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Danny Kaye

April 30, 2023

Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; Yiddish: דוד־דניאל קאַמינסקי; January 18, 1911 – March 3, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, singer, and dancer. His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes, and rapid-fire novelty songs.

Danny Kaye
Born
David Daniel Kaminsky

(1911-01-18)January 18, 1911
New York City, U.S.
DiedMarch 3, 1987(1987-03-03) (aged 76)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actor
  • comedian
  • singer
  • dancer
  • television presenter
Years active1933–1987
Political partyDemocratic
Spouse
​
(m. 1940)​
Children1
Websitedannykaye.com

Kaye starred in 17 films, notably Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), White Christmas (1954), and The Court Jester (1955). His films were popular, especially for his performances of patter songs and favorites such as "Inchworm" and "The Ugly Duckling".

He was the first ambassador-at-large of UNICEF in 1954 and received the French Legion of Honour in 1986 for his years of work with the organization.[1]

Early years

David Daniel Kaminsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, on January 18, 1911 (though he would later say 1913),[2][3][4][5] to Ukrainian–Jewish immigrants Jacob and Clara (née Nemerovsky) Kaminsky. He was the youngest of three sons. His parents and older brothers Larry and Mac left Yekaterinoslav (then part of Novorossia, Russian Empire) two years before Danny's birth; he was their only son born in the United States.[6]

He attended Public School 149 in East New York, Brooklyn (eventually renamed to honor him)[7]—where he began entertaining his classmates with songs and jokes.[8] He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, but he did not graduate.[9]

His mother died when he was in his early teens. Not long after, Kaye and his friend Louis ran away to Florida. Kaye sang while Louis played the guitar, and the pair eked out a living for a while. When Kaye returned to New York, his father did not pressure him to return to school or work, giving his son the chance to mature and discover his abilities.[10] Kaye said that as a young boy, he had wanted to be a surgeon, but the family could not afford medical education.[6][11]

After leaving school, he held a succession of jobs as a soda jerk, auto insurance investigator, and office clerk. Most ended with him being fired. He lost the insurance job when he made an error that cost the insurance company $40,000 ($600,000 in 2019 adjusted for inflation).[12] A dentist who hired him to look after his office over lunch and run errands fired him when he found Kaye using his dental drill on the office woodwork. In 1939, Kaye met the same dentist's daughter, Sylvia Fine, at an audition, and in 1940, they eloped.[13][6][14] He learned his trade in his teenaged years in the Catskills as a tummler in the Borscht Belt.[8]

Kaye's first break came in 1933 when he joined the Three Terpsichoreans, a vaudeville dance act. They opened in Utica, New York, where he used the stage name Danny Kaye for the first time.[8] The act toured the United States and in Asia with the show La Vie Paree.[15] The troupe left for a six-month tour of Asia on February 8, 1934. During its stay in Osaka, Japan, a typhoon hit the city. The troupe's hotel suffered heavy damage. The strong wind hurled a piece of the hotel's cornice into Kaye's room. By evening's performance time, the city was in the grip of the storm. With no power, the audience became restless and nervous. To calm them, Kaye went on stage holding a flashlight to illuminate his face and sang every song he could recall as loudly as he was able.[6]

The experience of trying to entertain audiences who did not speak English inspired him to do the pantomime gestures, songs, and facial expressions that eventually made his reputation.[8][14] Sometimes, he found them necessary when ordering a meal. Kaye's daughter Dena relates a story her father told about being in a restaurant in China and trying to order chicken. Kaye flapped his arms and clucked, giving the waiter an imitation of a chicken. The waiter nodded in understanding, bringing Kaye two eggs. His interest in cooking began on the tour.[8][15]

Jobs were in short supply when Kaye returned to the United States, and he struggled for bookings. One job was working in a burlesque revue with fan dancer Sally Rand. After the dancer dropped a fan while trying to chase away a fly, Kaye was hired to watch the fans, so they were always held in front of her.[8][14]

Career

In 1937, Kaye's film debut came from a contract with New York-based Educational Pictures for a series of two-reel comedies. He usually played a manic, dark-haired, fast-talking Russian in these low-budget shorts, opposite young hopefuls June Allyson and Imogene Coca.[16] The Kaye series ended abruptly when the studio shut down in 1938. He was working in the Catskills in 1937 under the name Danny Kolbin.[17][18]

His next venture was a short-lived Broadway show with Sylvia Fine as the pianist, lyricist, and composer. The Straw Hat Revue opened on September 29, 1939, and closed after 10 weeks, but critics noticed Kaye's work.[6][19] The reviews brought an offer for both Kaye and his bride Sylvia to work at La Martinique, a New York City nightclub. Kaye performed with Sylvia as his accompanist. At La Martinique, playwright Moss Hart saw Danny perform, and that led to Hart's casting him in his hit Broadway comedy Lady in the Dark.[6][14]

In 1941, aged 30, Kaye scored a triumph playing Russell Paxton in Lady in the Dark, starring Gertrude Lawrence. His show-stopping number was "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)" by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin in which he sang the names of a string of Russian composers at breakneck speed, seemingly without taking a breath.[20][21] In the next Broadway season, he was the star of a show about a young man who is drafted called Let's Face It!.[22]

His feature-film debut was in producer Samuel Goldwyn's Technicolor 1944 comedy Up in Arms, a remake of Goldwyn's Eddie Cantor comedy Whoopee! (1930).[23] Rival producer Robert M. Savini cashed in by compiling three of Kaye's Educational Pictures shorts into a patchwork feature entitled The Birth of a Star (1945). Studio mogul Goldwyn wanted Kaye's prominent nose fixed to look less Jewish;[24][25] Kaye refused, but he did allow his red hair to be dyed blond, apparently because it looked better in Technicolor.[25]

 
White Christmas trailer

Kaye starred in a radio program, The Danny Kaye Show, on CBS from 1945 to 1946.[26] The program's popularity rose quickly. Within a year, he tied with Jimmy Durante for fifth place in the Radio Daily popularity poll.[14] Kaye was asked to participate in a USO tour following the end of World War II. It meant that he would be absent from his radio show for nearly two months at the beginning of the season. Kaye's friends filled in with a different guest host each week.[27] Kaye was the first American actor to visit postwar Tokyo. He had toured there some 10 years before with the vaudeville troupe.[28][29] When Kaye asked to be released from his radio contract in mid-1946, he agreed not to accept a regular radio show for one year and only limited guest appearances on other radio programs.[27][30] Many of the show's episodes survive today, notable for Kaye's opening signature patter ("Git gat gittle, giddle-di-ap, giddle-de-tommy, riddle de biddle de roop, da-reep, fa-san, skeedle de woo-da, fiddle de wada, reep!").[14]

Kaye starred in several movies with actress Virginia Mayo in the 1940s, and is known for films such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), On the Riviera (1951) co-starring Gene Tierney, Knock on Wood (1954), White Christmas (1954), The Court Jester (1956), and Merry Andrew (1958). Kaye starred in two pictures based on biographies, Hans Christian Andersen (1952) the Danish storyteller and The Five Pennies (1959) about jazz pioneer Red Nichols. His wife, writer/lyricist Sylvia Fine, wrote many tongue-twisting songs for which Kaye became famous.[11][31] She was also an associate film producer.[32] Some of Kaye's films included the theme of doubles, two people who look identical (both Danny Kaye) being mistaken for each other to comic effect.[33][citation needed]

 
Danny Kaye on USO tour at Sasebo, Japan, October 25, 1945. Kaye and his friend, Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, made the trip.[28]

While his wife wrote most of Kaye's material, he created much of it himself, often while performing. Kaye had one character he never shared with the public; Kaplan, the owner of a rubber company, came to life only for family and friends. His wife, Sylvia, described the Kaplan character:[34]

He doesn't have any first name. Even his wife calls him just Kaplan. He's an illiterate, pompous character who advertises his philanthropies. Jack Benny or Dore Schary might say, "Kaplan, why do you hate unions so?" If Danny feels like doing Kaplan that night, he might be off on Kaplan for two hours.

When he appeared at the London Palladium in 1948, he "roused the Royal family to laughter and was the first of many performers who have turned British variety into an American preserve." Life described his reception as "worshipful hysteria" and noted that the royal family, for the first time, left the royal box to watch from the front row of the orchestra.[35][36][37] He related that he had no idea of the familial connections when the Marquess of Milford Haven introduced himself after a show and said he would like his cousins to see Kaye perform.[21] Kaye stated he never returned to the venue because no way existed to recreate the magic of that time.[38] Kaye had an invitation to return to London for a Royal Variety Performance in November of the same year.[39] When the invitation arrived, Kaye was busy with The Inspector General (which had a working title of Happy Times). Warner Bros. stopped the film to allow their star to attend.[40] When his Decca labelmates The Andrews Sisters began their engagement at the London Palladium on the heels of Kaye's successful 1948 appearance there, the trio was well received and David Lewin of the Daily Express declared: "The audience gave the Andrews Sisters the Danny Kaye roar!"[41]

He hosted the 24th Academy Awards in 1952. The program was broadcast on radio; telecasts of the Oscar ceremony came later. During the 1950s, Kaye visited Australia, where he played Buttons in a production of Cinderella in Sydney. In 1953, Kaye started a production company, Dena Pictures, named for his daughter. Knock on Wood was the first film produced by his firm. The firm expanded into television in 1960 under the name Belmont Television.[42][43]

Kaye entered television in 1956, on the CBS show See It Now with Edward R. Murrow.[44] The Secret Life of Danny Kaye combined his 50,000-mile, ten-country tour as UNICEF ambassador with music and humor.[45][46] His first solo effort was in 1960 with a one-hour special produced by Sylvia and sponsored by General Motors, with similar specials in 1961 and 1962.[6]

 
Kaye at Schiphol on October 5, 1955

He hosted The Danny Kaye Show from 1963 to 1967; it won four Emmy awards and a Peabody award.[47][48] His last cinematic starring role came in 1963's The Man from the Diners' Club.

