Victor Borge
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Børge Rosenbaum (3 January 1909 – 23 December 2000), known professionally as Victor Borge ( ), was a Danish-American comedian, conductor, and pianist who achieved great popularity in radio and television in the
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and
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. His blend of music and comedy earned him the nicknames "The Clown Prince of Denmark", "The Unmelancholy Dane", and "The Great Dane".


Biography


Early life and career

Victor Borge was born Børge Rosenbaum on 3 January 1909 in
Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, into an Ashkenazi Jewish family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke (née Lichtinger) Rosenbaum, were both musicians: his father a
violist ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...
in the Royal Danish Orchestra, and his mother a pianist. Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the
Royal Danish Academy of Music The Royal Danish Academy of Music, or Royal Danish Conservatory of Music ( da, Det Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium), in Copenhagen is the oldest professional institution of musical education in Denmark as well as the largest, with approxima ...
, studying under Olivo Krause. Later on, he was taught by
Victor Schiøler Victor Schiøler was a Danish classical pianist (7 April 1899 – 17 February 1967). Biography Victor Schiøler was born, and died, in Copenhagen. He studied with his mother, then with Ignaz Friedman and Artur Schnabel. He made his debut on 23 J ...
,
Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...
's student Frederic Lamond, and
Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary f ...
's pupil
Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen but in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professional vio ...
. Borge played his first major concert in 1926 at the Danish Odd Fellow Palæet (''The Odd Fellow's Lodge building'') concert hall. After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now famous
stand-up Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...
act with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married the American Elsie Chilton in 1933; the same year, he debuted with his revue acts. Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-
Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
jokes. When the German armed forces occupied Denmark on 9 April 1940, during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, Borge was playing a concert in neutral Sweden and decided to go to
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. He traveled to America on the United States Army transport , the last neutral ship to make it out of
Petsamo Petsamo may refer to: * Petsamo Province, a province of Finland from 1921 to 1922 * Petsamo, Tampere, a district in Tampere, Finland * Pechengsky District, Russia, formerly known as Petsamo * Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast, Russi ...
, Finland, and arrived 28 August 1940, with only $20 (about $ today), with $3 going to the customs fee. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother.


Move to America

Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge and, in 1941, he started on
Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch poli ...
's radio show. He was hired soon after by
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
for his '' Kraft Music Hall'' programme. Borge quickly rose to fame, winning Best New Radio Performer of the Year in 1942. Soon after the award, he was offered film roles with stars such as
Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
(in '' Higher and Higher''). While hosting ''
The Victor Borge Show ''The Victor Borge Show'' is a 30-minute American variety television program that was broadcast live on NBC from February 3, 1951, to June 30, 1951. It was sponsored by Kellogg. Premise The program starred Victor Borge, an "internationally know ...
'' on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
beginning in 1946, he developed many of his trademarks, including repeatedly announcing his intent to play a piece but getting "distracted" by something or other, making comments about the audience, or discussing the usefulness of Chopin's "
Minute Waltz The Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1, sometimes known as "" (French for "Waltz of the puppy"), and popularly known in English as the Minute Waltz, is a piano waltz by Polish composer and virtuoso Frédéric Chopin. It is dedicated to the Co ...
" as an egg timer. He would also start out with some well-known classical piece like
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's "
Moonlight Sonata The Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, marked ''Quasi una fantasia'', Op. 27, No. 2, is a piano sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven. It was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to his pupil Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name ''M ...
" and suddenly move into a harmonically similar pop or jazz tune, such as
Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film. Born to ...
's " Night and Day" or "
Happy Birthday to You "Happy Birthday to You", also known as "Happy Birthday", is a song traditionally sung to celebrate a person's birthday. According to the 1998 ''Guinness World Records'', it is the most recognised song in the English language, followed by " Fo ...
".


