Danny Kaye (Actor)

About Danny Kaye

Inimitable, multi-talented entertainer Danny Kaye first gained fame on Broadway by upstaging the great Gertrude Lawrence in Lady in the Dark in 1941 with an unforgettable rendition of the "Tchaikovsky," in which he rapidly fired off the names of 54 Russian composers in 38 seconds. Born David Daniel Kaminski, a garment worker's son in Brooklyn, New York, Kaye left school at age 13 to work as a mischievous busboy in the popular "borscht belt" resorts of the Catskill Mountains. While endeavoring to break into vaudeville and nightclub acts as a singer and dancer, Kaye also occasionally worked as a soda jerk and an insurance salesman. In 1939, he made his Broadway debut in Straw Hat Revue with Imogene Coca. Following the run of Lady in the Dark, he began making a series of educational films during the '30s. In 1943, he signed a movie contract with producer Sam Goldwyn, and became a star when he appeared in Up in Arms (1944). A talented mimic, physical comedian, singer and dancer, he was unlike any performer who had come before him. Kaye specialized in playing multiple roles or personalities in such films as Wonder Man (1945), The Kid From Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), and On the Riviera (1951). Probably his best films are The Court Jester (1956), which contains the unforgettable "pellet with the poison's in the vestle with the pestle" routine, based on similar but less effective bits in earlier films, and White Christmas (1954). His wife, composer-lyricist Sylvia Fine, wrote most of his best gags and patter numbers throughout his career. Though tremendously popular during the mid-'40s through the '50s -- most particularly in Great Britain, where played to record-breaking crowds in the Palladium in 1948 and 1949 (he even made personal visits to Buckingham Palace) -- his bright star began to wane in the late 1950s when he began spending most of his time working for UNICEF, and traveling the world-over to entertain impoverished children. In the early to mid-'60s, he starred in The Danny Kaye Show, a comedy-variety television series for which he won an Emmy in 1964. He also found time to conduct symphony orchestras and appear in Two by Two on Broadway. In 1955, Kaye was awarded an honorary Oscar; the Motion Picture Academy also awarded him the Jean Hersholt Award in 1982 for his selfless work with UNICEF. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Family

Name:	Relation:	Notes:
Sylvia Fine	wife	married 1940 until Kaye's death in 1987; died October 28, 1991 of emphysema at age 78
Dena Kaye	daughter	born 1946
Clara Kaminsky	mother	died when Kaye was 14
Jacob Kaminsky	father	worked in NY garment center
Lawrence Kaminsky	brother	died 1969

Milestones

	Returned to Broadway as Noah in the Richard Rodgers-Martin Charnin musical "Two By Two"
	Stage debut in a vaudeville revue that toured US and Asia, "La Vie Paris"
	Toured with Abe Lyman's Band
	Travelled to the Orient with A.B. Marcus Show
	Worked as a performing busboy at Catskill summer camps; worked as a soda jerk between engagements
1937	Short film debut, "Dime a Dance" (two-reel short; produced by small independent film company, Educational Pictures)
1938	Performed in cabaret show at the Dorchester in London
1938	Starred in "Getting an Eyeful" and "Cupid Takes a Holiday", short subjects for Educational Pictures; three shorts were later compiled into film titled, "The Danny Kaye Story/Birth of a Star" (1944)
1939	Broadway debut in "The Straw Hat Revue", comprised of skit material from summer camp in Pennsylvania that he, Sylvia Fine, Max Liebman and Imogene Coca had worked in
1939	New York stage debut, "Left of Broadway"
1941	Gained first major notice for his high-speed novelty number, "Tchaikovsky" in the Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin Broadway musical, "Lady in the Dark"
1941	Headlined a vaudeville revue at the Palace Theater in NY
1941	Rejected MGM contract at $3,000 per week
1941	Starred in the Cole Porter musical "Let's Face It" on Broadway
1943	Signed contract with Samuel Goldwyn who insisted he lighten his hair to blond; Sylvia Fine also signed by Goldwyn to write special material for husband
1944	Feature film debut in "Up in Arms"
1945	Premiere of "The Danny Kaye Show" on CBS radio
1948	First performed at the London Palladium
1952	Formed Dena Productions with Sylvia Fine
1953	Signed with MGM to film a musical version of "Huckleberry Finn" co-starring Gene Kelly; film postponed, then project abandoned
1963 - 1967	Starred on "The Danny Kaye Show" on TV
1966	Toured Vietnam war fronts with the USO
1969	Played character part of ragpicker in final film, "The Madwoman of Chaillot"
1981	TV movie debut, "Skokie"
1986	Made guest appearance playing a dentist on "The Bill Cosby Show"

Notes

"I was a wife-made man."--Danny Kaye (quoted in "Halliwell's Filmgoer's Companion", 9th edition, 1988).

Donald Spoto in "Enchantment: The Life of Laurence Olivier" (1992) alleges that Olivier had a passionate 10-year affair with Danny Kaye and had written about it for his autobiography but Olivier's wife Joan Plowright ordered the reference deleted.

Given the Scopus Laureate in 1977.

He received a honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Colgate University.

He received the UNICEF'S first award for Distinguished Service from the United Nation's Children's Fund.

He was awarded the Wateler Peace Prize from the Carnegie Foundation in 1981.

He was co-owner of the Seattle Mariners Baseball Club.

Honorary member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Honorary member of the American College of Surgeons.

Made Chevalier in the Legion of Honor by French government 1986)

Original last name alternately spelled Kominiski and Kominsky in various sources.

Received the Knight's Cross of the First Class of the Order of Danneborg by the Danish Government.

UNICEF'S ambassador-at-large for 34 years.