Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (born David Daniel Kaminsky; January 18, 1911 – March 3,
1987) was an American actor, singer, dancer, comedian and musician.
His performances featured physical comedy, idiosyncratic pantomimes
and rapid-fire novelty songs.
Kaye starred in 17 movies, notably Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from
Brooklyn

Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector
General (1949),
Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen (1952), White Christmas (1954)
and
The Court Jester

The Court Jester (1956).
His films were popular, especially his performances of patter songs
and favorites such as "Inchworm" and "The Ugly Duckling." He was the
first ambassador-at-large of
UNICEF

UNICEF in 1954 and received the French
Legion of Honour

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 Death
5 Legacy
6 Personal life
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
11 References
12 Sources
13 External links
13.1 Listen
13.2 Watch
Early years[edit]
David Daniel Kaminsky was born in
Brooklyn, New York

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. Jacob and Clara and their older sons Larry
and Mac left
Dnipropetrovsk

Dnipropetrovsk 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

Brooklyn — which
eventually was renamed to honor him[7]—where he began entertaining
his classmates with songs and jokes.[8] He attended Thomas Jefferson
High School in
Brooklyn

Brooklyn but he did not graduate.[9]
His mother died when he was in his early teens. Not long after his
mother's death Kaye and his friend Louis ran away to Florida. Kaye
sang while Louis played the guitar and was 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 own abilities.[10] Kaye said that as a young
boy he had wanted to be a surgeon but the family could not afford a
medical school education.[6][11]
He held a succession of jobs after leaving school: as a soda jerk,
insurance investigator and office clerk. Most ended with his being
fired. He lost the insurance job when he made an error that cost the
insurance company $40,000. The dentist who hired him to look after his
office at lunch hour did the same when he found Kaye using his drill
on the office woodwork. Years later Kaye married the dentist's
daughter, Sylvia. [6][12] He learned his trade in his teenage 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 name
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye for the first time.[8] The act
toured the United States, then performed in Asia with the show La Vie
Paree.[13]
The troupe left for a six-month tour of the Far East on February 8,
1934. While they were in Osaka, Japan, a typhoon hit the city. The
hotel where Kaye and his colleagues stayed suffered heavy damage. The
strong wind hurled a piece of the hotel's cornice into Kaye's room;
had he been hit, he might well have been killed. By performance time
that evening the city was in the grip of the storm. There was no power
and the audience was 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 the pantomime, gestures, songs and facial
expressions that eventually made his reputation.[8][12] Sometimes he
found pantomime necessary when ordering a meal. Kaye's daughter, Dena,
tells a story her father related 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][13]
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][12]
Career[edit]
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye made his film debut in a 1935 comedy short Moon Over
Manhattan. In 1937 he signed 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

June Allyson and Imogene Coca. 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.[14][15]
His next venture was a short-lived Broadway show with
Sylvia Fine

Sylvia Fine as
the pianist, lyricist and composer. The Straw Hat Revue opened on
September 29, 1939 and closed after 10 weeks but critics took notice
of Kaye's work.[6][16] 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

Moss Hart saw Danny perform which led to Hart casting him
in his hit Broadway comedy Lady in the Dark.[6][12]
Kaye scored a triumph at age 30 in 1941 playing Russell Paxton in Lady
in the Dark starring Gertrude Lawrence. His show-stopping number was
"Tchaikovsky" by
Kurt Weill

Kurt Weill and
Ira Gershwin

Ira Gershwin in which he sang the
names of a string of Russian composers at breakneck speed, seemingly
without taking a breath.[17][18] In the next Broadway season he was
the star of a show about a young man who is drafted called Let's Face
It!.[19]
His feature film debut was in producer Samuel Goldwyn's Technicolor
1944 comedy Up in Arms,[20][unreliable source] a remake of Goldwyn's
Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor comedy Whoopee! (1930).[21] 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).[22][unreliable source] Studio mogul Goldwyn wanted Kaye's
prominent nose fixed to look less Jewish,[23][24] Kaye refused but did
allow his red hair to be dyed blonde, apparently because it looked
better in Technicolor.[24]
White Christmas trailer
Kaye starred in a radio program The
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Show, on CBS in
1945–46.[25] The program's popularity rose quickly. Before a year he
tied with
Jimmy Durante

Jimmy Durante for fifth place in the Radio Daily popularity
poll.[12] Kaye was asked to participate in a
USO

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.[26] Kaye was
the first American actor to visit postwar Tokyo. He had toured there
some ten years before with the vaudeville troupe.[27][28] 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.[26][29] 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!").[12]
Kaye starred in several movies with actress
Virginia Mayo

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

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

Hans Christian Andersen (1952) the Danish
story-teller and
The Five Pennies

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][30] She was
also an associate film producer.[31] 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.[citation needed]
Kaye teamed with the
Andrews Sisters

Andrews Sisters on Decca Records in 1947,
producing the number-three Billboard smash hit "Civilization (Bongo,
Bongo, Bongo)". The success of the pairing prompted both acts to
record through 1950, producing several hits including "The Woody
Woodpecker Song".
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye on
USO

USO tour at Sasebo, Japan, October 25, 1945. Kaye and
his friend, Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, made the trip.[27]
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 an
Akron, Ohio

Akron, Ohio rubber
company, came to life only for family and friends. His wife Sylvia
described the Kaplan character:[32]
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

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 magazine
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.[33][34][35] 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.[18] Kaye stated he never returned to the venue
because there was no way to recreate the magic of that time.[36] Kaye
had an invitation to return to London for a Royal Variety Performance
in November of the same year.[37]
When the invitation arrived Kaye was busy with The Inspector General
(which had a working title of Happy Times).
Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. stopped the
film to allow their star to attend.[38] When his Decca co-workers the
Andrews Sisters

Andrews Sisters began their engagement at the
London Palladium

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

Andrews Sisters the
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye roar!"[39]
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

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.[40][41]
Kaye entered television in 1956 on the CBS show
See It Now with Edward
R. Murrow.[42] The Secret Life of
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye combined his 50,000-mile,
ten-country tour as
UNICEF

UNICEF ambassador with music and humor.[43][44]
His first solo effort was in 1960 with an hour special produced by
Sylvia and sponsored by General Motors; with similar specials in 1961
and 1962.[6]
Kaye in 1955
He hosted a
The Danny Kaye Show
.JPG)
The Danny Kaye Show from 1963 to 1967, which won four Emmy
awards and a Peabody award.[45][46] 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?