Beginning in 1964, he acted as television host to the CBS telecasts of MGM's The Wizard of Oz. Kaye did a stint as a What's My Line? mystery guest on the Sunday-night CBS-TV quiz program. Kaye was later a guest panelist on that show. He also appeared on the interview program Here's Hollywood. In the 1970s, Kaye tore a ligament in his leg during the run of the Richard Rodgers musical Two by Two, but went on with the show, appearing with his leg in a cast and cavorting on stage in a wheelchair.[47][49] He had done much the same on his television show in 1964, when his right leg and foot were burned from a cooking accident. Camera shots were planned so television viewers did not see Kaye in his wheelchair.[50]

In 1976, he played Geppetto in a television musical adaptation of Pinocchio with Sandy Duncan in the title role. Kaye portrayed Captain Hook opposite Mia Farrow in a musical version of Peter Pan featuring songs by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. He later guest-starred in episodes of The Muppet Show and The Cosby Show,[51] and in the 1980s revival The Twilight Zone.

In many films, as well as on stage, Kaye proved to be an able actor, singer, dancer, and comedian. He showed his serious side as ambassador for UNICEF and in his dramatic role in the memorable TV film Skokie, when he played a Holocaust survivor.[47] Before his death in 1987, Kaye conducted an orchestra during a comical series of concerts organized for UNICEF fundraising. Kaye received two Academy Awards - an Academy Honorary Award in 1955 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982. That year, he received the Screen Actors Guild annual award.[20]

In 1980, Kaye hosted and sang in the 25th anniversary of Disneyland celebration and hosted the opening celebration for Epcot in 1982 (EPCOT Center at the time). Both were aired on primetime television in the U.S.[52][53]

Career in music

 
Kaye during his visit to Israel, 1956, Boris Carmi, Meitar collection, National Library of Israel

While Kaye claimed he could not read music, he was said to have perfect pitch.[citation needed] A flamboyant performer with his own distinctive style, "easily adapting from outrageous novelty songs to tender ballads" (according to critic Jason Ankeny), in 1945, Kaye began hosting his own CBS radio program, in which he performed a number of hit songs, including "Dinah" and "Minnie the Moocher".[54]

In 1947, Kaye teamed up with The Andrews Sisters (Patty, Maxene, and LaVerne) on Decca Records, producing the number-three Billboard hit "Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)". The success of the pairing prompted both acts to record through 1950, producing such rhythmically comical fare as "The Woody Woodpecker Song" (based on the bird from the Walter Lantz cartoons and a Billboard hit for the quartet), "Put 'em in a Box, Tie 'em with a Ribbon (And Throw 'em in the Deep Blue Sea)", "The Big Brass Band from Brazil", "It's a Quiet Town (In Crossbone County)", "Amelia Cordelia McHugh (Mc Who?)", "Ching-a-ra-sa-sa", and a duet by Danny and Patty Andrews of "Orange Colored Sky". The acts teamed for two yuletide favorites - a frantic, harmonic rendition of "A Merry Christmas at Grandmother's House (Over the River and Through the Woods)" and a duet by Danny and Patty, "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".[41]

Kaye's debut album, Columbia Presents Danny Kaye, had been released in 1942 by Columbia Records with songs performed to the accompaniment of Maurice Abravanel and Johnny Green. The album was reissued as a Columbia LP in 1949 and is described by the critic Bruce Eder as "a bit tamer than some of the stuff that Kaye hit with later in the '40s and in the '50s, and for reasons best understood by the public, doesn't attract nearly the interest of his kids' records and overt comedy routines".[55]

In 1950, a Decca single, "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts", was released, and became another chart hit for him.[54] His second Columbia LP album Danny Kaye Entertains (1953, Columbia) included five songs recorded in 1941 from his Broadway musical Lady in the Dark, most notably "Tschaikowsky (and Other Russians)".[56]

Following the success of the film Hans Christian Andersen (1952), two of its songs written by Frank Loesser and sung by Kaye, "Thumbelina" and "Wonderful Copenhagen", reached the charts; the former title became a minor US hit, and the latter reached number five on the UK Singles Chart.[54][57][58] In 1953, Decca released Danny at the Palace, a live recording made at the New York Palace Theater,[59] followed by Knock On Wood (Decca, 1954) a set of songs from the movie of the same name sung by Kaye, accompanied by Victor Young and His Singing Strings.[60]

 
Singer Nancy Wilson appearing on his show in 1965

In 1956, Kaye signed a three-year recording contract with Capitol Records, which released his single "Love Me Do" in December of that year.[61] The B-side, "Ciu Ciu Bella", with lyrics written by Sylvia Fine, was inspired by an episode in Rome when Kaye, on a mission for UNICEF, befriended a 7-year-old child with polio in a children's hospital, who sang this song for him in Italian.[62]

In 1958, Saul Chaplin and Johnny Mercer wrote songs for Merry Andrew, a film starring Kaye as a British teacher attracted to the circus. The score added up to six numbers, all sung by Kaye; conductor Billy May's 1950 composition "Bozo's Circus Band" (renamed "Music of the Big Top Circus Band") was deposited on the second side of the Merry Andrew soundtrack, released in 1958.[63] A year later, another soundtrack came out, for The Five Pennies (in which Kaye starred as 1920s cornet player Red Nichols), featuring Louis Armstrong.[64]

In the 1960s and 1970s, Kaye regularly conducted world-famous orchestras, although he had to learn the scores by ear.[65] Kaye's style, even if accompanied by unpredictable antics (he once traded the baton for a flyswatter to conduct "The Flight of the Bumblebee")[65] was praised by the likes of Zubin Mehta, who once stated that Kaye "has a very efficient conducting style".[66] His ability with an orchestra was mentioned by Dimitri Mitropoulos, then conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. After Kaye's appearance, Mitropoulos remarked, "Here is a man who is not musically trained, who cannot even read music and he gets more out of my orchestra than I have."[9] Kaye was invited to conduct symphonies as charity fundraisers[11][20] and was the conductor of the all-city marching band at the season opener of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1984. Over his career, he raised over US$5 million in support of musician pension funds.[66]

Imitations

Kaye was sufficiently popular to inspire imitations:

Other endeavors

Cooking

In his later years, Kaye entertained at home as chef. He specialized in Chinese and Italian cooking.[20][69] He had a custom-made Chinese restaurant installed at the rear of his house by its alley, then had a kitchen and dining area built around it.[69] The stove that Kaye used for his Chinese dishes was fitted with metal rings for the burners to allow the heat to be highly concentrated, and a trough with circulating ice water cooled the area to keep the intense heat tolerable for those who were cooking.[70] He learned "at Johnny Kan's restaurant in San Francisco and with Cecilia Chang at her Mandarin restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles".[69] He taught Chinese cooking classes at a San Francisco Chinese restaurant in the 1970s.[71] The theatre and demonstration kitchen under the library at the Hyde Park, New York, campus of the Culinary Institute of America is named for him.[72]

Kaye referred to his kitchen as "Ying's Thing". While filming The Madwoman of Chaillot in France, he phoned home to ask his family if they would like to eat at Ying's Thing that evening; Kaye flew home for dinner.[15] Not all of his efforts in the kitchen went well. After flying to San Francisco for a recipe for sourdough bread, he came home and spent hours preparing loaves. When his daughter asked about the bread, Kaye hit the bread on the kitchen table; his bread was hard enough to chip it.[15] Kaye approached kitchen work with enthusiasm, making sausages and other foods needed for his cuisine.[70][73] Though it is often claimed that he was a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF),[9] this is not true, as the MOF is restricted to French professionals.[74] Rather, he had cooked for several famous French chefs at his house (all of them MOFs), and they signed an "honorary" Meilleur Ouvrier de France diploma for him.[75]

Flying

Kaye became an aviation enthusiast and pilot. His interest was sparked by his longtime friend, choreographer Michael Kidd, who at the time had recently earned his private pilot's license. Kaye was an enthusiastic and accomplished golfer, but reduced golf activities in favor of flying and started training for his license in 1959.[76][77] The first plane Kaye owned was a Piper Aztec.[76][78] After this, he became qualified for many types of aircraft, from single-engined light aircraft to multiengine jets.[20][9][76][79]

Kaye received a type rating in a Learjet, and he was named vice president of the Learjet Company by Bill Lear as an honorary title (he had no line responsibility at the company).[80] He supported many flying projects. In 1968, he was honorary chairman of the Las Vegas International Exposition of Flight, a show that used many facets of the city's entertainment industry while presenting an air show. The operational show chairman was well-known aviation figure Lynn Garrison. Kaye flew a Learjet to 65 cities in five days on a mission to help UNICEF.[9][80]

Business ventures

In 1958, Kaye and partner Lester Smith formed Kaye–Smith Enterprises. The company owned a chain of radio stations, mostly in the Pacific Northwest. Other Kaye–Smith divisions included a concert-promotion company, a video-production company, and a recording studio.

