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DeVito was born at Raleigh Fitkin-Paul Morgan Memorial Hospital in Neptune Township, New Jersey, the son of Daniel DeVito Sr., a small business
owner, and Julia DeVito (née Moccello). He grew up in a family of five, with his parents and two older sisters. He is of Italian descent; his
family is originally from San Fele, Basilicata, and Calabria. He was raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey. DeVito was raised as a Catholic. When he
was 14, he persuaded his father to send him to boarding school to "keep him out of trouble," He graduated from Oratory Preparatory School in
Summit, New Jersey, in 1962. While working as a beautician at his sister's salon, his search for a professional makeup instructor led him to the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts, where he graduated in 1966. In his early theater days, he performed with the Colonnades Theater Lab at the
Eugene O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Connecticut. Along with his future wife, Rhea Perlman, he appeared in plays produced by the Westbeth
Playwrights Feminist Collective.