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

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.[45][47] 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.[48]
In 1976 he played
Mister Geppetto

Mister Geppetto in a television musical adaptation
of Pinocchio with
Sandy Duncan

Sandy Duncan in the title role. Kaye portrayed
Captain Hook opposite
Mia Farrow

Mia Farrow in a musical version of Peter Pan
featuring songs by
Anthony Newley

Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse. He later
guest-starred in episodes of The Muppet Show, The Cosby Show[49] and
in the 1980s revival of New 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

UNICEF and in his dramatic role in the memorable TV film Skokie,
when he played a
Holocaust

Holocaust survivor.[45] Before his death in 1987 Kaye
conducted an orchestra during a comical series of concerts organized
for
UNICEF

UNICEF fundraising. Kaye received two Academy Awards: an Academy
Honorary Award in 1955 and the
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in
1982. That year he received the
Screen Actors Guild

Screen Actors Guild Annual Award.[17]
In 1980 Kaye hosted and sang in the 25th Anniversary of Disneyland
celebration and hosted the opening celebration for
Epcot

Epcot in 1982
(EPCOT Center at the time). Both were aired on prime time television
in the US[citation needed]
Career in music[edit]
Kaye was enamored of music. While he claimed an inability to read
music, he was said to have perfect pitch. 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, launching a number of
hit songs including "Dinah" and "Minnie the Moocher".[50]
In 1947 Kaye teamed with the popular
Andrews Sisters

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 rhythmically
comical fare as "The Woody Woodpecker Song" (based on the bird from
the
Walter Lantz

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 & Patty,
"All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".[39]
Kaye's debut album Columbia Presents
Danny Kaye

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."[51]
1950 saw the release of a Decca single "I've Got a Lovely Bunch of
Coconuts," his sole big U.S. chart hit.[50] His second Columbia LP
album
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Entertains (1953, Columbia), included six songs
recorded in 1941 from his Broadway musical Lady in the Dark; most
notably "Tchaikovsky".[52]
Following the success of the film
Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen (1952), two
of its songs written by
Frank Loesser

Frank Loesser and sung by Kaye, "The Ugly
Duckling" and "Wonderful Copenhagen," reached the Top Five on the UK
pop charts.[50] In 1953 Decca released Danny at the Palace, a live
recording made at the New York Palace Theater,[53] 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

Victor Young and His Singing Strings.[54]
Singer Nancy Wilson appearing on his show in 1965
In 1956 Kaye signed a three-year recording contract with Capitol
Records that released his single "Love Me Do" in December of that
year.[55] The B-side, "Ciu Ciu Bella," lyrics written by Sylvia Fine,
was inspired by an episode in Rome when Kaye, on a mission for UNICEF,
befriended a 7-year-old polio victim in a children's hospital, who
sang this song for him in Italian.[56]
In 1958
Saul Chaplin and
Johnny Mercer
.jpg/440px-Johnny_Mercer,_New_York,_N.Y.,_between_1946_and_1948_(William_P._Gottlieb_06121).jpg)
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.[57] A year later another soundtrack came
out,
The Five Pennies

The Five Pennies (Kaye starred there as 1920s cornet player
Loring Red Nichols), featuring Louis Armstrong.[58]
In the 1960s and 1970s Kaye regularly conducted world-famous
orchestras, although he had to learn the scores by ear.[59] Kaye's
style, even if accompanied by unpredictable antics (he once traded the
baton for a fly swatter to conduct "The Flight of the Bumblebee")[59]
was praised by the likes of
Zubin Mehta

Zubin Mehta who once stated that Kaye "has
a very efficient conducting style."[60] 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][17] and was
the conductor of the all-city marching band at the season opener of
the
Los Angeles

Los Angeles Dodgers in 1984. Over his career he raised over US$5
million in support of musician pension funds.[60]
Imitations[edit]
Kaye was sufficiently popular to inspire imitations:
The 1946
Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. cartoon
Book Revue had a sequence with Daffy
Duck wearing a blond wig and impersonating Kaye.[61]
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".[62]
Superman

Superman creators
Jerry Siegel

Jerry Siegel and
Joe Shuster

Joe Shuster fashioned a short-lived
superhero title, Funnyman, taking inspiration from Kaye's persona.
Other endeavors[edit]
Cooking[edit]
In his later years, Kaye entertained at home as chef. He specialized
in Chinese and Italian cooking.[17][63] 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.[63] 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.[64] He learned "at Johnny Kan's
restaurant in San Francisco and with Cecilia Chang at her Mandarin
restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles."[63] He taught Chinese
cooking classes at a San Francisco Chinese restaurant in the
1970s.[65] The theater and demonstration kitchen under the library at
the Hyde Park, New York campus of the
Culinary Institute of America

Culinary Institute of America is
named for him.[66]
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.[13] 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.[13] Kaye approached kitchen work with enthusiasm,
making sausages and other foods needed for his cuisine.[64][67] His
work as a chef earned him the "Les Meilleurs Ouvriers de France"
culinary award. Kaye is the only nonprofessional chef to have received
this honor.[9]
Flying[edit]
Kaye was an aviation enthusiast and pilot. He became interested in
getting a pilot's license in 1959. An enthusiastic and accomplished
golfer, he gave up golf in favor of flying.[68] The first plane Kaye
owned was a Piper Aztec.[69][70] Kaye received his first license as a
private pilot of multi-engine aircraft, not being certified for
operating a single-engine plane until six years later.[69] He was an
accomplished pilot, rated for airplanes ranging from single-engine
light aircraft to multi-engine jets.[17] Kaye held a commercial
pilot's license and had flown every type of aircraft except military
planes.[9][69][71]
Kaye received a type rating in a Learjet, and he was named vice
president of the
Learjet

Learjet company by
Bill Lear

Bill Lear as an honorary title (he
had no line responsibility at the company).[72] He supported many
flying projects. In 1968 he was honorary chairman of the Las Vegas
International Exposition of Flight, a show that utilized 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

