His family (his grandparents and his father, a baby at the time) had migrated from Poland and Russia to Philadelphia, before settling in New York on the lower east side of Manhattan.
Fascinated by the Dead End Kids pictures that were popular at the time and having acted in a few high school plays, young Danny Cahn thought he might like to become an actor.
Cahn got his SAG card and worked on bit parts in several B-movies before deciding that most actors were starving and that he wanted a "real paying gig".
[2] During World War II, Dann Cahn was among the hundreds of actors, directors, producers, writers, editors, cameramen, makeup artists and even musicians enlisted in the armed services who found themselves stationed not in the European front or the Pacific theater, but at the old Hal Roach Studios in Culver City.
As members of the First Motion Picture Unit, these soldiers contributed to the war effort by making more than 400 training films and documentaries.
[4] Cahn's work on I Love Lucy is featured in the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, New York, which has an exhibit including his "three-headed monster" editing machine.
At Desilu Studios, Cahn mentored several I Love Lucy team members, editors Gary Freund and Ted Rich both started as his apprentices.
His other apprentices included Bud Molin and a fourth, "the one I had to nurse the longest..." Cahn said, "that was Michael Kahn, ACE, and he is now the number one editor in town, doing all of Steven Spielberg's shows.
"[4] Cahn would go on to work with several notable feature film directors, including Orson Welles (Fountain of Youth) and the notorious Russ Meyer (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls).