Taxi NBC cast final season.jpg|upright|thumb|Cast of the final season ([[NBC]], 1982–83). From left to right: (back) Kaufman, Carol Kane, DeVito, Hirsch; (front) Danza, Henner, Christopher Lloyd]]

* Alex Reiger ([[Judd Hirsch]])&nbsp;– Alex is the main [[protagonist]] in the sitcom, the compassionate, level-headed core of the show; the one everyone else turns to for advice. At one point, he reveals his [[anxiety]] with this unwanted burden. He once worked in an office, with a good chance of advancement, but lost this job owing to his refusal to follow the company line. He was married to Phyllis Bornstein ([[Louise Lasser]]), and when she [[divorce]]d him because of his lack of ambition she sought sole custody of their baby daughter, Cathy ([[Talia Balsam]]). He gave in rather than fight it. He is estranged from his [[lothario]] father, Joe ([[Jack Gilford]]), but has a closer relationship with his sister, Charlotte ([[Joan Hackett]]). Alex is a recovered [[Problem gambling|compulsive gambler]], although he relapses in one episode. A [[deadpan]] [[Cynicism (contemporary)|cynic]], he has resigned himself to driving a cab for the rest of his life. 
* Robert L. "Bobby" Wheeler ([[Jeff Conaway]]) (1978–1981, recurring 1981–1982)&nbsp;– Bobby is a vain, struggling actor who is Louie's favorite target for scorn and abuse. [[Robin Williams]] was considered for the role, but he was already committed to ''[[Mork & Mindy]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=31 March 2011 |title=The Lost Roles of Robin Williams |url=https://www.vulture.com/2011/03/the-lost-roles-of-robin-williams.html |access-date=17 July 2021 |archive-date=19 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210719042542/https://www.vulture.com/amp/2011/03/the-lost-roles-of-robin-williams.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Success as an actor eludes Bobby. He is signed by a famous manager, but it turns out she only wants him as a lover, not a client. Later he is cast in the pilot for a soap opera, but his part is recast when the series goes into production. Conaway left the show at the beginning of season 4, returning for a guest appearance in which his character leaves the taxi company for good. Writer [[Sam Simon]] explained later that when Conaway was absent for an episode, his dialogue was successfully reassigned to other cast members, which made the producers realize that he was expendable.<ref name="marksfriggin">{{cite web|url=http://www.marksfriggin.com/news08/2-4.htm#thu|title=MarksFriggin.com - Stern Show News - Archive|publisher=marksfriggin.com|access-date=2014-11-15|archive-date=2011-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303222916/http://www.marksfriggin.com/news08/2-4.htm#thu|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Louie De Palma ([[Danny DeVito]])&nbsp;– Louie is the main [[antagonist]] of the sitcom. The head dispatcher of the Sunshine Cab Company and supervisor to the cab drivers, Louie spends his time holding court inside the caged-in dispatch office at the garage, arguing with, belittling and bullying the drivers. He not only lacks morals, he is openly proud of his misdemeanors and outright crimes. Louie will do anything to benefit himself, from taking advantage of a drunken friend of his [[On-again, off-again relationship|on-again, off-again girlfriend]] Zena Sherman (played by DeVito's real-life wife [[Rhea Perlman]]), to gambling with a young boy, to stealing from the company, to spying on Elaine while she is changing. He lives with his mother (DeVito's real mother, Julia, in two episodes). On some occasions he helps his workers, as in the episode in which a cruel hairstylist (played by [[Ted Danson]]) gives Elaine a garish makeover just before a very important event, it is Louie who bolsters her confidence to confront him. Louie is very superstitious, in one episode exhibiting great concern when Jim has a premonition that Alex is going to die later that night. In 1999, ''[[TV Guide]]'' ranked De Palma first on its list of the 50 greatest TV characters of all time.<ref>{{cite news | title = Danny Devito: Biography | work = [[TV Guide]] | url = http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/danny-devito/bio/146104 | access-date = 2008-10-03 | archive-date = 2009-02-16 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090216222535/http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/danny-devito/bio/146104 | url-status = live }}</ref> DeVito told ''[[AARP: The Magazine]]'' he won the role after asking the creators in his audition “Who wrote this shit?” then throwing the script on the table. “They fell on the floor,” recalled DeVito. “Louie walked into their lives.”<ref name=AARP>{{cite magazine|last=Rosen|first=Lisa|title= Danny DeVito: 'You Gotta Tamp Me Down in the Joy Department!'|url=https://www.aarp.org/benefits-discounts/members-only-access/info-2024/danny-devito-what-i-know-now.html |magazine=[[AARP: The Magazine]]|date=December 2024 – January 2025}}</ref>
* Elaine O'Connor Nardo ([[Marilu Henner]])&nbsp;– Elaine is a divorced mother of two, struggling to cope while trying to realize her ambitions in the field of fine art. Elaine works as a part time cab driver as a moonlighting job while she works as a receptionist in an art gallery. Also Louie's object of lust, she is attracted to characters played by actors ranging from [[Tom Selleck]] to [[Wallace Shawn]]. The last name for the character was taken from Patricia Nardo, a scriptwriter, former secretary, and close friend of ''Taxi'' co-creator James L. Brooks.<ref>''Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made The Mary Tyler Moore Show a Classic'' by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, pg 242</ref>
* Anthony Mark "Tony" Banta ([[Tony Danza]])&nbsp;– The kind-hearted, slow-witted Vietnam veteran and [[Boxing|boxer]] has little success in the sport (in one episode Banta gives his record as 8 wins, 24 losses and he has been knocked out 14 times). In fact, Louie makes a lot of money betting against him (when Banta makes a conscious decision to throw a fight, Louie decides to bet ''on'' Banta because the only way Banta can remain a loser in such a situation is to ''win''). Finally, the boxing commission takes away his license because he has been knocked out one too many times.Tony got his boxing license reinstated. In the final season, Tony is introduced to new girlfriend Vicki ([[Anne De Salvo]]) by Simka. He and Vicki have a falling out after she becomes pregnant by him, but reconcile and get married. The last name for the character was taken from Gloria Banta, a scriptwriter and close friend of ''Taxi'' co-creator James L. Brooks.<ref>''Mary and Lou and Rhoda and Ted: And all the Brilliant Minds Who Made Them'' by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, pg 242</ref>
* Reverend [[Jim Ignatowski]] ([[Christopher Lloyd]]) (guest star 1978, main cast 1979–1983)&nbsp;– A washed-up figure of the 1960s, Jim lives in a world of his own. He was once a diligent, mature student at [[Harvard University]], with an extremely [[wealth]]y father ([[Victor Buono]]), but one bite of a drug-laden brownie was enough to get him hooked and send him into a downward spiral. His real last name had been Caldwell; he changed it to Ignatowski, thinking that the backward pronunciation of that name was "Star Child". In a particularly memorable episode, “Reverend Jim: A Space Odyssey”, the cabbies help him pass a written exam to become one of them. He occasionally exhibits unexpected talents, such as the ability to play the piano masterfully (much to his own surprise). ''[[TV Guide]]'' placed Ignatowski 32nd on its list of the 50 greatest TV characters.
* [[Latka Gravas]] ([[Andy Kaufman]])&nbsp;– Latka is an immigrant from a strange foreign land, often speaking in his foreign tongue (actually gibberish, often with invented phrases such as "ibi da" or "nik nik"), but when speaking English he speaks with a very heavy accent. He works as a mechanic, fixing the taxis. Latka was an adaptation of Kaufman's "Foreign Man" character, which he originated in his stage act. In this act, "Foreign Man" claimed to be from the fictional island of Caspiar in the Caspian Sea. Kaufman, feeling that he had lost creative control over the character he had created, eventually grew tired of the gag, leading the writers to give Latka multiple personality disorder. This allowed Kaufman to play other characters, the most frequent being a repellent, smooth-talking lounge-lizard persona calling himself Vic Ferrari. In one episode, Latka becomes Alex, with profound insights into "his" life. Just as he is about to reveal to the real Alex the perfect solution for all his problems, he reverts to Latka.
* Simka Dahblitz-Gravas ([[Carol Kane]]) (recurring 1980–1982, starring 1982–1983)&nbsp;– She is from the same country as Latka. They belong to different ethnic groups which traditionally detest each other, but they fall in love and eventually marry. She is much more assertive than her husband, often standing up to Louie on his behalf. 
* John Burns ([[Randall Carver]]) (1978–1979)&nbsp;– The naive young man works as a cabbie to pay for college, where he is working towards a degree in [[forestry]]. According to Carver, "the characters of John Burns and Tony Banta were too similar... some of the lines were almost interchangeable",<ref>Jeff Sorensen, ''The Taxi Book'', St. Martin's Press, 1987, p. 39.</ref> so he was dropped after the first season without explanation. The premiere episode, "Like Father, Like Daughter", established that John started working for the cab company after he was a passenger in Alex's cab. John did not have change, so he had to ride with Alex to the garage to pay him. Once there, he started hanging around and eventually applied for a job. In the episode "The Great Line", he spontaneously marries a complete stranger named Suzanne.