Learjet to 65 cities in five days on a mission
to help UNICEF.[9][72]
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. Kaye sold
his share of the company to the Smith family in 1985.[73]
Baseball[edit]
A lifelong fan of the Brooklyn/
Los Angeles

Los Angeles Dodgers, 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

Baseball's Greatest Hits compact discs. A good friend of Leo Durocher,
he often traveled with the team.[12] He also possessed an encyclopedic
knowledge of the game.[17]
Kaye and business partner Lester Smith formed in 1958 Kaye-Smith
Enterprises which owned and operated radio stations primarily in the
Pacific Northwest.[74] Both led an investment group which was awarded
the American League's thirteenth franchise which became the Seattle
Mariners for $6.2 million US on February 7, 1976.[75][76] The
ownership percentages of Kaye, Smith and two other remaining original
investors were reduced to five percent each when George Argyros
purchased 80 percent of the Mariners for $10.4 million on January 30,
1981.[77] Kaye sold all of his business interests to Smith's family in
1985.[74]
Medicine[edit]
Kaye was an honorary member of the
American College of Surgeons

American College of Surgeons and
the American Academy of Pediatrics.[17]
Charity[edit]
Play media
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye on a promotion tour for
UNICEF

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

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 liferafts were made ready.[citation
needed]
The plane was able to head back over 500 miles 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

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][78][79]
"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.[50]
Death[edit]
Kaye died of heart failure on March 3, 1987, aged 76, brought on by
internal bleeding and complications of hepatitis C.[80] Kaye had
quadruple bypass heart surgery in February 1983; he contracted
hepatitis C from a blood transfusion.[17][49]
Legacy[edit]
He was survived by his wife and their daughter.[81] His ashes are
interred in
Kensico Cemetery

Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[82] His grave is
adorned with a bench that contains friezes of a baseball and bat, an
aircraft, a piano, a flower pot, musical notes, and a chef's toque.
His name and birth and death dates are inscribed on the toque.[83] The
United Nations

United Nations held a memorial tribute to him at their New York
headquarters on the evening of October 21, 1987.[84][85]
Personal life[edit]
Sylvia and Danny Kaye, 1945
Kaye and
Sylvia Fine

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.[86] Sylvia was an audition pianist.[11][30][87]
Sylvia discovered that Danny had worked for her father Samuel Fine, a
dentist.[12] Kaye, working in Florida, proposed on the telephone; the
couple were married in Fort Lauderdale[88] on January 3, 1940.[81][89]
The couple's only child, daughter Dena, was born on December 17,
1946.[16][90] 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.[91] Kaye said in a 1954 interview,
"Whatever she wants to be she will be without interference from her
mother nor from me."[10][67] Dena grew up to become a journalist.[92]
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.[citation needed]
Kaye in 1986 by Allan Warren
Honors[edit]
Kaye was knighted by Queen
Margrethe II of Denmark

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

UNICEF and longstanding ties with Denmark.
Kaye portrayed
Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen in the 1952 film of the same
name.[93]
Chevalier of the French
Legion of Honor

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

Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan. The award
was received by his daughter Dena.[94][95]
UNICEF

UNICEF created the
Danny Kaye

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

Audrey Hepburn and Roger
Moore.[citation needed]
Awards and other recognition[edit]
Golden Globe Award

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
in 1951, for On the Riviera
Golden Globe Award

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
in 1958, for Me and the Colonel
Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International The first recipient of the Lions Clubs
International Foundation's Humanitarian Award. (1973–74) [96]
Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (1981)
Asteroid 6546 Kaye
Three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; for his work in music,
radio, and films[97]
Kennedy Center Honor

Kennedy Center Honor (1984)
Grand Marshal of the
Tournament of Roses Parade

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.[98]
In December 1996, the PBS series
American Masters

American Masters aired a special on
Kaye's life.[99][100]
A street in the San Antonio, Texas, neighborhood Oak Hills Terrace
(located in the city's northwest) is named after Danny Kaye.[101] The
neighborhood was established in the late 1960s.[102]
The careers of Kaye and Fine are immortalized in The
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye and
Sylvia Fine

Sylvia Fine Collection at the Library of Congress. The materials
preserved in the collection include manuscripts, scores, scripts,
photographs, sound recordings, and video clips.[103]
On June 9, 1986,
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye was crowned King of
Brooklyn

Brooklyn at the Back
to
Brooklyn

Brooklyn Day Festival.
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye was there to accept his
crown.[104]
Filmography[edit]
Film[edit]
Title
Year
Role
Director
Co-stars
Filmed in
Dime a Dance[105]
1937
Eddie
Al Christie
Imogene Coca, June Allyson
Black and white
Getting an Eyeful[106]
1938
Russian
Al Christie
Charles Kemper, Sally Starr
Black and white
Cupid Takes a Holiday[107]
1938
Nikolai Nikolaevich (bride-seeker)
William Watson
Douglas Leavitt, Estelle Jayne
Black and white
Money on Your Life"[108]
1938
Russian
William Watson
Charles Kemper, Sally Starr
Black and white
Up in Arms
1944
Danny Weems
Elliott Nugent
Dinah Shore, Dana Andrews
Technicolor
I Am an American[109]
1944
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
Technicolor
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
1947
Walter Mitty
Norman Z. McLeod
Virginia Mayo, Boris Karloff, Fay Bainter, Ann Rutherford
Technicolor
A Song Is Born
1948
Professor Hobart Frisbee
Howard Hawks
Virginia Mayo, Benny Goodman, Hugh Herbert, Steve Cochran
Technicolor
It's a Great Feeling
1949
Himself
David Butler
Dennis Morgan, Doris Day, Jack Carson
Technicolor
The Inspector General
1949
Georgi
Henry Koster
Walter Slezak, Barbara Bates, Elsa Lanchester, Gene Lockhart
Technicolor
On the Riviera
1951
Jack Martin/Henri Duran
Walter Lang
Gene Tierney, Corinne Calvet
Technicolor
Hans Christian Andersen
1952
Hans Christian Andersen
Charles Vidor
Farley Granger, Zizi Jeanmaire
Technicolor
Knock on Wood
1954
Jerry Morgan/Papa Morgan
Norman Panama
Melvin Frank
Mai Zetterling, Torin Thatcher
Technicolor
White Christmas
1954
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
VistaVision
Technicolor
Merry Andrew
1958
Andrew Larabee
Michael Kidd
Salvatore Baccaloni, Pier Angeli
CinemaScope
Metrocolor
Me and the Colonel
1958
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 Diner's 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[edit]
Autumn Laughter (1938) (experimental telecast)
The Secret Life of
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (1956) (
See It Now special)
An Hour With
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (1960 and 1961) (specials)
The Danny Kaye Show
.JPG)
The Danny Kaye Show with
Lucille Ball

