Born: 18th January 1911
Died: 3rd March 1987 (aged 76)
David Daniel Kaminsky was born in Brooklyn; the third son of Jacob and Clara, Ukranian-Jewish immigrants who had settled there two years before his birth (he was their only son to be born in the USA). A born entertainer who never graduated from High School, he started his career performing at a hotel in the Catskill Mountains – he was what they would call a Tummler: a male entertainer, as formerly employed by resorts in the Catskill Mountains, who combined the duties of a comedian, activities director, and master of ceremonies to keep the guests amused throughout the dayDictionary.com. He first used the name Danny Kaye when he performed as part of a vaudeville act when he was 22 with whom he toured America and Asia. On returning to America he tried his hand at many jobs before meeting his future wife, Sylvia Fine, at an audition at the age of 28. (Sylvia was a composer and lyricist and went on to write many compositions for Danny)
Danny Kaye made his first film, Up in Arms, in 1944 and continued to have a very prolific career, both on screen and stage, for twenty years; although he still acted after that most of his work for the small screen. Most of his characters have a duplicity about them – an outer awkwardness but also they have this hidden ‘talent’ that helps them triumph.
What’s a white Christmas without ¯Snow, Snow, Snow, Snooow¯ ? An average Christmas! So I now ask the question what would the film White Christmas be without Danny Kaye? It would be an average film. I have nothing against Bing Crosby or the two young ladies (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) but it’s Danny that makes the ensemble complete – he brings the humour; you just need to watch the two men perform “Sisters” to see that! This film shows Kaye at his best – he can sing, act and dance and it makes my day every time I watch it. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of those films that displays his ‘duplicity roles’ perfectly and it is also the film that made me fall in love with Danny Kaye! He plays the eponymous ‘hero’ … well, I say ‘hero’ as he starts out as a timid daydreamer but you can see that the hero he dreams of isn’t far below the surface. This film shows Danny’s ability for physical, facial and vocal comedy at its best I just love it.
The above two films are the only ones I have been able to find record of any box office takings so I have the ‘hardship’ (only joking watching Danny Kaye could never be a hardship!) to watch other films from each of his acting decades.
The Kid From Brooklyn (1946)
A funny case of misinterpretation sees Danny Kaye go from sweet, mild mannered milkman to obnoxious prize fighting boxer. A physical role for Danny who can twist his body in unusual ways for his ducking and diving in the ring. The transition between the two sides of Burleigh Sullivan is such a difference ‘milkman’ Burleigh is very unsure of himself but ‘boxer’ Burleigh is such a contrast from anything I’ve seen Danny do; he’s cocky and quite unlikable! Although there is music in this film Danny only sings one song ‘Pavlowa’ and the song is quite arrogant which considering the place it comes in the film is almost a representation of the ‘new’ Burleigh.
The Five Pennies (1959)
I’ve heard of ‘Red’ Nichols; he was a jazz cornetist and contemporary of Louis Armstrong but I knew nothing of his life apart from that. In The Five Pennies Danny Kaye plays ‘Red’ and we follow his life from musician to shipyard worker to his return to show business. I don’t know how accurate this film is to ‘Red’s life but as a Danny Kaye film it was nice to see him in a more serious role, yes there is humour but it is appropriate and subtle and doesn’t distract from the main storyline. Although a comedic actor Danny plays sombre without losing any of his personal style
On the Double (1961)
As we all know “on the double” is a military term for very fast – and this is a military based comedy and at times it does go very fast; but in this case the ‘double’ is also for Danny Kaye playing two parts, well he is asked to be the double for a British General and we only meet the General once, so it’s not two parts in the usual sense (e.g Tom Hardy playing both Kray boys in Legend). What I love about Danny Kaye is that he can play every role – the hero, the coward, the fool and the romantic lead – and in this film he plays them all with a style that is sublime. The quick change scene is played to perfection (and I know you’re going to say it’s a film it’s editing not quick change but it doesn’t matter it’s still funny!).
70s and 80s
During the 70s and 80s Danny Kaye only made TV appearances either in the odd show or in films made for television – these included two, what I can only classify as, recorded ‘pantomimes’, Peter Pan and Pinnochio. He camps up Captain Hook wonderfully and the difference between his Geppetto and Boris Stroganoff, the man who runs the puppet show, is subtle but obvious. I wish I could have got my hands on Skokie, a straight forward drama based on true events; it would have been Kaye’s second role without any singing or dancing.
There are things that stand the test of time, you know when you haven’t watched something in years and when you do see it you realise it wasn’t as good as it was – I had this realisation with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang – but watching anything with Danny Kaye in is like putting on that old pair of slippers you haven’t worn in years; yes they may have a hole in but there is nothing more comforting than feeling the way they warmly caress your feet again! It’s what I’ve loved about writing these articles reconnecting with films I haven’t been able to watch for years. And that’s the way I feel about Hans Christian Anderson – watching it again was like I’d watched it every day of my life I remembered the order of scenes, parts of the dialogue and the lyrics. Although this is about Hans Christian Anderson it is not a biopic the open vanity card says that this is “not the story of his life, but a fairy tale about this great spinner of fairy tales.” I just love Danny Kaye – he can sing, act and his voice is mesmerising and if I had to watch a film every day for the rest of my life I could easily choose this one! Or The Court Jester with Kaye’s physical and linguist comedy. Or White Christmas. Or Up in Arms. Or… Oh let’s be honest I would never be able to choose a film to watch every day but if I had to choose an actor to watch every day for the rest of my life Danny Kaye wouldn’t be a bad choice!!
The question you have to ask is was Danny Kaye an actor who danced or a dancer who sang or an actor who sang and danced? You look at his catalogue it is difficult to categorise him as anything else than a man who was multitalented. Not only could he act dance and sing he could fly a jet, was a master of Chinese cookery, conduct orchestras, he owned a baseball team and he was a UNICEF ambassador. He won several awards for his acting but never an Oscar; the two he was awarded were for his Humanitarian work and his services to the Academy and the industry. He was also awarded the French Legion of Honour in 1986, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1987, among others. Danny Kaye died at the age of 76 from heart failure.