Baseball

A lifelong Dodgers fan, Kaye recorded a song called "The D-O-D-G-E-R-S Song (Oh really? No, O'Malley!)", describing a fictitious encounter with the San Francisco Giants, a hit during the real-life pennant chase of 1962. That song is included on Baseball's Greatest Hits compact discs. A good friend of Leo Durocher's, he often traveled with the team.[14] He also possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the game and was an accomplished second baseman.[20]

Kaye and his business partner Lester Smith also led an investment group, which was awarded the American League's 13th franchise, which became the Seattle Mariners for US$6.2 million on February 7, 1976.[81][82] The ownership percentages of Kaye, Smith, and two other remaining original investors were reduced to 5% each when George Argyros purchased 80% of the Mariners for $10.4 million on January 30, 1981.[83] Kaye sold all of his business interests to Smith's family in 1985.[84]

Medicine

Kaye was an honorary member of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics.[20]

Charity

Danny Kaye on a promotion tour for UNICEF in the Netherlands, 1955

Working alongside UNICEF's Halloween fundraiser founder, Ward Simon Kimball Jr., the actor educated the public on impoverished children in deplorable living conditions overseas, and assisted in the distribution of donated goods and funds. His involvement with UNICEF came about in an unusual way. Kaye was flying home from London in 1949 when one of the plane's four engines lost its propeller and caught fire. The problem was initially thought serious enough that it might make an ocean landing; life jackets and life rafts were made ready.[85] The plane was able to head back over 500 miles (804.67 km) to land at Shannon Airport, Ireland. On the way back to Shannon, the head of the Children's Fund, Maurice Pate, had the seat next to Danny Kaye and spoke at length about the need for recognition for the fund. Their discussion continued on the flight from Shannon to New York; it was the beginning of the actor's long association with UNICEF.[4][85][86]

"For all of his success as a performer (...) his greatest legacy remains his tireless humanitarian work—so close were his ties to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) that when the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize, Kaye was tapped to accept it", according to music critic Jason Ankeny.[54]

Personal life

 
Sylvia and Danny Kaye, 1945

Kaye and Sylvia Fine grew up in Brooklyn, living a few blocks apart, but they did not meet until they were working on an off-Broadway show in 1939.[87] Sylvia was an audition pianist.[11][31][88]

Sylvia discovered that Danny had worked for her father Samuel Fine, a dentist.[14] Kaye, working in Florida, proposed on the telephone; the couple were married in Fort Lauderdale[89] on January 3, 1940.[90][91] The couple were married for life, except for a separation in 1947 and 1948, when Kaye was involved with Eve Arden.[92]

The couple's only child, daughter Dena, was born on December 17, 1946.[19][93] When she was very young, Dena did not like seeing her father perform because she did not understand that people were supposed to laugh at what he did.[94] Kaye said in a 1954 interview, "Whatever she wants to be she will be without interference from her mother nor from me."[10][73] Dena grew up to become a journalist.[95]

Donald Spoto, the author of Laurence Olivier (HarperCollins), made an unsubstantiated claim that Kaye had a 10-year secret affair with Laurence Olivier.[96] Despite media rumor since that book's publication, no evidence has been published. English journalist Terry Coleman, who spent four years studying Olivier's archive of letters and memorabilia, could not find evidence of such an affair between Kaye and Olivier. Coleman observed, "I did check it and talked to a number of people. In this mountain of material in the archives, I could not find a hint of an affair with Danny Kaye."[97]

On 18 January 2013, during a 24-hour salute to Kaye on Turner Classic Movies in celebration of what TCM thought was his 100th birthday, Kaye's daughter Dena revealed to TCM host Ben Mankiewicz that Kaye's stated birth year of 1913 was incorrect, and that he was actually born in 1911.[98]

 
Kaye in 1986 by Allan Warren

A Democrat, he supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.[99] Kaye was the godfather of actress Mary Louise Weller.[100]

Death

Kaye died of heart failure on March 3, 1987, aged 76, brought on by internal bleeding and complications of hepatitis C.[101] Kaye had quadruple bypass heart surgery in February 1983 and he contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion.[20][51]

Legacy

Kaye was cremated and his ashes were interred in the foundation of a bench in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[102] His grave is adorned with a bench that contains friezes of a baseball and bat, an aircraft, a piano, a flowerpot, musical notes, and a chef's toque. His name and birth and death dates are inscribed on the toque. The United Nations held a memorial tribute to him at their New York headquarters on the evening of October 21, 1987.[103][104]

The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York was opened in 1988, with a $1 million gift from Sylvia Kaye.[105]

David Koenig reflects, "His legacy has dimmed with the passage of time. His greatest works (...) endure today only as memories in the minds of aging members of his audiences (...) much of his TV work has not aged particularly well. Whimsy was of another time." However, Koenig sees Kaye's film work in a different light, "History has smiled on individual pictures — in particular the holiday staple of White Christmas and The Court Jester... the medieval romp has steadily gained a reputation as one of the greatest comedies of all time."[106]

Honors

 
 
 

Awards and other recognition

Filmography

Film

Title Year Role Director Co-stars Filmed in
Dime a Dance 1937 Eddie Al Christie Imogene Coca, June Allyson Black and white
Getting an Eyeful 1938 Russian Charles Kemper, Sally Starr
Cupid Takes a Holiday Nikolai Nikolaevich (bride-seeker) William Watson Douglas Leavitt, Estelle Jayne
Money on Your Life" Russian Charles Kemper, Sally Starr
Up in Arms 1944 Danny Weems Elliott Nugent Dinah Shore, Dana Andrews Technicolor
I Am an American[119] Himself Crane Wilbur Humphrey Bogart, Gary Gray, Dick Haymes, Joan Leslie, Dennis Morgan, Knute Rockne, Jay Silverheels Black and white
Wonder Man 1945 Edwin Dingle/Buzzy Bellew H. Bruce Humberstone Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran Technicolor
The Kid from Brooklyn 1946 Burleigh Hubert Sullivan Norman Z. McLeod Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen, Steve Cochran, Eve Arden
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 Walter Mitty Norman Z. McLeod Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter, Ann Rutherford
A Song Is Born 1948 Professor Hobart Frisbee Howard Hawks Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman, Hugh Herbert, Steve Cochran
It's a Great Feeling 1949 Himself David Butler Dennis Morgan, Doris Day, Jack Carson
The Inspector General Georgi Henry Koster Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Gene Lockhart
On the Riviera 1951 Jack Martin/Henri Duran Walter Lang Gene Tierney, Corinne Calvet
Hans Christian Andersen 1952 Hans Christian Andersen Charles Vidor Farley Granger, Zizi Jeanmaire
Knock on Wood 1954 Jerry Morgan/Papa Morgan Norman Panama
Melvin Frank 		Mai Zetterling, Torin Thatcher
White Christmas Phil Davis Michael Curtiz Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Vera-Ellen, Dean Jagger VistaVision
Technicolor
The Court Jester 1956 Hubert Hawkins Norman Panama
Melvin Frank 		Glynis Johns, Basil Rathbone, Angela Lansbury
Merry Andrew 1958 Andrew Larabee Michael Kidd Salvatore Baccaloni, Pier Angeli CinemaScope
Metrocolor
Me and the Colonel Samuel L. Jacobowsky Peter Glenville Curt Jürgens, Nicole Maurey, Françoise Rosay, Akim Tamiroff Black and white
The Five Pennies 1959 Red Nichols Melville Shavelson Barbara Bel Geddes, Louis Armstrong, Tuesday Weld VistaVision
Technicolor
On the Double 1961 Private First Class Ernie Williams/General Sir Lawrence MacKenzie-Smith Melville Shavelson Dana Wynter, Margaret Rutherford, Diana Dors Panavision
Technicolor
The Man from the Diners' Club 1963 Ernest Klenk Frank Tashlin Cara Williams, Martha Hyer Black and white
The Madwoman of Chaillot 1969 The Ragpicker Bryan Forbes Katharine Hepburn, Charles Boyer Technicolor

Television

  • Autumn Laughter (1938) (experimental telecast)
  • The Secret Life of Danny Kaye (1956) (See It Now special)
  • What's My Line? (1960) (celebrity mystery guest)
  • An Hour With Danny Kaye (1960 and 1961) (specials)
  • The Danny Kaye Show with Lucille Ball (1962) (special)
  • The Danny Kaye Show (1963–1967) (series)
  • The Lucy Show: "Lucy Meets Danny Kaye" (1964) (guest appearance)
  • Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) (voice)
  • The Dick Cavett Show (1971) (interview guest)
  • The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye: The Emperor's New Clothes (1972) (special)
  • An Evening with John Denver (1975) (special)
  • Pinocchio (1976) (CBS special); live action television musical adaptation starring Kaye as Gepetto and Sandy Duncan in the title role
  • Peter Pan (1976) (NBC special); live action television musical adaptation starring Mia Farrow in the title role, and Kaye as Captain Hook
  • The Muppet Show (1978) (guest appearance)
  • Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (1980) (special guest appearance)
  • An Evening with Danny Kaye (1981) (special)
  • Skokie (1981) (television movie)
  • "The Wonderful World of Disney" Official Opening of Epcot Center television special (1982) (host and conductor)
  • The Twilight Zone: "Paladin of the Lost Hour" (1985) (guest appearance)
  • The Cosby Show: "The Dentist" (1986) (guest appearance)

Stage work

Selected discography

Studio albums

  • Danny Kaye (Decca, 1949)
  • Gilbert And Sullivan And Danny Kaye (Decca, 1949)
  • Danny Kaye Entertains (Columbia, 1950)
  • Mommy, Gimme a Drinka Water (Orchestration by Gordon Jenkins) (Capitol, 1958)
  • The Five Pennies (with Louis Armstrong, London, 1959)

Soundtracks

  • Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
  • Knock on Wood (Decca, 1954)
  • Court Jester (Brunswick, 1956)
  • Merry Andrew (1958)

Spoken word

  • Danny Kaye for Children (Coral, 1959)
  • Danny Kaye Tells 6 Stories from Faraway Places (Golden, 1960)

Compilations

Charting singles

References

  1. ^ a b "French Honor Danny Kaye". The Modesto Bee. February 26, 1986.
  2. ^ Kaye, Dena (January 18, 2013). "Interview". Turner Classic Movies. Her father was actually born in 1911, but for reasons unknown to her, changed it to 1913.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  3. ^ FBI records and SSDI show 1911.
  4. ^ a b "Danny Kaye Biography". UNICEF. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
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Sources

  • Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom April 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, June 23, 1987; accessed March 9, 2015.