Lucille Ball (1962) (special)
The Danny Kaye Show
.JPG)
The Danny Kaye Show (1963–1967) (series)
The Lucy Show: "Lucy Meets Danny Kaye" (1964) (guest appearance)
Here Comes Peter Cottontail

Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971) (voice)
The Dick Cavett Show

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

Sandy Duncan in the title role
Peter Pan (1976) (NBC special); live action television musical
adaptation starring
Mia Farrow

Mia Farrow in the title role, and Kaye as Captain
Hook
The Muppet Show

The Muppet Show (1978) (guest appearance)
Disneyland's 25th Anniversary (1980) (special guest appearance)
An Evening with
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (1981) (special)
Skokie (1981) (television movie)
"The Wonderful World of Disney" Official Opening of
Epcot

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[edit]
The Straw Hat Revue (1939)
Lady in the Dark

Lady in the Dark (1941)
Let's Face It!

Let's Face It! (1941)
Two by Two (1970)
Selected discography[edit]
Studio albums[edit]
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (Decca, 1949)
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Entertains (Columbia, 1950)
The Five Pennies

The Five Pennies (with Louis Armstrong, London, 1959)
Mommy, Gimme a Drinka Water (Orchestration by Gordon Jenkins)
(Capitol, 1959)
Soundtracks[edit]
Hans Christian Andersen

Hans Christian Andersen (1952)
Knock On Wood (Decca, 1954)
Court Jester (Brunswick, 1956)
Merry Andrew (1958)
Spoken word[edit]
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye for Children (Coral, 1959)
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye tells 6 stories from faraway places (Golden, 1960)
Compilations[edit]
Selections From Irving Berlin's White Christmas (1954)
Two By Two (Columbia, 1970)
References[edit]
^ a b "French Honor Danny Kaye". The Modesto Bee. February 26,
1986. access-date= requires url= (help)
^ 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.
^
FBI

FBI records and
SSDI

SSDI show 1911.
^ a b "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Biography". UNICEF. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
^ "1980–1989 Obituaries [
SSDI

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 & Company. p. 270.
ISBN 0-7864-1303-4. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
^ "Welcome P.S. 149 Danny Kaye". New York City Dept 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

Danny Kaye Looks At Life". The
Milwaukee Journal. access-date= requires url= (help)
^ a b c d Battelle, Phyllis (May 8, 1959). "Mrs.
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Proves a
Genius". The Milwaukee Sentinel. access-date= requires url=
(help)
^ a b c d e f g h "Git Gat Gittle". Time. March 11, 1946. 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.
^ ""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

Danny Kaye as Musical Draftee
Brightens the Broadway Scene". Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ Up in Arms, IMDb; accessed June 4, 2017.
^ Whittaker, Herbert (May 20, 1944). "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Makes Successful
Debut in 'Up in Arms'". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved January 22,
2011.
^ "The Birth of a Star". IMDb. Retrieved January 19, 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

Borscht Belt (1st ed.). New York: Farrar, Straus &
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. access-date= requires url=
(help)
^ 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. access-date= requires url= (help)
^ "Lily Pons the Guest Star Tonight of Danny Kaye, Back from Tour".
The Montreal Gazette. November 23, 1945. Retrieved January 15,
2011.
^ Dorothy Manners, Manners (May 3, 1946). "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye released from
his radio contract". The Milwaukee Sentinel. access-date=
requires url= (help)
^ a b Boyle, Hal (August 27, 1959). "Composer
Sylvia Fine

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

Danny Kaye Film Set At
Warner's". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved January 18, 2011.
^ 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

Danny Kaye Won't
Talk

Talk of
Royalty". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
^ Handsaker, Gene (October 11, 1948). "
Danny Kaye

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

Andrews Sisters Story. University
Press of Kentucky, 2000.
^ Goldie, Tom (July 10, 1953). "Friday Film Notes-Danny--Producer".
Evening Times. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
^ "
Danny Kaye

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. access-date= requires url=
(help)
^ Mercer, Charles (5 December 1956). "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Gives TV Its Finest
90 Minutes". The Miami News. Retrieved 19 January 2011.
^ 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

Danny Kaye always excelled as an
entertainer and in life". The Milwaukee Journal. access-date=
requires url= (help)
^ "The
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Episode Guide". Mateas Media Consulting. Archived
from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved February 2,
2011.
^ Raidy, William A. (February 17, 1971). "Real people go to matinees
and
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye loves 'em". The Montreal Gazette. Retrieved January 19,
2011.
^ Lowry, Cynthia (April 17, 1964). "Accident Confines
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye to
Chair". Eugene Register-Guard. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
^ a b "Actor-comedian
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye dies". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. March
3, 1987. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
^ a b c d Jason Ankeny. "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye biography at". Allmusic. Retrieved
2015-01-13.
^ Bruce Eder. "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye 1949 album review". Allmusic. Retrieved
2015-01-13.
^ Bruce Eder. "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Entertains record review". Allmusic.
Retrieved 2015-01-13.
^ "Danny at the Palace". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
^ "Knock on Wood OST". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
^ Love Me Do/Ciu Ciu Bella. Record details @ 45cat
^ "Kaye Signs 3-Year Pact With Capitol", Billboard Magazine, December
15, 1956, p. 30
^ William Ruhlmann. "Merry Andrew soundtrack". Allmusic. Retrieved
2015-01-13.
^ "The Five Pennies". Discogs. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
^ a b "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye official biography". Retrieved 2015-01-13.
^ 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. Retrieved March 17,
2018.
^ a b c Rice, William (March 12, 1987). "Kaye Got Rave Reviews For A
Starring Role As An Artist In The Kitchen". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved
August 3, 2017.
^ a b "Marcella Hazan: Memoir of a classic Italian chef". Today.com.
October 6, 2008. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
^ "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Teaches Chinese Cooking". Tri-City Herald. January 22,
1974. Retrieved January 15, 2011.
^ Culinary Institute of America, ed. (1995). Cooking secrets of the
CIA. Chronicle Books. p. 131. ISBN 0-8118-1163-8. Retrieved
January 18, 2011.
^ a b Boyd, Joseph G. (May 23, 1980). "Travel writer attends party
saluting hotel". The Milwaukee Sentinel. access-date= requires
url= (help)
^ Scott, Vernon (July 14, 1962). "Kaye Likes Air". The Windsor Star.
Retrieved March 18, 2011.
^ a b c Kaye, Danny (January 1967). "If I Can Fly, You Can Fly".
Popular Science. Retrieved March 11, 2011.
^ Thomas, Bob (September 21, 1965). "
Danny Kaye