Style

One of Borge's other famous routines was "Phonetic Punctuation," in which he read a passage from a book and added exaggerated sound effects to stand for most of the main
punctuation Punctuation (or sometimes interpunction) is the use of spacing, conventional signs (called punctuation marks), and certain typographical devices as aids to the understanding and correct reading of written text, whether read silently or aloud. An ...
marks, such as periods, commas, and exclamation marks. Another is his "Inflationary Language", in which he added one to every number or homophone of a number in the words he spoke. For example: "once upon a time" becomes "twice upon a time", "wonderful" becomes "twoderful", "forehead" becomes "fivehead", "anyone for tennis" becomes "anytwo five elevennis", "I ate a tenderloin with my fork, and so on and so forth" becomes "I nined an elevenderloin with my fivek, and so on and so fifth". Borge used physical and visual elements in his live and televised performances. He would play a strange-sounding piano tune from sheet music, looking increasingly confused; turning the sheet upside down or sideways, he would then play the actual tune, flashing a joyful smile of accomplishment to the audience (he had, at first, been literally playing the tune upside down or sideways). When his energetic playing of another song would cause him to fall off the piano bench, he would open the seat lid, take out the two ends of an automotive seat belt, and buckle himself onto the bench, "for safety". Conducting an orchestra, he might stop and order a violinist who had played a sour note to get off the stage, then resume the performance and have the other members of the section move up to fill the empty seat while they were still playing: from off stage would come the sound of a gunshot. His musical sidekick in the 1960s,
Leonid Hambro Leonid Hambro (June 26, 1920 – October 23, 2006) was an American concert pianist and composer. Life Hambro was born in Chicago, the son of immigrant Lithuanian Jews; his father was a pianist accompanying silent films. He studied at the Juil ...
, was also a well-known concert pianist. In 1968, classical pianist
Şahan Arzruni Şahan Arzruni ( hy, Շահան Արծրունի; born 8 June 1943) is an Armenian classical pianist, ethnomusicologist, lecturer, composer, writer and producer, residing in New York City. Early life and education Arzruni (also transliterated ...
joined him as his straight man, performing together on one piano a version of Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody, considered a musical-comedic classic. Borge performed a version of the routine with
Rowlf the Dog Rowlf the Dog is a Muppet character, a scruffy brown dog of indeterminate breed with a rounded black nose and long floppy ears. He was created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Rowlf is the Muppet Theatre's resident pianist on ''The Muppe ...
on Season 4 of
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...
. He also enjoyed interacting with the audience. Seeing an interested person in the front row, he would ask them, "Do you like good music?" or "Do you care for piano music?" After an affirmative answer, Borge would take a piece of sheet music from his piano and say, "Here is some", and hand it over. After the audience's laughter died down, he would say, "That'll be $1.95" (or whatever the current price might be). He would then ask whether the audience member could read music; if the member said yes, he would ask a higher price. If he got no response from the audience after a joke, he would often add "… when this ovation has died down, of course." The delayed punchline to handing the person the sheet music would come when he would reach the end of a number and begin playing the penultimate notes over and over, with a puzzled look. He would then go back to the person in the audience, retrieve the sheet music, tear off a piece of it, stick it on the piano, and play the last couple of notes from it. Making fun of modern theater, he would sometimes begin a performance by asking if there were any children in the audience. There always were, of course. He would sternly order them out, then say, "We do have some children in here; that means I can't do the second half in the nude. I'll wear the tie (pause). The long one (pause). The very long one, yes." In his stage shows in later years, he would include a segment with opera singer Marylyn Mulvey. She would try to sing an aria, and he would react and interrupt, with such antics as falling off the bench in "surprise" when she hit a high note. He would also remind her repeatedly not to rest her hand on the piano, telling her that if she got used to it, "and one day a piano was not there – ''Fffftttt!''" After the routine, the spotlight would rest on Mulvey, and she would sing a serious number with Borge accompanying in the background.


Later career

Borge appeared on ''
Toast of the Town ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night ...
'' hosted by
Ed Sullivan Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New Yor ...
several times during 1948. He became a
naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...
of the United States the same year. He started the '' Comedy in Music '' show at
John Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on 2 October 1953. ''Comedy in Music'' became the longest running one-man show in the history of theater with 849 performances when it closed on 21 January 1956, a feat which placed it in the ''
Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''. Continuing his success with tours and shows, Borge played with and conducted orchestras including the
Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenure ...
, the
New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
and
London Philharmonic The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony ...
. Always modest, he felt honored when he was invited to conduct the Royal Danish Orchestra at the
Royal Danish Theatre The Royal Danish Theatre (RDT, Danish: ') is both the national Danish performing arts institution and a name used to refer to its old purpose-built venue from 1874 located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The theatre was founded in 1748, first s ...
in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1992. His later television appearances included his "Phonetic Punctuation" routine on ''
The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...
'' in a filmed sketch. He would also use this sketch on ''
The Electric Company ''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...
s subsequent LP record, during its "Punctuation" song. In addition, he appeared several times on ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) a ...
'', and he was a guest star during the fourth season of ''
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a s ...
''. Victor Borge continued to tour until his last days, performing up to 60 times per year when he was 90 years old.