===Recurring===

* Jeff Bennett (J. Alan Thomas), Sunshine Cab's assistant dispatcher, he shares the "cage" with Louie but rarely speaks or interacts with the other characters. A quiet African-American man with an afro, Jeff appears throughout the show's run, initially as a bit part player and/or background performer. As the series progressed, Jeff gradually became more of a featured supporting player; his evolution culminated in a storyline in the season 5 episode "Crime and Punishment", in which Louie falsely accuses Jeff of stealing car parts from the company and selling them on the black market—a crime which Louie himself committed. Thomas appeared as himself in the 1999 film ''[[Man on the Moon (film)|Man on the Moon]]''.<ref name="google">{{cite book|title=John Willis' Screen World|author1=Willis, J.|author2=Monush, B.|date=2000|volume=51|publisher=Applause Books|isbn=9781557834317|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ab0zAQAAIAAJ|access-date=2014-11-15}}</ref>
* Tommy Jeffries (T.J. Castronova), the bartender and waiter at Mario's, the restaurant where the group often hangs out. Tommy is pretty friendly with the whole gang, taking an interest in their personal lives.
* Joe Reiger ([[Jack Gilford]]) (1979–1981), Alex's father, from whom he is estranged. In his first appearance, he suffers a heart attack and Alex is convinced by his sister Charlotte ([[Joan Hackett]]) to visit him in the hospital. Alex and Joe had not spoken in 30 years, and Alex mistakes another patient for Joe.
* Zena Sherman ([[Rhea Perlman]]) (1979–1982). She has a romantic relationship with Louie (played by Perlman's real-life husband DeVito), but marries someone else after they break up.
* Greta Gravas ([[Susan Kellermann]]) (1979–1982), Latka's mother. She has a short fling with Alex, which causes friction with Latka.
* Phyllis Bornstein-Consuelos ([[Louise Lasser]]) (1980–1982), Alex's ex-wife, with whom he had a daughter. Phyllis became fed up with his lack of ambition and remarried, but they remain strongly attracted to each other. She once goes out on a date with Louie, just to irritate Alex.
* Cathy ([[Talia Balsam]]) (1978–1980), Phyllis and Alex's daughter. In the first episode of the series, Alex finds out that Cathy, who was a baby when he and Phyllis divorced, is making a stopover in Miami on her way to attend college in Portugal. He drives to Miami to meet her for the first time since then. In a later episode, he attends Cathy's wedding.
* Brian Sims (Marc Anthony Danza). In his first appearance, Tony fights a former boxing champ whose best days are behind him. He becomes troubled when he realizes that the champ is dedicating the fight to wheelchair user Brian (played by Danza's real-life son<ref name="Picou-20220813">{{cite web |last1=Picou |first1=Sabrina |title=Tony Danza's Kids: Everything To Know About 'Who's The Boss?' Star's 4 Children |url=https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/tony-danza-kids-4816909/ |website=[[Hollywood Life]] |access-date=March 20, 2023 |date=August 13, 2022 |archive-date=March 20, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320002352/https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/tony-danza-kids-4816909/ |url-status=live }}</ref>). In a next-season episode, Tony seeks to adopt him.

===Guests===
<!--do not add too many guest stars; use present tense for fiction per MOS:FICTION -->
Among the many guest stars, [[Ruth Gordon]] won an [[Emmy Award]] for her guest portrayal of Dee Wilcox in "Sugar Mama" (1979), and [[Eileen Brennan]] was nominated for an Emmy for her guest portrayal of Mrs. McKenzie in "Thy Boss's Wife" (1981).

[[Richard Minchenberg]] guest starred in Season 3 episode 1.  The episode is titled "Louie's Rival."<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0718510/ | title=Louie's Rival | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>[[Rhea Perlman]] guest starred as Zena Sherman.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077089/characters/nm0674231 | title=Taxi (TV Series 1978–1983) - Rhea Perlman as Zena Sherman, John's Girlfriend - IMDb | website=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

Some played themselves: actresses [[Marcia Wallace]] and [[Penny Marshall]], psychologist Dr. [[Joyce Brothers]], cookie entrepreneur [[Wally Amos|Wally "Famous" Amos]], newscasters [[Edwin Newman]] and [[Eric Sevareid]] (the latter in a fantasy sequence), and ring announcer [[Jimmy Lennon]]. WBC world welterweight boxing champion [[Carlos Palomino]] appeared in the first-season episode "One-Punch Banta" as himself. Palomino accidentally punched Danza in the face during a brief fight scene. Martial artist and professional wrestler [[Gene LeBell]] played himself in multiple episodes as the referee for Banta's boxing matches.

[[George Wendt]] and [[Ted Danson]], who appeared in separate episodes, went on to star in primary ''Taxi'' director Jim Burrows' next series, ''[[Cheers]]'', as did recurring ''Taxi'' performer [[Rhea Perlman]]. [[Tom Selleck]] and [[Mandy Patinkin]] had memorable guest appearances, each as one of the memorable fares of Cab 804 (in "Memories of Cab 804: Part 2"), while [[Tom Hanks]] portrayed Reverend Jim's college roommate in the flashback episode "The Road Not Taken, Part 1".  [[Allan Arbus]], who portrayed [[United States Army|US Army]] [[psychiatrist]] [[Dr. Sidney Freedman]] in ''[[M*A*S*H (TV series)|M*A*S*H]]'', played his manager in the episode.  Football player-turned-actor [[Bubba Smith]] appeared in one episode. In the episode "Jim Joins the Network", [[Martin Short]] played a failing TV network executive who takes advantage of Jim's exceptional ability to schedule shows for his own career advancement.