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.
^ a b Pope, Stephen (July 6, 2016). "The Last True Learjet". Flying
Magazine. Bonnier Corporation. Retrieved 20 July 2016. Danny Kaye, by
the way, never owned a Learjet, though he did receive a type rating
... his friend
Bill Lear

Bill Lear made him a vice president this was strictly
an honorary and symbolic title
^ "History of Kaye-Smith". KayeSmith.com.
^ a b History of Kaye-Smith. Retrieved December 10, 2017
^ "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
^ "Crippled Transport Limps to Safety". The Daily Sun. Lewiston,
Maine. July 8, 1949. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ "Danny Kaye". UNICEF. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ Gottfried, Martin (1994). Nobody's Fool: The Lives of Danny Kaye.
New York; London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-86494-7.
^ a b "Movie producer, songwriter
Sylvia Fine

Sylvia Fine Kaye dies at 78". The
Daily News. Bowling Green, Ky. October 29, 1991. Retrieved November
27, 2010.
^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000
Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 24772–24773). McFarland
& Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
^ "Photo of Bench-Danny Kaye". Find a Grave. Retrieved November 27,
2010.
^ Taylor, Clarke (October 23, 1987). "UN and Friends Pay Tribute to
Kaye".
Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ Lewis, Paul (October 22, 1987). "U.N. Praises
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye at
Tribute". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 18,
2011. Retrieved March 18, 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.
^ Wilson, Earl (July 2, 1959). "It Happened Last Night". The Morning
Herald. Uniontown, Pennsylvania. p. 4. Retrieved January 8, 2017
– via Newspapers.com.
^ Parsons, Louella (July 28, 1946). "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Awaits Christmas
Bulletin On Maternity Front". The News and Courier. Retrieved January
14, 2011. [dead link]
^ Hughes, Alice (January 28, 1953). "A Woman's New York". Reading
Eagle. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
^ Moody, Nekesa Mumbi (2013-03-29). "On 100th anniversary of Danny
Kaye's birth, daughter Dena seeks to spread his legacy". Times
Colonist. Retrieved 2017-11-12.
^ "Kaye knighted". Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina.
November 10, 1983. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
^ "Kaye, Willson to Get Medal of Freedom".
Los Angeles

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. Retrieved March 10,
2011.
^ "Humanitarian Award Winners".
Lions Clubs International

Lions Clubs International Foundation.
Retrieved January 1, 2018.
^ "Danny Kaye-Hollywood Star Walk".
Los Angeles

Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
January 19, 2011.
^ "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye Visitor's Centre Virtual Tour". UNICEF. Retrieved
January 19, 2011.
^ "
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye - About the Actor". American Masters. PBS. Archived from
the original on 2018-01-15. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
^ "Danny Kaye: A Legacy of Laughter". IMDb. Archived from the original
on 2018-01-15. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
^ "Google maps".
^ "Oak Hills Terrace - A 'Back to School' Sale". San Antonio Express.
August 3, 1969. p. 83.
^ "The
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye and
Sylvia Fine

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.
^ "Dime a Dance". IMDb. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ "Getting an Eyeful". IMDb. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ "Cupid Takes a Holiday". IMDb. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ "Money on Your Life". IMDb. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
^ 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 and I Am an American on IMDb.
Sources[edit]
Remarks at the Presentation Ceremony for the Presidential Medal of
Freedom, 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

Danny Kaye on IMDb
Royal Engineers Museum, remuseum.org.uk; accessed June 4, 2017.
Literature on Danny Kaye, virtual-history.com; accessed June 4, 2017.
Eric Pace (March 4, 1987). "Danny Kaye, Limber-limbed Commedian,
Dies". The New York Times.
"Danny Kaye". Find a Grave. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
FBI

FBI Records: The Vault - Danny Kaye, fbi.gov; accessed June 4, 2017.
Listen[edit]
The Danny Kaye Show
.JPG)
The Danny Kaye Show on radio at Internet Archive
The Danny Kaye Show
.JPG)
The Danny Kaye Show more radio episodes at Internet Archive
The Danny Kaye Show
.JPG)
The Danny Kaye Show on Outlaws Old Time Radio Corner
Watch[edit]
The Inspector General for iPod at Internet Archive
The Inspector General at Internet Archive
Interview with daughter Dena Kaye – The Spectrum, January 2016.
v
t
e
Academy Honorary Award
1928–1950
Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. /
Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin (1928)
Walt Disney

Walt Disney (1932)
Shirley Temple

Shirley Temple (1934)
D. W. Griffith

D. W. Griffith (1935)
The March of Time

The March of Time /
W. Howard Greene and
Harold Rosson (1936)
Edgar Bergen

Edgar Bergen /
W. Howard Greene /
Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art Film Library /
Mack Sennett

Mack Sennett (1937)
J. Arthur Ball /
Walt Disney

Walt Disney /
Deanna Durbin

Deanna Durbin and
Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney /
Gordon Jennings, Jan Domela, Devereaux Jennings, Irmin Roberts, Art
Smith, Farciot Edouart, Loyal Griggs, Loren L. Ryder, Harry D. Mills,
Louis Mesenkop, Walter Oberst /
Oliver T. Marsh and Allen Davey /
Harry Warner

