Danny Ocean
Encyclopedia
Daniel "Danny" Ocean is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 in the original Ocean's 11, its 2001 remake
Ocean's Eleven (2001 film)
Ocean's Eleven is a 2001 American comedy-crime caper and remake of the 1960 Rat Pack caper film of the same name. The 2001 film was directed by Steven Soderbergh and features an ensemble cast including George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Andy García, and Julia Roberts. The film was...

 and the two films
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

 that followed the remake (Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve
Ocean's Twelve is a 2004 American crime comedy film, the sequel to 2001's Ocean's Eleven. Like its predecessor, which was a remake of the 1960 film Ocean's 11, the film used a celebrity ensemble cast. It was released in the United States on December 10, 2004. A third film, Ocean's Thirteen, was...

 in 2004 and Ocean's Thirteen
Ocean's Thirteen
Ocean's Thirteen is a 2007 crime comedy film directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring an ensemble cast. It is the third and final film in the Soderbergh series following the 2004 sequel Ocean's Twelve and the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven, which itself was a remake of the 1960 Rat Pack film Ocean's 11...

 in 2007). The character was portrayed by Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...

 in the original film, and by George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

 in the remake trilogy. Danny is the only character that appears in all four Ocean's films as he is the main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...

 of the series.

Appearance in 1960 film

In the 1960 film, Danny Ocean is a former sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....

 in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, having served during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 with the 82nd Airborne Division. Danny brings a group of his fellow former soldiers together in a plot to rob five Las Vegas casinos on New Year's Eve.

Before Ocean's Eleven

Before the series begins, it is established Danny was married to Tess Ocean for at least three years. He has fond memories of Reuben Tishkoff and has known Rusty Ryan for many years, having established a good friendship with him and many other people. Rusty mentions that Danny had stolen Incan matrimonial headmasks before his capture. He was paroled after serving 4 years of a 5 year sentence for felony fraud conviction. The parole selection staff say he has been implicated in 14 separate counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, but has never been charged in those crimes.

Ocean's Eleven

At the start of Ocean's Eleven, Danny gets paroled from prison and after less than a day, he breaks his parole by going to another state to find Rusty. After meeting up with his friend, he reveals his plan to rob the vault of Terry Benedict's casino. When asked why he wants to do this, Danny just says that the house always wins in Vegas, but when you get the best hand you can get like he has now, you go all in and destroy it. They recruit eight other members for the robbery, and taking a hint from Rusty's silence, Danny elects to get one more, Linus Caldwell. The Eleven begin preparations and Rusty finds out the real reason for Danny wanting to rob Benedict. Benedict, who owns the casinos, is now with Danny's ex-wife, Tess. Despite arguments with Rusty, Danny says his intention is to rob the casinos and Tess will be a side effect.

Despite his attempts to get Tess back, they fail and he is 'redflagged' at the hotel. Since his past history with Tess and criminal record is knowledge to Benedict, Rusty decides that Danny will have to back out of the heist, and the group goes ahead without him. Linus is given Danny's role in the caper. Danny arrives on the night of the heist and says goodbye to Tess. However, while doing so, he secretly passes her a mobile phone to keep the con going.

He allows himself to be taken to an empty room where a man arrives to beat him up. However after the door is closed, it becomes apparent the man is on his side. He uses the opportunity to enter the air-ducts and meet up with Linus where he says this was just a test for Linus and it was all an act.

After infiltrating the vault and after several series of bluffs and cons, the group succeeds in stealing $160 million. He also tricks Benedict into revealing in front of Tess that he'd rather have the money than her. He is sent back to jail for three to six months for violating his parole. When he comes out, Tess and Rusty are waiting for him, and they drive off into the sunset, closely followed by two of Benedict's lackeys.

Ocean's Twelve

Some three years after Ocean's Eleven, Danny is celebrating his second 3rd anniversary with Tess. He is buying her flowers and jewelry after checking a bank for a possible robbery. In the meanwhile, Tess, who is at their new home, receives an unexpected guest to their house, Mr. Benedict. He tells Tess that they must return his money. He does the same with the other ten.