External links

 
Wikiquote has quotations related to Danny Kaye.
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danny Kaye.

April 30, 2023
danny, kaye, born, david, daniel, kaminsky, yiddish, דוד, דניאל, קא, מינסקי, january, 1911, march, 1987, american, actor, comedian, singer, dancer, performances, featured, physical, comedy, idiosyncratic, pantomimes, rapid, fire, novelty, songs, borndavid, dan. Danny Kaye born David Daniel Kaminsky Yiddish דוד דניאל קא מינסקי January 18 1911 March 3 1987 was an American actor comedian singer and dancer His performances featured physical comedy idiosyncratic pantomimes and rapid fire novelty songs Danny KayeBornDavid Daniel Kaminsky 1911 01 18 January 18 1911New York City U S DiedMarch 3 1987 1987 03 03 aged 76 Los Angeles California U S OccupationsActorcomediansingerdancertelevision presenterYears active1933 1987Political partyDemocraticSpouseSylvia Fine m 1940 wbr Children1Websitedannykaye wbr comKaye starred in 17 films notably Wonder Man 1945 The Kid from Brooklyn 1946 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 The Inspector General 1949 Hans Christian Andersen 1952 White Christmas 1954 and The Court Jester 1955 His films were popular especially for his performances of patter songs and favorites such as Inchworm and The Ugly Duckling He was the first ambassador at large of UNICEF in 1954 and received the French Legion of Honour in 1986 for his years of work with the organization 1 Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 2 1 Career in music 2 2 Imitations 3 Other endeavors 3 1 Cooking 3 2 Flying 3 3 Business ventures 3 4 Baseball 3 5 Medicine 3 6 Charity 4 Personal life 5 Death 6 Legacy 7 Honors 7 1 Awards and other recognition 8 Filmography 8 1 Film 8 2 Television 9 Stage work 10 Selected discography 10 1 Studio albums 10 2 Soundtracks 10 3 Spoken word 10 4 Compilations 10 5 Charting singles 11 References 12 Sources 13 External linksEarly years EditDavid Daniel Kaminsky was born in Brooklyn New York on January 18 1911 though he would later say 1913 2 3 4 5 to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants Jacob and Clara nee Nemerovsky Kaminsky He was the youngest of three sons His parents and older brothers Larry and Mac left Yekaterinoslav then part of Novorossia Russian Empire two years before Danny s birth he was their only son born in the United States 6 He attended Public School 149 in East New York Brooklyn eventually renamed to honor him 7 where he began entertaining his classmates with songs and jokes 8 He attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn but he did not graduate 9 His mother died when he was in his early teens Not long after Kaye and his friend Louis ran away to Florida Kaye sang while Louis played the guitar and the pair eked out a living for a while When Kaye returned to New York his father did not pressure him to return to school or work giving his son the chance to mature and discover his abilities 10 Kaye said that as a young boy he had wanted to be a surgeon but the family could not afford medical education 6 11 After leaving school he held a succession of jobs as a soda jerk auto insurance investigator and office clerk Most ended with him being fired He lost the insurance job when he made an error that cost the insurance company 40 000 600 000 in 2019 adjusted for inflation 12 A dentist who hired him to look after his office over lunch and run errands fired him when he found Kaye using his dental drill on the office woodwork In 1939 Kaye met the same dentist s daughter Sylvia Fine at an audition and in 1940 they eloped 13 6 14 He learned his trade in his teenaged years in the Catskills as a tummler in the Borscht Belt 8 Kaye s first break came in 1933 when he joined the Three Terpsichoreans a vaudeville dance act They opened in Utica New York where he used the stage name Danny Kaye for the first time 8 The act toured the United States and in Asia with the show La Vie Paree 15 The troupe left for a six month tour of Asia on February 8 1934 During its stay in Osaka Japan a typhoon hit the city The troupe s hotel suffered heavy damage The strong wind hurled a piece of the hotel s cornice into Kaye s room By evening s performance time the city was in the grip of the storm With no power the audience became restless and nervous To calm them Kaye went on stage holding a flashlight to illuminate his face and sang every song he could recall as loudly as he was able 6 The experience of trying to entertain audiences who did not speak English inspired him to do the pantomime gestures songs and facial expressions that eventually made his reputation 8 14 Sometimes he found them necessary when ordering a meal Kaye s daughter Dena relates a story her father told about being in a restaurant in China and trying to order chicken Kaye flapped his arms and clucked giving the waiter an imitation of a chicken The waiter nodded in understanding bringing Kaye two eggs His interest in cooking began on the tour 8 15 Jobs were in short supply when Kaye returned to the United States and he struggled for bookings One job was working in a burlesque revue with fan dancer Sally Rand After the dancer dropped a fan while trying to chase away a fly Kaye was hired to watch the fans so they were always held in front of her 8 14 Career EditIn 1937 Kaye s film debut came from a contract with New York based Educational Pictures for a series of two reel comedies He usually played a manic dark haired fast talking Russian in these low budget shorts opposite young hopefuls June Allyson and Imogene Coca 16 The Kaye series ended abruptly when the studio shut down in 1938 He was working in the Catskills in 1937 under the name Danny Kolbin 17 18 His next venture was a short lived Broadway show with Sylvia Fine as the pianist lyricist and composer The Straw Hat Revue opened on September 29 1939 and closed after 10 weeks but critics noticed Kaye s work 6 19 The reviews brought an offer for both Kaye and his bride Sylvia to work at La Martinique a New York City nightclub Kaye performed with Sylvia as his accompanist At La Martinique playwright Moss Hart saw Danny perform and that led to Hart s casting him in his hit Broadway comedy Lady in the Dark 6 14 In 1941 aged 30 Kaye scored a triumph playing Russell Paxton in Lady in the Dark starring Gertrude Lawrence His show stopping number was Tschaikowsky and Other Russians by Kurt Weill and Ira Gershwin in which he sang the names of a string of Russian composers at breakneck speed seemingly without taking a breath 20 21 In the next Broadway season he was the star of a show about a young man who is drafted called Let s Face It 22 His feature film debut was in producer Samuel Goldwyn s Technicolor 1944 comedy Up in Arms a remake of Goldwyn s Eddie Cantor comedy Whoopee 1930 23 Rival producer Robert M Savini cashed in by compiling three of Kaye s Educational Pictures shorts into a patchwork feature entitled The Birth of a Star 1945 Studio mogul Goldwyn wanted Kaye s prominent nose fixed to look less Jewish 24 25 Kaye refused but he did allow his red hair to be dyed blond apparently because it looked better in Technicolor 25 White Christmas trailer Kaye starred in a radio program The Danny Kaye Show on CBS from 1945 to 1946 26 The program s popularity rose quickly Within a year he tied with Jimmy Durante for fifth place in the Radio Daily popularity poll 14 Kaye was asked to participate in a USO tour following the end of World War II It meant that he would be absent from his radio show for nearly two months at the beginning of the season Kaye s friends filled in with a different guest host each week 27 Kaye was the first American actor to visit postwar Tokyo He had toured there some 10 years before with the vaudeville troupe 28 29 When Kaye asked to be released from his radio contract in mid 1946 he agreed not to accept a regular radio show for one year and only limited guest appearances on other radio programs 27 30 Many of the show s episodes survive today notable for Kaye s opening signature patter Git gat gittle giddle di ap giddle de tommy riddle de biddle de roop da reep fa san skeedle de woo da fiddle de wada reep 14 Kaye starred in several movies with actress Virginia Mayo in the 1940s and is known for films such as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 The Inspector General 1949 On the Riviera 1951 co starring Gene Tierney Knock on Wood 1954 White Christmas 1954 The Court Jester 1956 and Merry Andrew 1958 Kaye starred in two pictures based on biographies Hans Christian Andersen 1952 the Danish storyteller and The Five Pennies 1959 about jazz pioneer Red Nichols His wife writer lyricist Sylvia Fine wrote many tongue twisting songs for which Kaye became famous 11 31 She was also an associate film producer 32 Some of Kaye s films included the theme of doubles two people who look identical both Danny Kaye being mistaken for each other to comic effect 33 citation needed Danny Kaye on USO tour at Sasebo Japan October 25 1945 Kaye and his friend Dodgers manager Leo Durocher made the trip 28 While his wife wrote most of Kaye s material he created much of it himself often while performing Kaye had one character he never shared with the public Kaplan the owner of a rubber company came to life only for family and friends His wife Sylvia described the Kaplan character 34 He doesn t have any first name Even his wife calls him just Kaplan He s an illiterate pompous character who advertises his philanthropies Jack Benny or Dore Schary might say Kaplan why do you hate unions so If Danny feels like doing Kaplan that night he might be off on Kaplan for two hours When he appeared at the London Palladium in 1948 he roused the Royal family to laughter and was the first of many performers who have turned British variety into an American preserve Life described his reception as worshipful hysteria and noted that the royal family for the first time left the royal box to watch from the front row of the orchestra 35 36 37 He related that he had no idea of the familial connections