Harry Warner (1938)
Douglas Fairbanks

Douglas Fairbanks /
Judy Garland

Judy Garland /
William Cameron Menzies / Motion
Picture Relief Fund (Jean Hersholt, Ralph Morgan, Ralph Block, Conrad
Nagel)/
Technicolor

Technicolor Company (1939)
Bob Hope

Bob Hope /
Nathan Levinson (1940)
Walt Disney, William Garity, John N. A. Hawkins, and the RCA
Manufacturing Company /
Leopold Stokowski

Leopold Stokowski and his associates / Rey
Scott / British Ministry of Information (1941)
Charles Boyer

Charles Boyer /
Noël Coward

Noël Coward /
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (1942)
George Pal
.jpg)
George Pal (1943)
Bob Hope

Bob Hope /
Margaret O'Brien

Margaret O'Brien (1944)
Republic Studio, Daniel J. Bloomberg, and the Republic Studio Sound
Department /
Walter Wanger

Walter Wanger / The House I Live In / Peggy Ann Garner
(1945)
Harold Russell

Harold Russell /
Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier /
Ernst Lubitsch

Ernst Lubitsch / Claude Jarman Jr.
(1946)
James Baskett

James Baskett / Thomas Armat, William Nicholas Selig, Albert E. Smith,
and
George Kirke Spoor

George Kirke Spoor /
Bill and Coo / Shoeshine (1947)
Walter Wanger

Walter Wanger /
Monsieur Vincent

Monsieur Vincent /
Sid Grauman

Sid Grauman /
Adolph Zukor

Adolph Zukor (1948)
Jean Hersholt

Jean Hersholt /
Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire /
Cecil B. DeMille

Cecil B. DeMille / The Bicycle Thief
(1949)
Louis B. Mayer

Louis B. Mayer /
George Murphy

George Murphy /
The Walls of Malapaga (1950)
1951–1975
Gene Kelly

Gene Kelly /
Rashomon

Rashomon (1951)
Merian C. Cooper

Merian C. Cooper /
Bob Hope

Bob Hope /
Harold Lloyd

Harold Lloyd / George Mitchell / Joseph
M. Schenck /
Forbidden Games

Forbidden Games (1952)
20th Century-Fox Film Corporation / Bell & Howell Company / Joseph
Breen / Pete Smith (1953)
Bausch & Lomb Optical Company /
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye / Kemp Niver / Greta
Garbo /
Jon Whiteley

Jon Whiteley /
Vincent Winter / Gate of Hell (1954)
Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1955)
Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor (1956)
Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers

Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers / Gilbert M.
"Broncho Billy" Anderson /
Charles Brackett /
B. B. Kahane (1957)
Maurice Chevalier

Maurice Chevalier (1958)
Buster Keaton

Buster Keaton /
Lee de Forest

Lee de Forest (1959)
Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper /
Stan Laurel

Stan Laurel /
Hayley Mills
.jpg/440px-Hayley_MIlls_and_Firdous_Bamji_at_the_Kennedy_Center,_Washington_D.C_(cropped).jpg)
Hayley Mills (1960)
William L. Hendricks / Fred L. Metzler /
Jerome Robbins

Jerome Robbins (1961)
William J. Tuttle

William J. Tuttle (1964)
Bob Hope

Bob Hope (1965)
Yakima Canutt

Yakima Canutt /
Y. Frank Freeman

Y. Frank Freeman (1966)
Arthur Freed (1967)
John Chambers /
Onna White (1968)
Cary Grant
_01_Crisco_edit.jpg/440px-Grant,_Cary_(Suspicion)_01_Crisco_edit.jpg)
Cary Grant (1969)
Lillian Gish

Lillian Gish /
Orson Welles

Orson Welles (1970)
Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin (1971)
Charles S. Boren /
Edward G. Robinson

Edward G. Robinson (1972)
Henri Langlois

Henri Langlois /
Groucho Marx

Groucho Marx (1973)
Howard Hawks

Howard Hawks /
Jean Renoir

Jean Renoir (1974)
Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford (1975)
1976–2000
Margaret Booth (1977)
Walter Lantz

Walter Lantz /
Laurence Olivier

Laurence Olivier /
King Vidor

King Vidor / Museum of Modern Art
Department of Film (1978)
Hal Elias /
Alec Guinness

Alec Guinness (1979)
Henry Fonda
.JPG/440px-Henry_Fonda_as_Mr._Roberts_1948_(cropped).JPG)
Henry Fonda (1980)
Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck (1981)
Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney (1982)
Hal Roach
.jpg/440px-WP_Hal_Roach_1920_(cropped).jpg)
Hal Roach (1983)
James Stewart
_01.jpg/440px-Annex_-_Stewart,_James_(Call_Northside_777)_01.jpg)
James Stewart /
National Endowment for the Arts

National Endowment for the Arts (1984)
Paul Newman

Paul Newman /
Alex North (1985)
Ralph Bellamy

Ralph Bellamy (1986)
Eastman
Kodak

Kodak Company /
National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada (1988)
Akira Kurosawa

Akira Kurosawa (1989)
Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren /
Myrna Loy

Myrna Loy (1990)
Satyajit Ray
.jpg)
Satyajit Ray (1991)
Federico Fellini

Federico Fellini (1992)
Deborah Kerr

Deborah Kerr (1993)
Michelangelo Antonioni

Michelangelo Antonioni (1994)
Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas /
Chuck Jones

Chuck Jones (1995)
Michael Kidd

Michael Kidd (1996)
Stanley Donen

Stanley Donen (1997)
Elia Kazan

Elia Kazan (1998)
Andrzej Wajda
.jpg/440px-Andrzej_Wajda_OFF_Plus_Camera_2012_(cropped).jpg)
Andrzej Wajda (1999)
Jack Cardiff

Jack Cardiff /
Ernest Lehman (2000)
2001–present
Sidney Poitier

Sidney Poitier /
Robert Redford
.jpg/440px-Robert_Redford_(cropped).jpg)
Robert Redford (2001)
Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole (2002)
Blake Edwards

Blake Edwards (2003)
Sidney Lumet

Sidney Lumet (2004)
Robert Altman

Robert Altman (2005)
Ennio Morricone

Ennio Morricone (2006)
Robert F. Boyle (2007)
Lauren Bacall
.jpg)
Lauren Bacall /
Roger Corman

Roger Corman /
Gordon Willis

Gordon Willis (2009)
Kevin Brownlow /
Jean-Luc Godard

Jean-Luc Godard /
Eli Wallach

Eli Wallach (2010)
James Earl Jones
.jpg/440px-James_Earl_Jones_(8516667383).jpg)
James Earl Jones / Dick Smith (2011)
D. A. Pennebaker

D. A. Pennebaker /
Hal Needham

Hal Needham /
George Stevens Jr.

