“Danny Kaye plays role of Holocaust survivor”
The Day – Oct. 17, 1981
By: Ron Miller (Knight-
SAN FRANCISCO – Once you see Danny Kaye as the angry, bitter Nazi death camp survivor
in CBS’s “Skokie” next month, you’ll probably conclude the veteran star has launched
his own crusade against the wave of neo-
Forget that idea right away. Though Kaye despises Nazis of any type, he isn’t making this rare TV appearance in a dramatic role to deliver any messages.
“It was a terrific script,” Kaye says. “It was a great part and I just had to do it. That’s all there was to it.”
In “Skokie,” the docudrama that CBS will show Nov. 17 as a three-
Yet Kaye adamantly refuses to discuss his own feelings on the subject on the grounds he’s an actor in a role and not a politician trying to make a point.
“I’ve never actively campaigned for anybody nor tried to use my name to promote any political point of view,” he explained. “I belong to everybody in the audience. I like to exercise my right of expression like any citizen—in the voting booth.”
When he was offered the script of “Skokie,” Kaye hadn’t appeared in a movie since
“The Madwoman of Chaillot” in 1969. He had never appeared in a straight dramatic
role on television. It was the challenge of the material and the element of risk
that convinced him to take the part, not the anti-
“I don’t want to do anything anymore just for the sake of doing it,” he said. “I have to do something that will turn me on. I don’t want to be packaged or computerized. I’m an eccentric old man who can do whatever I feel like doing.”
Kaye was particularly intrigued by the idea of playing a real-
He recalls wanting to play Tevye in the movie version of “Fiddler on the Roof.” He
met with director Norman Jewison about the possibility, but Jewison suggested he
do it on the stage to get it out of his system. Kaye says Jewison really wanted the
same Zero Mostel-
Kaye still thinks a tall, redheaded, more animated Tevye might have been a refreshing
change. He said the dark, heavy-
When they talked about “Fiddler on the Roof,” Kaye said, Jewison finally asked him why on earth he wanted to do such a part when he was so strongly identified with zany comedy roles.
“I asked him how long it had been since we worked together and he told me 10 years,” Kaye said. “Then I asked him if he didn’t think he had changed over the past 10 years. That was it. I had changed and I just wanted to do something different.”
Yet when Kaye learned who the real pattern for his “Skokie” character was, he admits, he wasn’t sure he was right for the part. The real man is short, stocky and “a Teamster type,” Kaye said.
“I suggested they get Ed Asner,” he said.
But the producers prevailed upon him and Kaye agreed to play the role he desperately wanted to play after all.
One of the more important aspects of the “Skokie” drama is the conflict it shows
between different generations of Jews. Kaye’s character has considerable trouble
making his teen-
“You don’t have to be an actual survivor of the Holocaust to understand that situation,” he said. “You can find that kind of drama in everyday life if you’re raising a daughter. I didn’t have to reach into myself for any great depth to show that.”
At this point, Kaye isn’t lusting after all the work he can get. He says he’ll look
at anything as a possible project, but he’s only interested in doing top-
Kaye proved that point over lunch during his whirlwind visit to San Francisco, trading
quips with reporters and putting on a jolly show. He’s lively and fit and he doesn’t
think of himself as an old-
For example, when I asked him if there was anyone around these days that reminded him of a young Danny Kaye, he had a simple answer.
“Yeah,” he said, “me.”