Other endeavors

Borge made several appearances on the TV show ''
What's My Line? ''What's My Line?'' is a panel game show that originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, originally in black and white and later in color, with subsequent U.S. revivals. The game uses celebrity panelis ...
'', both as a celebrity panelist and as a contestant with the occupation "poultry farmer". (The latter was not a comedy routine: as a business venture, Borge raised and popularized Rock Cornish game hens, starting in the 1950s.) Borge helped start several trust funds, including the Thanks to Scandinavia Fund, which was started in dedication to those who helped the Jews escape the German persecution during the war. Aside from his musical work, Borge wrote three books: ''My Favorite Intermissions'' and ''My Favorite Comedies in Music'' (both with Robert Sherman), and the autobiography ''Smilet er den korteste afstand'' ("The Smile is the Shortest Distance") with Niels-Jørgen Kaiser. In 1979 Borge founded the
American Pianists Association The American Pianists Association is a performing arts organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, that holds two national, quadrennial piano competitions in alternating 2-year cycles: the Classical Fellowship Awards and the Jazz Fellowshi ...
(then called the Beethoven Foundation) with Julius Bloom and Anthony P. Habig. The American Pianists Association now produces two major piano competitions: the Classical Fellowship Awards and the Jazz Fellowship Awards.


Family

He married his first wife, Elsie Chilton, in 1933. After divorcing Elsie, he married Sarabel Sanna Scraper in 1953, and they stayed married until her death at the age of 83 in September 2000. Borge had five children (who occasionally performed with him): Ronald Borge and Janet Crowle (adopted) with Elsie Chilton, and Sanna Feinstein, Victor Bernhard (Vebe) Jr., and Frederikke (Rikke) Borge with Sarabel.


Death

On 23 December 2000, Borge died in
Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...
, at the age of 91, after 75 years of entertaining. He died peacefully in his sleep a day after returning from a concert in Denmark. "It was just his time to go," Frederikke Borge said. "He's been missing my mother terribly." (His wife had died only three months earlier.) Just a week earlier he had recorded what would be his final televised interview with Danish television, later aired on New Year's Eve. In a poetic coincidence, when asked where he would be spending his Christmas and New Year's, Borge responded "somewhere completely different". In accordance with Borge's wishes, his connection to both the United States and Denmark was marked by having part of his ashes interred at
Putnam Cemetery Putnam Cemetery is a non-sectarian cemetery located at 35 Parsonage Road in Greenwich, Connecticut. It is affiliated with adjacent Saint Mary's Cemetery at 399 North Street, which is a Catholic cemetery; the two cemeteries share the same office. T ...
in Greenwich, with a replica of the iconic Danish statue ''
The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...
'' sitting on a large rock at the grave site, and the other part in Western Jewish Cemetery (''Mosaisk Vestre Begravelsesplads''), Copenhagen.


Awards and honors

Borge received an
honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
from Trinity College Connecticut in 1997. When the Royal Danish Orchestra celebrated its 550th anniversary in 1998, Borge was appointed an honorary member — at that time one of only ten in the orchestra's history. Victor Borge received numerous awards and honors during the course of his career. Borge received
Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five hono ...
in 1999. He was decorated with badges of
chivalric order An order of chivalry, order of knighthood, chivalric order, or equestrian order is an order (distinction), order of knights, typically founded during or inspired by the original Catholic Military order (religious society), military orders of the ...
s by the five Nordic countries, receiving the
Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...
(Denmark),
Order of Vasa The Royal Order of Vasa () is a Swedish order of chivalry, awarded to citizens of Sweden for service to state and society especially in the fields of agriculture, mining and commerce. It was instituted on 29 May 1772 by King Gustav III. It was u ...
(Sweden), in 1973 the Knight First Class of the Order of St. Olav (Norway),
Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...
, and the
Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...
(Iceland).


Legacy

Victor Borge Hall, located in
Scandinavia House Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swede ...
in New York City, was named in Borge's honor in 2000, as was Victor Borges Plads ("Victor Borge Square") in Copenhagen in 2002. In 2009, a statue celebrating Borge's centennial was erected on the square.
Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...
(5634) Victorborge is named in his honor. From 23 January to 9 May 2009, the life of Borge was celebrated by
The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Swede ...
with ''Victor Borge: A Centennial Celebration.''


Film and television

On 14 March 2009, a television special about his life, ''100 Years of Music and Laughter'', aired on
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
. On 7 February 2017, it was reported that, according to a press release by the Danish production company M&M Productions, both a television series and cinematic film about the life of Borge were foreseen to be filmed in 2018.