George Stevens Jr. (2012)
Angela Lansbury
.jpg/440px-Angela_Lansbury_(8356239174).jpg)
Angela Lansbury /
Steve Martin

Steve Martin /
Piero Tosi (2013)
Jean-Claude Carrière

Jean-Claude Carrière /
Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki /
Maureen O'Hara

Maureen O'Hara (2014)
Spike Lee

Spike Lee /
Gena Rowlands

Gena Rowlands (2015)
Jackie Chan

Jackie Chan /
Lynn Stalmaster /
Anne V. Coates / Frederick Wiseman
(2016)
Charles Burnett /
Owen Roizman /
Donald Sutherland

Donald Sutherland / Agnès Varda
(2017)
v
t
e
Jean Hersholt

Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
Y. Frank Freeman (1956)
Samuel Goldwyn (1957)
Bob Hope (1959)
Sol Lesser (1960)
George Seaton (1961)
Steve Broidy (1962)
Edmond L. DePatie (1965)
George Bagnall (1966)
Gregory Peck (1967)
Martha Raye (1968)
George Jessel (1969)
Frank Sinatra (1970)
Rosalind Russell (1972)
Lew Wasserman (1973)
Arthur B. Krim (1974)
Jules C. Stein (1975)
Charlton Heston (1977)
Leo Jaffe (1978)
Robert Benjamin (1979)
Danny Kaye (1981)
Walter Mirisch (1982)
M. J. Frankovich (1983)
David L. Wolper (1984)
Charles "Buddy" Rogers (1985)
Howard W. Koch (1989)
Audrey Hepburn

Audrey Hepburn / Elizabeth Taylor (1992)
Paul Newman (1993)
Quincy Jones (1994)
Arthur Hiller (2001)
Roger Mayer (2005)
Sherry Lansing (2007)
Jerry Lewis (2009)
Oprah Winfrey (2011)
Jeffrey Katzenberg (2012)
Angelina Jolie (2013)
Harry Belafonte (2014)
Debbie Reynolds (2015)
v
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Golden Globe Award

Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1950–1975
Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire (1950)
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (1951)
Donald O'Connor

Donald O'Connor (1952)
David Niven

David Niven (1953)
James Mason

James Mason (1954)
Tom Ewell

Tom Ewell (1955)
Mario Moreno (1956)
Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra (1957)
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (1958)
Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon (1959)
Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon (1960)
Glenn Ford

Glenn Ford (1961)
Marcello Mastroianni

Marcello Mastroianni (1962)
Alberto Sordi

Alberto Sordi (1963)
Rex Harrison

Rex Harrison (1964)
Lee Marvin

Lee Marvin (1965)
Alan Arkin

Alan Arkin (1966)
Richard Harris

Richard Harris (1967)
Ron Moody

Ron Moody (1968)
Peter O'Toole

Peter O'Toole (1969)
Albert Finney

Albert Finney (1970)
Chaim Topol

Chaim Topol (1971)
Jack Lemmon

Jack Lemmon (1972)
George Segal

George Segal (1973)
Art Carney

Art Carney (1974)
Walter Matthau

Walter Matthau /
George Burns

George Burns (1975)
1976–2000
Kris Kristofferson
_jm34701.jpg/440px-Kris_Kristofferson_(ZMF_2017)_jm34701.jpg)
Kris Kristofferson (1976)
Richard Dreyfuss

Richard Dreyfuss (1977)
Warren Beatty

Warren Beatty (1978)
Peter Sellers

Peter Sellers (1979)
Ray Sharkey

Ray Sharkey (1980)
Dudley Moore

Dudley Moore (1981)
Dustin Hoffman

Dustin Hoffman (1982)
Michael Caine
.jpg/440px-Michael_Caine_-_Viennale_2012_g_(cropped).jpg)
Michael Caine (1983)
Dudley Moore

Dudley Moore (1984)
Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson (1985)
Paul Hogan
.jpg/440px-Royal_Charity_Concert_1980_(cropped_Hogan).jpg)
Paul Hogan (1986)
Robin Williams
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robin_Williams_(6451536411)_(cropped).jpg)
Robin Williams (1987)
Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks (1988)
Morgan Freeman

Morgan Freeman (1989)
Gérard Depardieu

Gérard Depardieu (1990)
Robin Williams
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robin_Williams_(6451536411)_(cropped).jpg)
Robin Williams (1991)
Tim Robbins

Tim Robbins (1992)
Robin Williams
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robin_Williams_(6451536411)_(cropped).jpg)
Robin Williams (1993)
Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant (1994)
John Travolta
.jpg/440px-John_Travolta_Cannes_2018_(cropped).jpg)
John Travolta (1995)
Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise (1996)
Jack Nicholson

Jack Nicholson (1997)
Michael Caine
.jpg/440px-Michael_Caine_-_Viennale_2012_g_(cropped).jpg)
Michael Caine (1998)
Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey (1999)
George Clooney

George Clooney (2000)
2001–present
Gene Hackman

Gene Hackman (2001)
Richard Gere

Richard Gere (2002)
Bill Murray

Bill Murray (2003)
Jamie Foxx

Jamie Foxx (2004)
Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix (2005)
Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Baron Cohen (2006)
Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp (2007)
Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell (2008)
Robert Downey Jr.
.jpg/440px-Robert_Downey_Jr_2014_Comic_Con_(cropped).jpg)
Robert Downey Jr. (2009)
Paul Giamatti

Paul Giamatti (2010)
Jean Dujardin
.jpg)
Jean Dujardin (2011)
Hugh Jackman
.jpg/440px-Hugh_Jackman_in_2019_(cropped).jpg)
Hugh Jackman (2012)
Leonardo DiCaprio

Leonardo DiCaprio (2013)
Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton (2014)
Matt Damon