However, after doing the previous job, Francois "The Night Fox" Toulour is angered by the possibility of a better thief than him. He reveals the location of the Eleven to Benedict and they are found and given two weeks to pay back the money or they will be executed by Benedict. Danny is short on funds as are the rest, except Reuben and Livingston, as most of the millions have been deeply invested. They go to Europe to get the money. However, Toulour interferes with their plans and reveals his own. Toulour offers to pay the debt of the Eleven if they can prove themselves better thieves. Through consultation with Toulour's mentor, LeMarque, the group comes out ahead with the object of the theft, a golden egg originally stolen by LeMarque but put back after his wife made him return it. Toulour explains to Danny how he stole what he believed to be the egg. When Danny reveals in reality it was a replica, Toulour concedes and pays off the debt.

Ocean's Thirteen

Sometime after Ocean's Twelve, Reuben, against Danny and Rusty's warnings, partners with ruthless Las Vegas businessman Willy Bank. The two intend to build a new, multi-billion-dollar hotel/casino. However, Bank strong arms Reuben into signing his share of the deal over to Bank, leaving Rueben with a single poker chip worth $10,000. The shock of the swindle gives Reuben a heart attack. Danny calls in the rest of the Eleven to get revenge. However, he leaves Tess behind, saying "it's not her fight." Despite the group wanting to kill Banks, and Danny being saddened by Reuben's heart attack, Danny and Rusty persuade the team that Danny should first talk to Bank to give Reuben back his share. When Bank refuses, the group prepares to rob him.

With the help of Roman Nagel (the engineer who created the holographic egg in Ocean's Twelve) and a seemingly placated Benedict, the group manages to plant a magnetron on Bank, so that when he enters the security sector of his casino, it locks down from the magnetron's interference. With the security shut down for three and a half minutes, the group uses the pre-rigged games to break the house, causing Bank over $500,000,000 in losses. As the security comes back online, the group simulates an earthquake and gets the entire casino to evacuate before the patrons can start losing again.

Danny then faces off against Bank. After Bank threatens Danny with all the friends he knows who'll hurt him, Danny is calm and confident, claiming every guy Bank knows likes Danny better. At that point, to add insult to injury, Basher and Linus airlift Bank's collection of prized diamond necklaces, worth an additional $250,000,000.

Afterward, Danny and the group, including the recovered Reuben, celebrate their victory. As they leave, in the airport, Rusty tells him to lose weight and Danny tells him to settle down and have a couple of kids.

A running joke in the movie is that there is a code between people who "shook Sinatra's hand." Frank Sinatra played the character of Danny Ocean in the 1960s version of the film.

Personality

Danny Ocean has a cool, friendly and charismatic personality. He is imaginative, personable and highly organized, and a very experienced gambler, con artist, and thief. A true career criminal, Danny is often on the lookout for potential targets, even unintentionally. He is experienced in various confidence schemes, fraudulent business scams and swindles.

Danny is effectively both the leader and project manager of the Eleven, knowing the skills of his teammates and who to rotate inside a job to handle contingencies. He also knows who to recruit from the outside for specific parts in a heist. His ability to rapidly acquire talent throughout the series reveal how extremely well connected he is with the most skilled characters in the professional criminal world. Despite being a thief, Danny adheres to the codes and unwritten understandings of criminal professionals, giving him a universal reputation of reliability, competency and nobility. He lives by three rules: 1. Don't hurt anybody, 2. Don't steal from anyone who doesn't deserve it, 3. Play the game like you have nothing to lose.

Danny's appearance is impeccable and fashionable, but more sedate than his associates. Danny is a skilled communicator. He knows how to persuade using reverse psychology or offering recruits exactly what they want directly using as few words as possible.

Danny's closest friends in the original film are Jimmy Foster (Peter Lawford
Peter Lawford
Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting...

) and Sam Harmon (Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...

). In the remake it is Rusty Ryan
Rusty Ryan
Robert Charles "Rusty" Ryan is a fictional character in Ocean's Eleven and its sequels, Ocean's Twelve and Ocean's Thirteen. The films are based on the original Ocean's Eleven with the Rat Pack, though Rusty does not appear in it...

 (Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...

), and the two complement each other. The two know each other well enough that they will take non-verbal cues from one another, not even needing to finish their own sentences. Danny and Rusty often confide in each other about personal issues.

One of Danny's oldest friends is a master thief named Bobby Caldwell, and early in the first film he discovers that his last recruit, Linus, a master snatch & grab artist, is Bobby's son. During the Benedict job, Danny & Rusty become mentors to Linus. Bobby didn't want his son 'trading on his name', but Danny promises if the Benedict job pays off, "he'll be trading on yours."