when the Marquess of Milford Haven introduced himself after a show and said he would like his cousins to see Kaye perform 21 Kaye stated he never returned to the venue because no way existed to recreate the magic of that time 38 Kaye had an invitation to return to London for a Royal Variety Performance in November of the same year 39 When the invitation arrived Kaye was busy with The Inspector General which had a working title of Happy Times Warner Bros stopped the film to allow their star to attend 40 When his Decca labelmates The Andrews Sisters began their engagement at the London Palladium on the heels of Kaye s successful 1948 appearance there the trio was well received and David Lewin of the Daily Express declared The audience gave the Andrews Sisters the Danny Kaye roar 41 He hosted the 24th Academy Awards in 1952 The program was broadcast on radio telecasts of the Oscar ceremony came later During the 1950s Kaye visited Australia where he played Buttons in a production of Cinderella in Sydney In 1953 Kaye started a production company Dena Pictures named for his daughter Knock on Wood was the first film produced by his firm The firm expanded into television in 1960 under the name Belmont Television 42 43 Kaye entered television in 1956 on the CBS show See It Now with Edward R Murrow 44 The Secret Life of Danny Kaye combined his 50 000 mile ten country tour as UNICEF ambassador with music and humor 45 46 His first solo effort was in 1960 with a one hour special produced by Sylvia and sponsored by General Motors with similar specials in 1961 and 1962 6 Kaye at Schiphol on October 5 1955 He hosted The Danny Kaye Show from 1963 to 1967 it won four Emmy awards and a Peabody award 47 48 His last cinematic starring role came in 1963 s The Man from the Diners Club Beginning in 1964 he acted as television host to the CBS telecasts of MGM s The Wizard of Oz Kaye did a stint as a What s My Line mystery guest on the Sunday night CBS TV quiz program Kaye was later a guest panelist on that show He also appeared on the interview program Here s Hollywood In the 1970s Kaye tore a ligament in his leg during the run of the Richard Rodgers musical Two by Two but went on with the show appearing with his leg in a cast and cavorting on stage in a wheelchair 47 49 He had done much the same on his television show in 1964 when his right leg and foot were burned from a cooking accident Camera shots were planned so television viewers did not see Kaye in his wheelchair 50 In 1976 he played Geppetto in a television musical adaptation of Pinocchio with Sandy Duncan in the title role Kaye portrayed Captain Hook opposite Mia Farrow in a musical version of Peter Pan featuring songs by Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse He later guest starred in episodes of The Muppet Show and The Cosby Show 51 and in the 1980s revival The Twilight Zone In many films as well as on stage Kaye proved to be an able actor singer dancer and comedian He showed his serious side as ambassador for UNICEF and in his dramatic role in the memorable TV film Skokie when he played a Holocaust survivor 47 Before his death in 1987 Kaye conducted an orchestra during a comical series of concerts organized for UNICEF fundraising Kaye received two Academy Awards an Academy Honorary Award in 1955 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982 That year he received the Screen Actors Guild annual award 20 In 1980 Kaye hosted and sang in the 25th anniversary of Disneyland celebration and hosted the opening celebration for Epcot in 1982 EPCOT Center at the time Both were aired on primetime television in the U S 52 53 Career in music Edit Kaye during his visit to Israel 1956 Boris Carmi Meitar collection National Library of Israel While Kaye claimed he could not read music he was said to have perfect pitch citation needed A flamboyant performer with his own distinctive style easily adapting from outrageous novelty songs to tender ballads according to critic Jason Ankeny in 1945 Kaye began hosting his own CBS radio program in which he performed a number of hit songs including Dinah and Minnie the Moocher 54 In 1947 Kaye teamed up with The Andrews Sisters Patty Maxene and LaVerne on Decca Records producing the number three Billboard hit Civilization Bongo Bongo Bongo The success of the pairing prompted both acts to record through 1950 producing such rhythmically comical fare as The Woody Woodpecker Song based on the bird from the Walter Lantz cartoons and a Billboard hit for the quartet Put em in a Box Tie em with a Ribbon And Throw em in the Deep Blue Sea The Big Brass Band from Brazil It s a Quiet Town In Crossbone County Amelia Cordelia McHugh Mc Who Ching a ra sa sa and a duet by Danny and Patty Andrews of Orange Colored Sky The acts teamed for two yuletide favorites a frantic harmonic rendition of A Merry Christmas at Grandmother s House Over the River and Through the Woods and a duet by Danny and Patty All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth 41 Kaye s debut album Columbia Presents Danny Kaye had been released in 1942 by Columbia Records with songs performed to the accompaniment of Maurice Abravanel and Johnny Green The album was reissued as a Columbia LP in 1949 and is described by the critic Bruce Eder as a bit tamer than some of the stuff that Kaye hit with later in the 40s and in the 50s and for reasons best understood by the public doesn t attract nearly the interest of his kids records and overt comedy routines 55 In 1950 a Decca single I ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts was released and became another chart hit for him 54 His second Columbia LP album Danny Kaye Entertains 1953 Columbia included five songs recorded in 1941 from his Broadway musical Lady in the Dark most notably Tschaikowsky and Other Russians 56 Following the success of the film Hans Christian Andersen 1952 two of its songs written by Frank Loesser and sung by Kaye Thumbelina and Wonderful Copenhagen reached the charts the former title became a minor US hit and the latter reached number five on the UK Singles Chart 54 57 58 In 1953 Decca released Danny at the Palace a live recording made at the New York Palace Theater 59 followed by Knock On Wood Decca 1954 a set of songs from the movie of the same name sung by Kaye accompanied by Victor Young and His Singing Strings 60 Singer Nancy Wilson appearing on his show in 1965 In 1956 Kaye signed a three year recording contract with Capitol Records which released his single Love Me Do in December of that year 61 The B side Ciu Ciu Bella with lyrics written by Sylvia Fine was inspired by an episode in Rome when Kaye on a mission for UNICEF befriended a 7 year old child with polio in a children s hospital who sang this song for him in Italian 62 In 1958 Saul Chaplin and Johnny Mercer wrote songs for Merry Andrew a film starring Kaye as a British teacher attracted to the circus The score added up to six numbers all sung by Kaye conductor Billy May s 1950 composition Bozo s Circus Band renamed Music of the Big Top Circus Band was deposited on the second side of the Merry Andrew soundtrack released in 1958 63 A year later another soundtrack came out for The Five Pennies in which Kaye starred as 1920s cornet player Red Nichols featuring Louis Armstrong 64 In the 1960s and 1970s Kaye regularly conducted world famous orchestras although he had to learn the scores by ear 65 Kaye s style even if accompanied by unpredictable antics he once traded the baton for a flyswatter to conduct The Flight of the Bumblebee 65 was praised by the likes of Zubin Mehta who once stated that Kaye has a very efficient conducting style 66 His ability with an orchestra was mentioned by Dimitri Mitropoulos then conductor of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra After Kaye s appearance Mitropoulos remarked Here is a man who is not musically trained who cannot even read music and he gets more out of my orchestra than I have 9 Kaye was invited to conduct symphonies as charity fundraisers 11 20 and was the conductor of the all city marching band at the season opener of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1984 Over his career he raised over US 5 million in support of musician pension funds 66 Imitations Edit Kaye was sufficiently popular to inspire imitations The 1946 Warner Bros cartoon Book Revue had a sequence with Daffy Duck wearing a blond wig and impersonating Kaye 67 Satirical songwriter Tom Lehrer s 1953 song Lobachevsky was based on a number that Kaye had done about the Russian director Constantin Stanislavski with the affected Russian accent Lehrer mentioned Kaye in an opening monologue citing him as an idol since childbirth 68 Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster fashioned a short lived superhero title Funnyman taking inspiration from Kaye s persona Other endeavors EditCooking Edit In his later years Kaye entertained at home as chef He specialized in Chinese and Italian cooking 20 69 He had a custom made Chinese restaurant installed at the rear of his house by its alley then had a kitchen and dining area built around it 69 The stove that Kaye used for his Chinese dishes was fitted with metal rings for the burners to allow the heat to be highly concentrated and a trough with circulating ice water cooled the area to keep the intense heat tolerable for those who were cooking 70 He learned at Johnny Kan s restaurant in San Francisco and with Cecilia Chang at her Mandarin restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles 69 He taught Chinese cooking classes at a San Francisco Chinese restaurant in the 1970s 71 The theatre and demonstration kitchen under the library at the Hyde Park New York campus of the Culinary Institute of America is named for him 72 Kaye referred to his kitchen as Ying s Thing While filming The Madwoman of Chaillot in France he phoned home to ask his family if they would like to eat at Ying s Thing that evening Kaye flew home for dinner 15 Not all of his efforts in the kitchen went well After flying to San Francisco