Danny Pintauro, known for his role as Jonathan Bower in the ABC sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” throughout its eight seasons, attracted public attention in April by sharing an Instagram photo of himself working part-time as an Amazon delivery driver. This revelation surprised fans, who found it unexpected that a former child star of a beloved sitcom was now delivering packages. Pintauro addressed this reaction during an appearance on the “Pod Meets World” podcast (via Entertainment Weekly), explaining that this job is just one of several he holds to manage his expenses, as acting roles are not reliably available.
“When I posted the picture for [Amazon] Flex, I really didn’t… it did not cross my mind [how people would react] because everybody knows that I’m working,” Pintauro said. “It’s one of the five different gig jobs that I’m doing right now. We’re gig actors. Acting is one of the six gigs.”
Pintauro mentioned that his Amazon delivery job earns him approximately “$80 to $100” for a two-to-three-hour shift. He emphasized: “We have to do what we have to do to survive. We have got to keep moving as humans. We’re all doing it. I am not different from you in that sense. We’ve never been different from you in that sense. I don’t make money from residuals.”
He recalled previously facing strong public reactions when he took a summer job at the Gap after “Who’s the Boss?” concluded. “Somebody brought in a hidden camera and took pictures of me folding clothes and said, ‘He’s already lost all his money, the downfall of Danny Pintauro!’” he recounted.
In “Who’s the Boss?”, Pintauro played Jonathan Bower, the son of Judith Light’s character, Angela Bower. The show, which aired 196 episodes from 1984 to 1992, follows Tony Danza’s character, Tony Micelli, who becomes the live-in housekeeper for the Bower family, bringing along his daughter, Samantha (portrayed by Alyssa Milano). When Pintauro disclosed his Amazon job, he wrote: “There’s no shame in staying in motion. Working hard while ‘not working.’”
At the time, he also commented on the slow pace of the entertainment industry: “The entertainment business has been soooo slow, so I’ve been doing what a lot of people do — figuring it out, showing up, and taking the work that’s there while I keep building the work I really want. 38 packages today!”
In a conversation with People, Pintauro remarked that many people overestimate the financial benefits from sitcom residuals in the ’80s and ’90s. This misconception partly explains why he juggles multiple jobs. He added: “I invested a good portion of that money, but I also used a lot of it to pay for Stanford and to get through my early 20s, so it’s not like there’s just been endless money sitting there.”