Discography

* ''Phonetic Punctuation Parts 1 and 2'' (1945, Columbia Records 36911, 78 rpm) * ''The Blue Serenade / A Lesson in Composition'' (1945, Columbia Records 36912, 78 rpm) * ''Brahms' Lullaby / Grieg Rhapsody'' (1945, Columbia Records 36913, 78 rpm) * ''A Mozart Opera by Borge / All The Things You Are'' (1945, Columbia Records 36914, 78 rpm) * ''A Victor Borge Program'' (1946, Columbia Album C-111, 4 discs 78 rpm – a set containing the four previous releases) * ''Unstarted Symphony / Bizet's Carmen'' (1947, Columbia Records 38181, 78 rpm) * ''Intermezzo / Stardust'' (1947, Columbia Records 38182, 78 rpm) * ''Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 / Inflation Language'' (1947, Columbia Records 38183, 78 rpm) * ''Clair de Lune / Vuggevise'' (1947, Columbia Records 38184, 78 rpm) * ''An Evening with Victor Borge'' (1948 Columbia Album C-161, 4 discs 78 rpm – a set containing the four previous releases) * ''A Victor Borge Program'' (1951, Columbia Records CL-6013, 10'' LP) * ''Comedy in Music, Vol. 1'' (1954, Columbia Records CL-6292, 10'' LP) * ''Comedy in Music, Vol. 2'' (1954, Columbia Records CL-6293, 10'' LP) * ''Comedy in Music'' (1954, Columbia Records CL-554, LP) * ''Caught in the Act'' (1955, Columbia Records CL-646, LP) * ''Brahms, Bizet and Borge'' (1955, Columbia Records CL-2538, 10'' LP) * ''½ Time På Dansk'' (1958, Fona 251 HI-FI, 10'' LP) * ''The Adventures of Piccolo, Saxie and Company'' (1959, Columbia Records CL-1223, LP) * ''The Adventures of Piccolo, Saxie and Company'' (1959, Coronet KLP 762, LP (AUS)) * ''Victor Borge Plays and Conducts Concert Favorites'' (1959, Columbia Records CL-1305/CS-8113, LP) * ''Borge's Back'' (1962, MGM E/SE-3995P, LP) * ''Borge's Back'' (1962, MGM CS-6055, LP (UK)) * ''Borgering on Genius'' (1962, MGM 2354029, LP – same material as ''Borge's Back'') * ''Great Moments of Comedy'' (1964, Verve V/V6 15044, LP – same material as ''Borge's Back'') * ''Victor Borge presents his own enchanting version of Hans Christian Andersen'' (1966, Decca DL7-34406 Stereo, LP) * ''Comedy in Music'' (1972, CBS S 53140, LP) * ''Victor Borge at His Best'' (1972, PRT Records COMP 5, 2 LPs) * ''Victor Borge Live At The London Palladium'' (1972, Pye NSPL 18394, LP) * ''My Favorite Intervals'' (1975, PYE NSPD 502, LP) * ''13 Pianos Live in Concert'' (1975, Telefunken-Decca LC-0366) * ''Victor Borge 50 Års Jubilæum'' (1976, Philips 6318035, LP) * ''Victor Borge Show'' (1977, CBS 70082, LP, in Danish) * ''Victor Borge Live in der Hamburger Musikhalle'' (1978, Philips 6305 369, LP) * ''Victor Borge Live'' (1978, Starbox LX 96 004 Stereo, LP) * ''Victor Borge – Live(!)'' (1992, Sony Broadway 48482, CD) * ''The Piano & Humor of the Great Victor Borge'' (1997, Sony Music Special Products 15312, 3 CDs) * ''The Two Sides of Victor Borge'' (1998, GMG Entertainment, CD) * ''Caught in the Act'' (1999, Collectables Records 6031, CD) * ''Comedy in Music'' (1999, Collectables Records 6032, CD) * ''Phonetically Speaking – And Don't Forget The Piano'' (2001, Jasmine 120, CD) * ''En aften med Victor Borge'' (2003, UNI 9865861, CD) * ''I Love You Truly'' (2004, Pegasus (Pinnacle) 45403, CD) * ''Victor Borge King of Comedy'' (2006, Phantom 26540, CD) * ''Verdens morsomste mand: alle tiders Victor Borge'' (2006, UNI 9877560, CD) * ''Unstarted Symphony'' (2008, NAX-8120859, CD) * ''Comedy in Music'' (2009, SHO-227, CD)


Filmography


References


Further reading

* * * *


External links


Victor Borge Official website
* * *
Internet Archive: Victor Borge Collection
* * * ; by the
USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education USC Shoah Foundation – The Institute for Visual History and Education, formerly Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making audio-visual interviews with survivors and witnesses of the Hol ...
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Borge, Victor 1909 births 2000 deaths American Ashkenazi Jews Danish Ashkenazi Jews Musicians from Copenhagen Jewish Danish entertainers American comedy musicians American people of Danish-Jewish descent Columbia Records artists Comedy musicians Danish male comedians Danish classical pianists Danish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Jewish Danish actors Jewish Danish musicians Jewish American musicians Jewish American male comedians Kennedy Center honorees Musicians from Greenwich, Connecticut Danish emigrants to the United States Humor in classical music Sony Classical Records artists 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American musicians Jewish classical pianists Order of Saint Olav 20th-century American comedians 20th-century male musicians Naturalized citizens of the United States Jewish American comedians 20th-century American Jews