for a recipe for sourdough bread he came home and spent hours preparing loaves When his daughter asked about the bread Kaye hit the bread on the kitchen table his bread was hard enough to chip it 15 Kaye approached kitchen work with enthusiasm making sausages and other foods needed for his cuisine 70 73 Though it is often claimed that he was a Meilleur Ouvrier de France MOF 9 this is not true as the MOF is restricted to French professionals 74 Rather he had cooked for several famous French chefs at his house all of them MOFs and they signed an honorary Meilleur Ouvrier de France diploma for him 75 Flying Edit Kaye became an aviation enthusiast and pilot His interest was sparked by his longtime friend choreographer Michael Kidd who at the time had recently earned his private pilot s license Kaye was an enthusiastic and accomplished golfer but reduced golf activities in favor of flying and started training for his license in 1959 76 77 The first plane Kaye owned was a Piper Aztec 76 78 After this he became qualified for many types of aircraft from single engined light aircraft to multiengine jets 20 9 76 79 Kaye received a type rating in a Learjet and he was named vice president of the Learjet Company by Bill Lear as an honorary title he had no line responsibility at the company 80 He supported many flying projects In 1968 he was honorary chairman of the Las Vegas International Exposition of Flight a show that used many facets of the city s entertainment industry while presenting an air show The operational show chairman was well known aviation figure Lynn Garrison Kaye flew a Learjet to 65 cities in five days on a mission to help UNICEF 9 80 Business ventures Edit In 1958 Kaye and partner Lester Smith formed Kaye Smith Enterprises The company owned a chain of radio stations mostly in the Pacific Northwest Other Kaye Smith divisions included a concert promotion company a video production company and a recording studio Baseball Edit A lifelong Dodgers fan Kaye recorded a song called The D O D G E R S Song Oh really No O Malley describing a fictitious encounter with the San Francisco Giants a hit during the real life pennant chase of 1962 That song is included on Baseball s Greatest Hits compact discs A good friend of Leo Durocher s he often traveled with the team 14 He also possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of the game and was an accomplished second baseman 20 Kaye and his business partner Lester Smith also led an investment group which was awarded the American League s 13th franchise which became the Seattle Mariners for US 6 2 million on February 7 1976 81 82 The ownership percentages of Kaye Smith and two other remaining original investors were reduced to 5 each when George Argyros purchased 80 of the Mariners for 10 4 million on January 30 1981 83 Kaye sold all of his business interests to Smith s family in 1985 84 Medicine Edit Kaye was an honorary member of the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Pediatrics 20 Charity Edit source source source source source source Danny Kaye on a promotion tour for UNICEF in the Netherlands 1955 Working alongside UNICEF s Halloween fundraiser founder Ward Simon Kimball Jr the actor educated the public on impoverished children in deplorable living conditions overseas and assisted in the distribution of donated goods and funds His involvement with UNICEF came about in an unusual way Kaye was flying home from London in 1949 when one of the plane s four engines lost its propeller and caught fire The problem was initially thought serious enough that it might make an ocean landing life jackets and life rafts were made ready 85 The plane was able to head back over 500 miles 804 67 km to land at Shannon Airport Ireland On the way back to Shannon the head of the Children s Fund Maurice Pate had the seat next to Danny Kaye and spoke at length about the need for recognition for the fund Their discussion continued on the flight from Shannon to New York it was the beginning of the actor s long association with UNICEF 4 85 86 For all of his success as a performer his greatest legacy remains his tireless humanitarian work so close were his ties to the United Nations International Children s Emergency Fund UNICEF that when the organization received the Nobel Peace Prize Kaye was tapped to accept it according to music critic Jason Ankeny 54 Personal life Edit Sylvia and Danny Kaye 1945 Kaye and Sylvia Fine grew up in Brooklyn living a few blocks apart but they did not meet until they were working on an off Broadway show in 1939 87 Sylvia was an audition pianist 11 31 88 Sylvia discovered that Danny had worked for her father Samuel Fine a dentist 14 Kaye working in Florida proposed on the telephone the couple were married in Fort Lauderdale 89 on January 3 1940 90 91 The couple were married for life except for a separation in 1947 and 1948 when Kaye was involved with Eve Arden 92 The couple s only child daughter Dena was born on December 17 1946 19 93 When she was very young Dena did not like seeing her father perform because she did not understand that people were supposed to laugh at what he did 94 Kaye said in a 1954 interview Whatever she wants to be she will be without interference from her mother nor from me 10 73 Dena grew up to become a journalist 95 Donald Spoto the author of Laurence Olivier HarperCollins made an unsubstantiated claim that Kaye had a 10 year secret affair with Laurence Olivier 96 Despite media rumor since that book s publication no evidence has been published English journalist Terry Coleman who spent four years studying Olivier s archive of letters and memorabilia could not find evidence of such an affair between Kaye and Olivier Coleman observed I did check it and talked to a number of people In this mountain of material in the archives I could not find a hint of an affair with Danny Kaye 97 On 18 January 2013 during a 24 hour salute to Kaye on Turner Classic Movies in celebration of what TCM thought was his 100th birthday Kaye s daughter Dena revealed to TCM host Ben Mankiewicz that Kaye s stated birth year of 1913 was incorrect and that he was actually born in 1911 98 Kaye in 1986 by Allan Warren A Democrat he supported Adlai Stevenson s campaign during the 1952 presidential election 99 Kaye was the godfather of actress Mary Louise Weller 100 Death EditKaye died of heart failure on March 3 1987 aged 76 brought on by internal bleeding and complications of hepatitis C 101 Kaye had quadruple bypass heart surgery in February 1983 and he contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion 20 51 Legacy EditKaye was cremated and his ashes were interred in the foundation of a bench in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla New York 102 His grave is adorned with a bench that contains friezes of a baseball and bat an aircraft a piano a flowerpot musical notes and a chef s toque His name and birth and death dates are inscribed on the toque The United Nations held a memorial tribute to him at their New York headquarters on the evening of October 21 1987 103 104 The Sylvia and Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College in New York was opened in 1988 with a 1 million gift from Sylvia Kaye 105 David Koenig reflects His legacy has dimmed with the passage of time His greatest works endure today only as memories in the minds of aging members of his audiences much of his TV work has not aged particularly well Whimsy was of another time However Koenig sees Kaye s film work in a different light History has smiled on individual pictures in particular the holiday staple of White Christmas and The Court Jester the medieval romp has steadily gained a reputation as one of the greatest comedies of all time 106 Honors Edit Kaye was knighted by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark on November 10 1983 He was awarded the cross of the Knight of the Dannebrog 1st Class for his work with UNICEF and longstanding ties with Denmark Kaye portrayed Hans Christian Andersen in the 1952 film of the same name 107 Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor on February 24 1986 for his work for UNICEF 1 On June 23 1987 Kaye was posthumously presented with the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan The award was received by his daughter Dena 108 109 In 1988 Kaye was posthumously inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame 110 UNICEF created the Danny Kaye International Children s Award in his honor a children s European singing competition shown every year between 1988 and 1992 hosted by Audrey Hepburn and Roger Moore citation needed Awards and other recognition Edit Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 1951 for On the Riviera Received an honorary Academy Award Oscar in 1955 for his unique talents his service to the Academy the motion picture industry and the American people Golden Globe Award for Best Actor Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in 1958 for Me and the Colonel Lions Clubs International The first recipient of the Lions Clubs International Foundation s Humanitarian Award 1973 74 111 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award 1981 Asteroid 6546 Kaye Three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in music radio and films 112 Kennedy Center Honor 1984 Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade 1984 The song I Wish I Was Danny Kaye on Miracle Legion s 1996 album Portrait of a Damaged Family UNICEF s New York Visitor s Centre is named to honor Danny Kaye 113 In December 1996 the PBS series American Masters aired a special on Kaye s life 114 A street in the San Antonio Texas neighborhood Oak Hills Terrace located in the city s northwest is named after Danny Kaye 115 The neighborhood was established in the late 1960s 116 The careers of Kaye and Fine are immortalized in The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection at the Library of Congress The materials preserved in the collection include manuscripts scores scripts photographs sound recordings and video