Most Random Celebrity Friendship Ever: Tony Danza and Tupac Shakur?

Read On for a List of Other Odd Couple Friendships in Hollywood

While promoting his new book I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had, Tony Danza revealed he was half of one of the most surprising, just plain oddest celebrity friendships ever … with murdered rapper/actor Tupac Shakur.

Danza, whose book details his year-long experience of becoming a teacher in Philadelphia, said on Access Hollywood Live Tuesday that he and Shakur became pen pals when the rapper was in jail in 1995.

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"I was trying to make a point that since he had five bullets holes in him and he was in jail and he's the same guy that wrote 'Dear Mama' and did all those great acting roles, I said, 'Maybe there is a better way to do this. Maybe, I know you can't be a goody-two-shoes in your business, but maybe there is a way to inspire kids,'" Danza told hosts Billy Bush and Kit Hoover about his letter to Shakur (via Today.com).

"I said, 'Because you have such a great influence, responsibility comes with that,'" said Danza. "He wrote me back (and said), 'Thanks for understanding me.'"

Danza said he and Shakur developed a friendship through a continued stream of letters to each other, and they finally met in person before Shakur was murdered in Las Vegas in 1996.

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And now, for a few of our other most favorite odd celeb friend pairings:

-- Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Jackson -- sure, they were both former kid stars who bonded as adults over the fact that they felt they had been robbed or normal childhoods; still, you gotta admit, they made, if not a gruesome twosome, a very, very strange one. If you want to read about one of their most strange, but funny, adventures, check out Vanity Fair's story of how Wacko Jacko, Taylor and Marlon Brando fled NYC, post-9/11, in a rental car;

-- Jennifer Aniston and Chelsea Handler -- Handler is all about this friendship, which she will talk about at the drop of the hot. We get why she wants to surround herself with A-list-ness, but Aniston seems a little too, what -- Cool? Refined? Talented? -- to hang with Handler;

-- Reese Witherspoon and Chelsea Handler -- ditto;

-- Britney Spears and Mel Gibson -- remember when he offered his help -- and even invited her on a vacay to Costa Rica with his dad and wife -- during her epic meltdown in 2008? After his epic meltdown in 2006? It was like the batsh*t-crazy leading the batsh*t crazy for the former Malibu neighbors;

-- Kelly Osbourne and Madonna/Lourdes -- how did they become so close that Osbourne became the spokesperson for Madonna and Lourdes' clothing line? Beats us. We're still trying to figure out how Osbourne became a fashion "expert";

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-- Gwyneth Paltrow and Beyonce -- this one confuses us mostly because Beyonce is one of the coolest, most talented women on the planet and Gwynie is the woman other women love to hate;

-- Macaulay Culkin and Natalie Portman -- he was one of the few guests at her wedding earlier this year. How/why/when did they become friends? Reportedly, it's another case of former child star bonding.