Danny Kaye
Birthday:
Birthplace:
Brooklyn, New York, USA
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.
Highest Rated Movies
Filmography
MOVIES
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | BOX OFFICE | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | White Christmas 60th Anniversary |
|
— | 2014 |
No Score Yet | The Best of Danny Kaye - The Television Years |
|
— | 1993 |
No Score Yet | 25 Years of Entertainment: Hollywood Highs |
|
— | 1990 |
No Score Yet | Skokie |
|
— | 1981 |
No Score Yet | Pinocchio |
|
— | 1976 |
No Score Yet | Here Comes Peter Cottontail |
|
— | 1971 |
20% | The Madwoman of Chaillot |
|
— | 1969 |
No Score Yet | The Man from the Diners' Club |
|
— | 1963 |
No Score Yet | On the Double |
|
— | 1961 |
No Score Yet | The Five Pennies |
|
— | 1959 |
No Score Yet | Me and the Colonel |
|
— | 1958 |
No Score Yet | Merry Andrew |
|
— | 1958 |
No Score Yet | The All-Star Christmas Show (Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby's White Christmas USO All Star Show) |
|
— | 1958 |
96% | The Court Jester |
|
— | 1956 |
No Score Yet | Knock on Wood |
|
— | 1954 |
77% | White Christmas |
|
— | 1954 |
83% | Hans Christian Andersen |
|
— | 1952 |
No Score Yet | On the Riviera |
|
— | 1951 |
No Score Yet | It's a Great Feeling |
|
— | 1949 |
90% | The Inspector General |
|
— | 1949 |
50% | A Song Is Born |
|
— | 1948 |
71% | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty |
|
— | 1947 |
60% | The Kid From Brooklyn |
|
— | 1946 |
100% | Wonder Man |
|
— | 1945 |
80% | Up in Arms |
|
— | 1944 |
No Score Yet | Getting an Eyeful |
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— | 1938 |
No Score Yet | Moon Over Manhattan |
|
— | 1935 |
No Score Yet | Chasing Those Depression Blues |
|
— | 1935 |
TV
RATING | TITLE | CREDIT | YEAR |
---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet |
Great Performances
2000
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Cosby Show
1984-1992
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
The Twilight Zone
1985-1989
|
|
|
100% |
The Muppet Show
1976-1981
|
|
|
No Score Yet |
Live From Lincoln Center
2000-2019
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Quotes from Danny Kaye's Characters
Phil Davis: | When what's left of you gets around to what's left to be gotten, what's left to be gotten won't be worth getting, whatever it is you've got left. |
Bob Wallace: | When I figure out what that means I'll come up with a crushing reply. |
Hawkins: | The pellet with the poison's in the vessel with the pestle. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true. |