clips 117 On June 9 1986 Danny Kaye was crowned King of Brooklyn at the Back to Brooklyn Day Festival Danny Kaye was there to accept his crown 118 Filmography EditFilm Edit Title Year Role Director Co stars Filmed inDime a Dance 1937 Eddie Al Christie Imogene Coca June Allyson Black and whiteGetting an Eyeful 1938 Russian Charles Kemper Sally StarrCupid Takes a Holiday Nikolai Nikolaevich bride seeker William Watson Douglas Leavitt Estelle JayneMoney on Your Life Russian Charles Kemper Sally StarrUp in Arms 1944 Danny Weems Elliott Nugent Dinah Shore Dana Andrews TechnicolorI Am an American 119 Himself Crane Wilbur Humphrey Bogart Gary Gray Dick Haymes Joan Leslie Dennis Morgan Knute Rockne Jay Silverheels Black and whiteWonder Man 1945 Edwin Dingle Buzzy Bellew H Bruce Humberstone Virginia Mayo Vera Ellen Steve Cochran TechnicolorThe Kid from Brooklyn 1946 Burleigh Hubert Sullivan Norman Z McLeod Virginia Mayo Vera Ellen Steve Cochran Eve ArdenThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 Walter Mitty Norman Z McLeod Virginia Mayo Boris Karloff Fay Bainter Ann RutherfordA Song Is Born 1948 Professor Hobart Frisbee Howard Hawks Virginia Mayo Benny Goodman Hugh Herbert Steve CochranIt s a Great Feeling 1949 Himself David Butler Dennis Morgan Doris Day Jack CarsonThe Inspector General Georgi Henry Koster Walter Slezak Barbara Bates Elsa Lanchester Gene LockhartOn the Riviera 1951 Jack Martin Henri Duran Walter Lang Gene Tierney Corinne CalvetHans Christian Andersen 1952 Hans Christian Andersen Charles Vidor Farley Granger Zizi JeanmaireKnock on Wood 1954 Jerry Morgan Papa Morgan Norman PanamaMelvin Frank Mai Zetterling Torin ThatcherWhite Christmas Phil Davis Michael Curtiz Bing Crosby Rosemary Clooney Vera Ellen Dean Jagger VistaVisionTechnicolorThe Court Jester 1956 Hubert Hawkins Norman PanamaMelvin Frank Glynis Johns Basil Rathbone Angela LansburyMerry Andrew 1958 Andrew Larabee Michael Kidd Salvatore Baccaloni Pier Angeli CinemaScopeMetrocolorMe and the Colonel Samuel L Jacobowsky Peter Glenville Curt Jurgens Nicole Maurey Francoise Rosay Akim Tamiroff Black and whiteThe Five Pennies 1959 Red Nichols Melville Shavelson Barbara Bel Geddes Louis Armstrong Tuesday Weld VistaVisionTechnicolorOn the Double 1961 Private First Class Ernie Williams General Sir Lawrence MacKenzie Smith Melville Shavelson Dana Wynter Margaret Rutherford Diana Dors PanavisionTechnicolorThe Man from the Diners Club 1963 Ernest Klenk Frank Tashlin Cara Williams Martha Hyer Black and whiteThe Madwoman of Chaillot 1969 The Ragpicker Bryan Forbes Katharine Hepburn Charles Boyer TechnicolorTelevision Edit Autumn Laughter 1938 experimental telecast The Secret Life of Danny Kaye 1956 See It Now special What s My Line 1960 celebrity mystery guest An Hour With Danny Kaye 1960 and 1961 specials The Danny Kaye Show with Lucille Ball 1962 special The Danny Kaye Show 1963 1967 series The Lucy Show Lucy Meets Danny Kaye 1964 guest appearance Here Comes Peter Cottontail 1971 voice The Dick Cavett Show 1971 interview guest The Enchanted World of Danny Kaye The Emperor s New Clothes 1972 special An Evening with John Denver 1975 special Pinocchio 1976 CBS special live action television musical adaptation starring Kaye as Gepetto and Sandy Duncan in the title role Peter Pan 1976 NBC special live action television musical adaptation starring Mia Farrow in the title role and Kaye as Captain Hook The Muppet Show 1978 guest appearance Disneyland s 25th Anniversary 1980 special guest appearance An Evening with Danny Kaye 1981 special Skokie 1981 television movie The Wonderful World of Disney Official Opening of Epcot Center television special 1982 host and conductor The Twilight Zone Paladin of the Lost Hour 1985 guest appearance The Cosby Show The Dentist 1986 guest appearance Stage work EditThe Straw Hat Revue 1939 Lady in the Dark 1941 Let s Face It 1941 Two by Two 1970 Selected discography EditStudio albums Edit Danny Kaye Decca 1949 Gilbert And Sullivan And Danny Kaye Decca 1949 Danny Kaye Entertains Columbia 1950 Mommy Gimme a Drinka Water Orchestration by Gordon Jenkins Capitol 1958 The Five Pennies with Louis Armstrong London 1959 Soundtracks Edit Hans Christian Andersen 1952 Knock on Wood Decca 1954 Court Jester Brunswick 1956 Merry Andrew 1958 Spoken word Edit Danny Kaye for Children Coral 1959 Danny Kaye Tells 6 Stories from Faraway Places Golden 1960 Compilations Edit Selections from Irving Berlin s White Christmas 1954 The Best of Danny Kaye Decca 1965 Two by Two Columbia 1970 The Very Best of Danny Kaye 20 Golden Greats MCA 1987 Charting singles Edit Bloop Bleep With Orchestra Directed by Billy May Decca US No 21 1947 58 Civilization Bongo Bongo Bongo from the Broadway musical Angel in the Wings Danny Kaye Andrews Sisters with Vic Schoen and His Orchestra Decca US No 3 1947 58 The Woody Woodpecker Danny Kaye Andrews Sisters With The Harmonica Gentlemen Decca US No 18 1948 58 I ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts With The Harmonaires And Orchestra Directed By Vic Schoen Decca US No 26 1950 58 C est Si Bon It s So Good With Lee Gordon Singers And Vic Schoen And His Orchestra Decca US No 21 1950 120 Black Strap Molasses Danny Kaye Jimmy Durante Jane Wyman Groucho Marx with 4 Hits and A Miss and Orchestra Directed by Sonny Burke Decca US No 29 1951 120 Thumbelina Danny Kaye and Gordon Jenkins and his Chorus and Orchestra Decca US No 28 1952 120 Wonderful Copenhagen Danny Kaye and Gordon Jenkins and his Chorus and Orchestra Decca UK No 5 1953 57 Little Child Daddy Dear with Dena Kaye Decca 1956 US Cash Box No 25 120 Ciu Ciu Bella Capitol 1956 US Music Vendor No 76 120 Lullaby in Ragtime with Eileen Wilson Dot 1959 US Music Vendor No 116 120 D O D G E R S Song Oh Really No O Malley Reprise 1962 US Cash Box No 113 120 References Edit a b French Honor Danny Kaye The Modesto Bee February 26 1986 Kaye Dena January 18 2013 Interview Turner Classic Movies Her father was actually born in 1911 but for reasons unknown to her changed it to 1913 a href Template Cite news html title Template Cite news cite news a CS1 maint postscript link FBI records and SSDI show 1911 a b Danny Kaye Biography UNICEF Retrieved March 23 2014 1980 1989 Obituaries SSDI search Legacy com SSDI Retrieved March 23 2014 a b c d e f g Adir Karen ed 2001 The Great Clowns of American Television McFarland amp Company p 270 ISBN 0 7864 1303 4 Retrieved January 18 2011 Welcome P S 149 Danny Kaye New York City Department of Education Retrieved January 8 2013 a b c d e f World renowned comedian dies Eugene Register Guard March 4 1987 Retrieved December 15 2010 a b c d e Goodman Mark December 23 1979 A Conversation With Danny Kaye Lakeland Ledger Retrieved March 10 2011 a b Perry Lawrence May 9 1954 Danny Kaye Looks at Life The Milwaukee Journal a b c d Battelle Phyllis May 8 1959 Mrs Danny Kaye Proves a Genius The Milwaukee Sentinel Danny Kaye Transcript February 6 1949 Archived from the original on July 25 2019 Retrieved July 25 2019 Bio Danny Kaye Retrieved July 25 2019 a b c d e f g h Git Gat Gittle Time March 11 1946 Archived from the original on November 6 2012 Retrieved January 14 2011 a b c d Kaye Dena January 19 1969 Life With My Zany Father Danny Kaye Tri City Herald Retrieved January 15 2011 permanent dead link Many sources assert that Kaye s debut was in a 1935 comedy short Moon Over Manhattan but he does not appear in the film http thedannykayeshow blogspot com 2013 02 danny kayes first film fraud html Highlights and Shadows front of program The President Players July 4 1937 Retrieved February 25 2011 Highlights and Shadows inside of program The President Players July 4 1937 Retrieved February 25 2011 a b Who Is Sylvia Pittsburgh Post Gazette October 30 1960 Retrieved January 18 2011 a b c d e f g h Danny Kaye comedian who loved children dead at 74 Wilmington Morning Star Wilmington North Carolina Associated Press March 4 1987 Retrieved December 15 2010 a b Remington Fred January 12 1964 Danny Kaye King of Comedy The Pittsburgh Press Retrieved March 10 2011 Edel Leon November 8 1941 Danny Kaye as Musical Draftee Brightens the Broadway Scene Retrieved January 19 2011 Whittaker Herbert May 20 1944 Danny Kaye Makes Successful Debut in Up in Arms The Montreal Gazette Retrieved January 22 2011 Kanfer Stefan 1989 A summer world the attempt to build a Jewish Eden in the Catskills from the days of the ghetto to the rise and decline of the Borscht Belt 1st ed New York Farrar Straus amp Giroux p 157 ISBN 978 0374271800 a b Nolan J Leigh Danny Danny Kate F A Q s Archived from the original on January 23 2013 Retrieved January 8 2013 Foley Roy L February 2 1946 Helen and Danny O Kaye Crowd Howls The Milwaukee Sentinel a b Danny Kaye DigitalDeli Archived from the original on January 6 2012 Retrieved January 14 2011 a b BCL November 12 1945 Riding the Airwaves The Milwaukee Journal Lily Pons the Guest Star Tonight of Danny Kaye Back from Tour The Montreal Gazette November 23 1945 Retrieved January 15 2011 Manners Dorothy May 3 1946 Danny Kaye released from his radio contract The Milwaukee Sentinel a b Boyle Hal August 27 1959 Composer Sylvia Fine Can Write Anywhere Anytime St Joseph News Press St Joseph Mo Retrieved November 27 2010 Brady Thomas F November 13 1947 Danny Kaye Film Set At Warner s The Montreal Gazette Retrieved January 18 2011 Danny Kaye in Film Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Two Kids from Brooklyn loc gov Exhibitions Library of Congress February 14 2013 Retrieved February 1 2019 Wilson Earl July 4 1959 It Happened Last Night Sarasota Herald Tribune Retrieved January 18 2011 Young Andrew March 4 1987 Kaye everyone s favourite The Glasgow Herald Retrieved December 15 2010 Januzzi Gene October 23 1949 Danny Kaye Won t Talk of Royalty Pittsburgh Post Gazette Retrieved January 15 2011 Handsaker Gene October 11 1948 Danny Kaye Is a Real Showoff Kentucky New Era Retrieved March 12 2011 Bianculli David December 10 1996 The Many Lives of Danny Kaye New York Daily News Retrieved March 10 2011 permanent dead link Royal Variety Performance Entertainment Artistes Benenevolent Fund 1948 Archived from the original on February 9 2011 Retrieved January 22 2011 Royal Invitation for Danny Kaye The Montreal Gazette October 20 1948 Retrieved January 22 2011 a b Sforza John Swing It The Andrews Sisters Story University Press of Kentucky 2000 ISBN missing Goldie Tom July 10 1953 Friday Film Notes Danny Producer Evening Times Retrieved March 10 2011 Danny Kaye Founds Film Firm The Pittsburgh Press December 6 1960 Retrieved March 10 2011 McManus Margaret September 23 1956 Found at Last A Happy Comedian The Milwaukee Journal Mercer Charles December 5 1956 Danny Kaye Gives TV Its Finest 90 Minutes The Miami News Retrieved January 19 2011 permanent dead link Pearson Howard December 3 1956 Color Shows Danny Kaye Draw Attention The Deseret News Retrieved January 19 2011 a b c Drew Mike March 4 1987 Danny Kaye always excelled as an entertainer and in life The Milwaukee Journal The Danny Kaye Episode Guide Mateas Media Consulting Archived from the original on October 29 2009 Retrieved February 2 2011 William A Raidy February 17 1971 Real people go to matinees and Danny Kaye loves em The Montreal Gazette Retrieved January 19 2011 Lowry Cynthia April 17 1964 Accident Confines Danny Kaye to Chair Eugene Register Guard Retrieved January 15 2011 a b Actor comedian Danny Kaye dies Pittsburgh Post Gazette March 3 1987 Retrieved December 15 2010 Disney Avenue Disney Documentary Hour Disneyland s 25th Anniversary www dizavenue com Retrieved July 7 2018 EPCOT Grand Opening www thisdayindisneyhistory com Retrieved July 7 2018 a b c d Ankeny Jason Danny Kaye biography at AllMusic Retrieved January 13 2015 Bruce Eder Danny Kaye 1949 album review AllMusic Retrieved January 13 2015 Eder Bruce Danny Kaye Entertains record review AllMusic Retrieved January 13 2015 a b DANNY KAYE full Official Chart History Official Charts Company Official Charts Archived from the original on April 3 2015 Retrieved January 2 2022 a b c d e Whitburn Joel 1986 Joel Whitburn s Pop memories 1890 1954 the history of American popular music compiled from America s popular music charts 1890 1954 Menomonee Falls Wis Record Research ISBN 0 89820 083 0 OCLC 15252908 Danny at the Palace Discogs Retrieved January 13 2015 Knock on Wood OST Discogs Retrieved January 13 2015 Love Me Do Ciu Ciu Bella Record details 45cat Kaye Signs 3 Year Pact With Capitol Billboard December 15 1956 p 30 William Ruhlmann Merry Andrew soundtrack AllMusic Retrieved January 13 2015 The Five Pennies Discogs Retrieved January 13 2015 a b Danny Kaye official biography Archived from the original on August 28 2013 Retrieved January 13 2015 a b Biography of Danny Kaye The Kennedy Center Archived from the original on February 26 2010 Retrieved March 28 2015 Barrier Michael 2003 1999 Hollywood Cartoons American Animation in Its Golden Age Oxford University Press p 463 ISBN 978 0 1951 6729 0 Retrieved September 13 2016 via Google Books Lehrer Tom Lobachevsky Lyrics Metrolyrics Archived from the original on March 18 2018 Retrieved March 17 2018 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint unfit URL link a b c Rice William March 12 1987 Kaye Got Rave Reviews For A Starring Role As An Artist In The Kitchen Chicago Tribune Archived from the original on August 5 2017 Retrieved August 3 2017 a b Marcella Hazan Memoir of a classic Italian chef Today October 6 2008 Retrieved March 10 2011 Danny Kaye Teaches Chinese Cooking Tri City Herald Kennewick Washington January 22 1974 Retrieved January 15 2011 permanent dead link Culinary Institute of America ed 1995 Cooking secrets of the CIA Chronicle Books p 131 ISBN 0 8118 1163 8 Retrieved January 18 2011 danny kaye cooking a b Boyd Joseph G May 23 1980 Travel writer attends party saluting hotel The Milwaukee Sentinel Annuaire des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France Yanou Collart Les etoiles de ma vie 2019 ISBN 2809826765 chapter Danny Kaye meilleur ouvrier de France a b c Kaye Danny January 1967 If I Can Fly You Can Fly Popular Science Retrieved March 11 2011 Scott Vernon July 14 1962 Kaye Likes Air The Windsor Star Retrieved March 18 2011 Thomas Bob September 21 1965 Danny Kaye Likes Flying TV Dodgers Gettysburg Times Retrieved January 15 2011 Smith Red June 12 1976 American League s a new act for Danny Kaye The Miami News Retrieved January 21 2011 permanent dead link a b Pope Stephen July 6 2016 The Last True Learjet Flying Magazine Retrieved July 20 2016 Danny Kaye by the way never owned a Learjet though he did receive a type rating his friend Bill Lear made him a vice president this was strictly an honorary and symbolic title Major League Baseball Returns To Seattle The Leader Post February 9 1976 Retrieved January 15 2011 You Could Look It Up The first time Seattle Post Intelligencer Thursday March 27 2003 Retrieved December 10 2017 A L Owners Approve 2 Sales The Associated Press Friday January 30 1981 Retrieved December 10 2017 History of Kaye Smith Retrieved December 10 2017 a b Crippled Transport Limps to Safety The Lewiston Daily Sun Lewiston Maine July 8 1949 Retrieved January 19 2011 Danny Kaye UNICEF Retrieved January 19 2011 A team grew in Brooklyn The Dispatch Lexington North Carolina April 25 1975 Retrieved March 10 2011 Kaye at the Met The Evening News Newburgh N Y April 25 1975 Retrieved November 27 2010 Raymer Dorothy November 6 1945 Who Is Sylvia What Is She Danny Kaye s Inspiration The Miami News Retrieved January 14 2011 permanent dead link Film producer songwriter Sylvia Fine Kaye dies at 78 The Daily News Bowling Green Ky October 29 1991 Retrieved November 27 2010 Wilson Earl July 2 1959 It Happened Last Night The Morning Herald Uniontown Pennsylvania p 4 Retrieved January 8 2017 via Newspapers com A Song Is Born Tcm com Retrieved September 8 2012 Parsons Louella July 28 1946 Danny Kaye Awaits Christmas Bulletin On Maternity Front The News and Courier Archived from the original on August 21 2013 Retrieved January 14 2011 Hughes Alice January 28 1953 A Woman s New York Reading Eagle Retrieved March 10 2011 Moody Nekesa Mumbi March 29 2013 On 100th anniversary of Danny Kaye s birth daughter Dena seeks to spread his legacy Times Colonist Retrieved November 12 2017 The Other Olivier Chicago Tribune February 25 1992 Retrieved February 6 2020 Laurence Olivier detailed to the letter Los Angeles Times December 31 2005 Retrieved February 19 2020 Getting reacquainted with Danny Kaye Los Angeles Times December 2 2012 Retrieved October 14 2019 Motion Picture and Television Magazine November 1952 page 33 Ideal Publishers 29 Aug 1982 83 Victoria Advocate at Newspapers com August 29 1982 Retrieved August 3 2022 Gottfried Martin 1994 Nobody s Fool The Lives of Danny Kaye New York London Simon amp Schuster ISBN 0 671 86494 7 Wilson Scott Resting Places The Burial Sites of More Than 14 000 Famous Persons 3d ed 2 Kindle Locations 24772 24773 McFarland amp Company Inc Publishers Taylor Clarke October 23 1987 UN and Friends Pay Tribute to Kaye Los Angeles Times Retrieved January 19 2011 Lewis Paul October 22 1987 U N Praises Danny Kaye at Tribute The New York Times Archived from the original on August 14 2013 Retrieved March 18 2011 Teltschr Kathleen November 22 1987 Danny Kaye s Widow Backs Theater The New York Times Retrieved February 25 2019 Koenig David 2012 Danny Kaye King of Jesters Irvine California Bonaventure Press pp 281 282 ISBN 978 1937878016 Kaye knighted Times News Hendersonville North Carolina November 10 1983 Retrieved March 24 2014 Kaye Willson to Get Medal of Freedom Los Angeles Times April 22 1987 Retrieved January 19 2011 Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom University of Texas June 23 1987 Archived from the original on April 25 2011 Retrieved March 10 2011 Theater Hall of Fame Adds Nine New Names The New York Times November 22 1988 Retrieved February 6 2019 Humanitarian Award Winners Lions Clubs International Foundation Retrieved January 1 2018 Danny Kaye Hollywood Star Walk Los Angeles Times Retrieved January 19 2011 Danny Kaye Visitor s Centre Virtual Tour UNICEF Archived from the original on March 10 2011 Retrieved January 19 2011 Danny Kaye About the Actor American Masters PBS September 16 2005 Archived from the original on January 15 2018 Retrieved January 15 2018 Google maps Oak Hills Terrace A Back to School Sale San Antonio Express August 3 1969 p 83 The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection About the Collection American Memory Library of Congress Retrieved July 13 2016 Quirks in the News UPI Archives Retrieved February 3 2017 The 16 minute film I Am an American was featured in American theaters as a short feature in connection with I Am an American Day now called Constitution Day I Am an American was produced by Gordon Hollingshead also written by Crane Wilbur See I Am An American at the TCM Movie Database a b c d e f g Whitburn Joel 2015 The Comparison Book Billboard Cash Box Record World 1954 1982 Sheridan Books p 119 ISBN 978 0 89820 213 7 Sources EditRemarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of Freedom Archived April 25 2011 at the Wayback Machine June 23 1987 accessed March 9 2015 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to Danny Kaye Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danny Kaye Danny Kaye at IMDb Danny Kaye at the Internet Broadway Database Danny Kaye discography at Discogs Royal Engineers Museum Literature on Danny Kaye Danny Kaye Find a Grave Retrieved March 24 2014 FBI Records The Vault Danny Kaye fbi gov accessed June 4 2017 Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection and the Online Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection at the Library of Congress Danny Kaye recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings Portals Biography New York Los Angeles Film Television Comedy Judaism Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Danny Kaye amp oldid 1150788953, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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