He tested for a part in Ben Hur, but his big break was the role of Apollodorus, Cleopatra's personal servant in the 1963 film, Cleopatra directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton and Rex Harrison. While the original script called for a major role for Danova, who was to form a trio of Cleopatra's lovers alongside Harrison's Caesar and Burton's Marc Antony. Though a number of scenes featuring Taylor and Danova were shot, the script was revised and the role truncated as the Burton-Taylor affair made tabloid headlines. What remained was little more than a cameo.
He died of a heart attack at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters in Los Angeles while attending a meeting of the Foreign Language Film committee.
Danova was married twice and had two sons by his first wife, Pamela. He was an expert horseman and avid polo player, as well as an excellent archer.