Other media

  • Danny Ocean appears in the Robot Chicken
    Robot Chicken
    Robot Chicken is an American stop motion animated television series created and executive produced by Seth Green and Matthew Senreich along with co-head writers Douglas Goldstein and Tom Root. Green provides many voices for the show...

     episode "1987" voiced by Miguel Ferrer
    Miguel Ferrer
    Miguel José Ferrer is an American actor and voice actor who is often cast as a villain. His notable roles include Bob Morton, a supporting character in RoboCop , the short tempered FBI agent Albert Rosenfield in Twin Peaks, and Dr...

    . In a board game movie segment that parodies Ocean's Eleven with Slip 'n Slide
    Slip 'N Slide
    The Slip 'n Slide is a toy manufactured by Wham-O, first introduced in 1961 after being invented by Cody Abramson.The toy is a long sheet of thin plastic, flanked lengthwise on one side by a heat-sealed tubular fold. The tube can be attached to any ordinary garden hose. Water runs through the tube...

    , a scene shows Danny Ocean and his comrades robbing a Las Vegas casino vault and escaping on the Slip 'n Slide. Victor Yerrid
    Victor Yerrid
    Victor Yerrid is a puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company and has performed Muppet characters in many TV shows, movies, TV commercials. Yerrid is best known in the Muppet World for his work on the online series Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony in which he performed Waldorf along with an...

     voices Danny Ocean in the episode "President Evil." In his latest caper upon a Las Vegas casino, he brings not 11, not 12, and not 13 but 38 characters to take part in it. To start a fight at the bar, Danny Ocean assigns the job to Team One consisting of Brad Pitt
    Brad Pitt
    William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...

    , Matt Damon
    Matt Damon
    Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...

    , Don Cheadle
    Don Cheadle
    Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...

    , Carl Reiner
    Carl Reiner
    Carl Reiner is an American actor, film director, producer, writer and comedian. He has won nine Emmy Awards and one Grammy Award during this career...

    , Elliott Gould
    Elliott Gould
    Elliott Gould is an American actor. He began acting in Hollywood films during the 1960s, and has remained prolific ever since. Some of his most notable films include M*A*S*H and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, for which he received an Oscar nomination...

    , Scott Caan
    Scott Caan
    Scott Andrew Caan is an American actor. He stars in the CBS television series Hawaii Five-0, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe award. He is the son of actor James Caan.-Early life:...

    , Shaobo Qin
    Shaobo Qin
    A member of the internationally acclaimed Peking Acrobats, Shaobo Qin made his motion picture debut in 2001, playing The Amazing Yen, Danny Ocean's "grease man" in the remake of Ocean's Eleven. He reprised the role in 2004 in Ocean's Twelve and again in the sequel Ocean's Thirteen. He has no other...

    , Eddie Jemison
    Eddie Jemison
    Edward F. "Eddie" Jemison is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles in the Ocean's Eleven trilogy and the television series Hung.-Life and career:...

    , Andy García
    Andy García
    Andrés Arturo García Menéndez , professionally known as Andy García, is a Cuban American actor. He became known in the late 1980s and 1990s, having appeared in several successful Hollywood films, including The Godfather: Part III, The Untouchables, Internal Affairs and When a Man Loves a Woman...

    , Leonardo DiCaprio
    Leonardo DiCaprio
    Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio is an American actor and film producer. He has received many awards, including a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for his performance in The Aviator , and has been nominated by the Academy Awards, Screen Actors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television...

    , Bruce Willis
    Bruce Willis
    Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...

    , Vin Diesel
    Vin Diesel
    Vin Diesel is an American actor, writer, director and producer. He became known in the early 2000s, appearing in several successful Hollywood films, including The Fast and the Furious and xXx...

    , William Shatner
    William Shatner
    William Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor, musician, recording artist, and author. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of James T...

    , Topher Grace
    Topher Grace
    Christopher John "Topher" Grace is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Eric Forman on the Fox sitcom That '70s Show, Eddie Brock/Venom in the Sam Raimi film Spider-Man 3, and Edwin in the 2010 film Predators....

    , Christopher Walken
    Christopher Walken
    Christopher Walken is an American stage and screen actor. He has appeared in more than 100 movies and television shows, including Joe Dirt, Annie Hall, The Deer Hunter, The Prophecy trilogy, The Dogs of War, Sleepy Hollow, Brainstorm, The Dead Zone, A View to a Kill, At Close Range, King of New...

    , Justin Timberlake
    Justin Timberlake
    Justin Randall Timberlake is an American pop musician and actor. He achieved early fame when he appeared as a contestant on Star Search, and went on to star in the Disney Channel television series The New Mickey Mouse Club, where he met future bandmate JC Chasez...

    , Antonio Banderas
    Antonio Banderas
    José Antonio Domínguez Banderas , better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer...

    , Samuel L. Jackson
    Samuel L. Jackson
    Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...

    , Kurtwood Smith
    Kurtwood Smith
    Kurtwood Larson Smith is an American television and film actor. He is best known for playing Clarence Boddicker in RoboCop and stern parental characters , and for his appearances in the genre of science fiction...

    , Bruce Campbell
    Bruce Campbell
    Bruce Lorne Campbell is an American film and television actor. As a cult movie actor, Campbell starred as Ashley J. "Ash" Williams in Sam Raimi's Evil Dead series of films and he has starred in many low-budget cult films such as Crimewave, Maniac Cop, Bubba Ho-tep, Escape From L.A. and Sundown:...

    , Jackie Chan
    Jackie Chan
    Jackie Chan, SBS, MBE is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, comedian, director, producer, martial artist, screenwriter, entrepreneur, singer and stunt performer. In his movies, he is known for his acrobatic fighting style, comic timing, use of improvised weapons, and innovative stunts...

    , and "Weird Al" Yankovic
    "Weird Al" Yankovic
    Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...

    . To slip in the back of the casino, Danny assigns the job to Team Two consisting of Sylvester Stallone
    Sylvester Stallone
    Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...

    , Erik Estrada
    Erik Estrada
    Henry Enrique "Erik" Estrada is an American police officer and actor, known for his co-starring lead role in the 1977–1983 United States police television series CHiPs...

    , David Letterman
    David Letterman
    David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...

    , Vince Vaughn
    Vince Vaughn
    Vincent Anthony "Vince" Vaughn is an American film actor, screenwriter, producer and comedian. He began acting in the late 1980s, appearing in minor television roles before attaining wider recognition with the 1996 movie Swingers...

    , Leonard Nimoy
    Leonard Nimoy
    Leonard Simon Nimoy is an American actor, film director, poet, musician and photographer. Nimoy's most famous role is that of Spock in the original Star Trek series , multiple films, television and video game sequels....

    , Vladimir Putin
    Vladimir Putin
    Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...

    , Frankenstein's Monster
    Frankenstein's monster
    Frankenstein's monster is a fictional character that first appeared in Mary Shelley's novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus. The creature is often erroneously referred to as "Frankenstein", but in the novel the creature has no name...

    , Danny's niece Susie, Koko the Gorilla
    Koko (gorilla)
    Koko is a female western lowland gorilla who, according to Francine "Penny" Patterson, is able to understand more than 1,000 signs based on American Sign Language, and understand approximately 2,000 words of spoken English....

    , Panda
    Giant Panda
    The giant panda, or panda is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo...

     with a Monocle
    Monocle
    A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the vision in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens, generally with a wire ring around the circumference that can be attached to a string. The other end of the string is then connected to the wearer's clothing to avoid losing...

    , Peter Pan
    Peter Pan
    Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...

    , John Denver
    John Denver
    Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. , known professionally as John Denver, was an American singer/songwriter, activist, and humanitarian. After growing up in numerous locations with his military family, Denver began his music career in folk music groups in the late 1960s. His greatest commercial success...

    's Corpse, a Mime
    Mime
    The word mime is used to refer to a mime artist who uses a theatrical medium or performance art involving the acting out of a story through body motions without use of speech.Mime may also refer to:* Mime, an alternative word for lip sync...

    , Sherlax the Devourer of Worlds, and Ryan Seacrest
    Ryan Seacrest
    Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...

    . They then struggle to get into the casino.

  • In the South Park
    South Park
    South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

     episode "About Last Night
    About Last Night... (South Park)
    "About Last Night…" is the twelfth episode of the twelfth season of the animated series South Park, and the 179th episode of the series overall. The episode was first broadcast on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 10:00 PM EST, less than a day after Barack Obama was declared the winner in the 2008...

    ," the 2008 presidential candidates John McCain
    John McCain
    John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

     and Barack Obama
    Barack Obama
    Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

    are criminal masterminds based on Danny Ocean, who planned their individual campaigns for the purpose of one of them becoming president elect to access a tunnel in the Oval Office to steal the Hope Diamond.
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