Matt Damon (2015)
Ryan Gosling

Ryan Gosling (2016)
James Franco

James Franco (2017)
v
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e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Performance in a
Variety or Music Program
Perry Como

Perry Como /
Dinah Shore

Dinah Shore (1959)
Harry Belafonte

Harry Belafonte (1960)
Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire (1961)
Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett (1962)
Carol Burnett

Carol Burnett (1963)
Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye (1964)
Art Carney

Art Carney (1967)
Art Carney

Art Carney /
Pat Paulsen

Pat Paulsen (1968)
Arte Johnson
_cropped.jpg/400px-Arte_Johnson_(255844538)_cropped.jpg)
Arte Johnson /
Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman (1969)
Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman (1971)
Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman (1972)
Tim Conway

Tim Conway (1973)
Harvey Korman

Harvey Korman /
Brenda Vaccaro
_(56)_Colin_Firth.jpg)
Brenda Vaccaro (1974)
Jack Albertson

Jack Albertson /
Cloris Leachman

Cloris Leachman (1975)
Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase /
Vicki Lawrence

Vicki Lawrence (1976)
Tim Conway

Tim Conway /
Rita Moreno

Rita Moreno (1977)
Tim Conway

Tim Conway /
Gilda Radner

Gilda Radner (1978)
Sarah Vaughan

Sarah Vaughan (1981)
Nell Carter

Nell Carter /
André De Shields

André De Shields (1982)
Leontyne Price
_by_Jack_Mitchell.jpg)
Leontyne Price (1983)
Cloris Leachman

Cloris Leachman (1984)
George Hearn (1985)
Whitney Houston

Whitney Houston (1986)
Robin Williams
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robin_Williams_(6451536411)_(cropped).jpg)
Robin Williams (1987)
Robin Williams
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Robin_Williams_(6451536411)_(cropped).jpg)
Robin Williams (1988)
Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt (1989)
Tracey Ullman

Tracey Ullman (1990)
Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal (1991)
Bette Midler

Bette Midler (1992)
Dana Carvey (1993)
Tracey Ullman

Tracey Ullman (1994)
Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand (1995)
Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett (1996)
Bette Midler

Bette Midler (1997)
Billy Crystal

Billy Crystal (1998)
John Leguizamo

John Leguizamo (1999)
Eddie Izzard

Eddie Izzard (2000)
Barbra Streisand

Barbra Streisand (2001)
Sting (2002)
Wayne Brady

Wayne Brady (2003)
Elaine Stritch

Elaine Stritch (2004)
Hugh Jackman
.jpg/440px-Hugh_Jackman_in_2019_(cropped).jpg)
Hugh Jackman (2005)
Barry Manilow

Barry Manilow (2006)
Tony Bennett

Tony Bennett (2007)
Don Rickles

Don Rickles (2008)
v
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e
Principal owners of the
Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners franchise
Danny Kaye
George Argyros
Jeff Smulyan
Hiroshi Yamauchi
Nintendo

Nintendo of America (represented by CEO Howard Lincoln)
John Stanton
v
t
e
Kennedy Center Honorees (1980s)
1980
Leonard Bernstein
James Cagney
Agnes de Mille
Lynn Fontanne
Leontyne Price
1981
Count Basie
Cary Grant
Helen Hayes
Jerome Robbins
Rudolf Serkin
1982
George Abbott
Lillian Gish
Benny Goodman
Gene Kelly
Eugene Ormandy
1983
Katherine Dunham
Elia Kazan
Frank Sinatra
James Stewart
Virgil Thomson
1984
Lena Horne
Danny Kaye
Gian Carlo Menotti
Arthur Miller
Isaac Stern
1985
Merce Cunningham
Irene Dunne
Bob Hope
Alan Jay Lerner

Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe
Beverly Sills
1986
Lucille Ball
Hume Cronyn

Hume Cronyn & Jessica Tandy
Yehudi Menuhin
Antony Tudor
Ray Charles
1987
Perry Como
Bette Davis
Sammy Davis Jr.
Nathan Milstein
Alwin Nikolais
1988
Alvin Ailey
George Burns
Myrna Loy
Alexander Schneider
Roger L. Stevens
1989
Harry Belafonte
Claudette Colbert
Alexandra Danilova
Mary Martin
William Schuman
Complete list
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
v
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e
Screen Actors Guild

Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award
1962: Eddie Cantor
1963: Stan Laurel
1965: Bob Hope
1966: Barbara Stanwyck
1967: William Gargan
1968: James Stewart
1969: Edward G. Robinson
1970: Gregory Peck
1971: Charlton Heston
1972: Frank Sinatra
1973: Martha Raye
1974: Walter Pidgeon
1975: Rosalind Russell
1976: Pearl Bailey
1977: James Cagney
1978: Edgar Bergen
1979: Katharine Hepburn
1980: Leon Ames
1982: Danny Kaye
1983: Ralph Bellamy
1984: Iggie Wolfington
1985:
Paul Newman

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward
1986: Nanette Fabray
1987: Red Skelton
1988: Gene Kelly
1989: Jack Lemmon
1990: Brock Peters
1991: Burt Lancaster
1992: Audrey Hepburn
1993: Ricardo Montalbán
1994: George Burns
1995: Robert Redford
1996: Angela Lansbury
1997: Elizabeth Taylor
1998: Kirk Douglas
1999: Sidney Poitier
2000:
Ossie Davis

Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee
2001: Ed Asner
2002: Clint Eastwood
2003: Karl Malden
2004: James Garner
2005: Shirley Temple
2006: Julie Andrews
2007: Charles Durning
2008: James Earl Jones
2009: Betty White
2010: Ernest Borgnine
2011: Mary Tyler Moore
2012: Dick Van Dyke
2013: Rita Moreno
2014: Debbie Reynolds
2015: Carol Burnett
2016: Lily Tomlin
2017: Morgan Freeman
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 59274438
LCCN: n85230433
ISNI: 0000 0000 6304 196X
GND: 119276127
SELIBR: 396473
SUDOC: 076341550
BNF: cb13943866t (data)
MusicBrainz: 7f97c63c-419b-475f-8df7-87e1d2ec3ba2
NLA: 35262461
NKC: xx0146500
BNE: XX879772
SN