He made his feature film debut in 1965 (credited as "Dan Travanty") playing a deaf mute nightclub bouncer in the psychological thriller Who Killed Teddy Bear?

In 1966, he played the role of radio talk show host Barney Austin in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Midnight Howler".

Also in 1972, he played a fugitive in the episode "The Devil's Playground" of Cannon with future Hill Street co-star James B. Sikking.

Travanti earned five nominations and two Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Hill Street Station Captain Frank Furillo.

He starred opposite Sophia Loren in Aurora (1984), which premiered on NBC and received a theatrical release in Italy.

[2]: 696 From January to March 2007, Travanti appeared off-Broadway in Oren Safdie's The Last Word... at the Theater at St. Clements in New York City, and from November to December 2008, Travanti played the "Con Melody" in an off-off Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's A Touch of the Poet for Friendly Fire Theater in New York.

In 1981, he made such a confession to Rona Barrett in an interview on NBC and even recited, from memory, all of the organization's "Twelve Steps" on camera.