Danny Kaye in the Columns
Last Updated: 6/4/13
Column portions are listed in chronological order.
“The Voice of Broadway”
The News – Jul. 8, 1940
By: Dorothy Kilgallen
Danny Kaye had the Riviera table-
After the first day’s hiking, Danny and the city fellow pitched their tent, but found it difficult to sleep because of the mosquitoes. Finally, around 2 a.m., when they were both more than weary from their swatting efforts, a firefly flew into their tent.
“It’s no use Danny,” sighed the entomologically ignorant pal, “here comes one of those darn mosquitoes looking for us—and he’s got a lantern!”
* * *
“Man About Manhattan”
Prescott Evening Courier – Jul. 28, 1941
By: George Tucker
The lass with the oddest writing job in Manhattan is Lillian Borchard. She writes
only about people who live in penthouses . . . This being true, one of these days
she’ll probably run into Danny Kaye, who lives in a 2½ room penthouse near East river
. . . What a career Danny has had in the last 18 months . . . Before that he was
a stooge in London . . . This fall, he goes into a revue written especially by Cole
Porter for him . . . He was in “Lady in the Dark,” with Gertrude Lawrence . . . With
anybody else, he would have stolen it . . . He’s tall and thin, with a mop of wild
blond hair, and he has a great gift for talking with you, or with anyone, for five
minutes, then getting up and giving a perfect satire of you. . . . I believe he is
on the road to greatness . . . One thing about him . . . Never does he use off-
* * *
[added 4/10/13]
Hedda Hopper’s Column
The Pittsburgh Press – Sep. 30, 1941
One reason Danny Kaye left Sam Goldwyn is that he always was given the same leading lady. Danny thinks Virginia Mayo is charming and mighty pretty, but after four pictures together, they got to look like a stock company.
* * *
[added 4/10/13]
“Works It Off”
Havre Daily News – Sep. 1, 1944
At the behest of his doctors, Danny Kaye went on a diet, and Samuel Goldwyn ruled out all the baseball activities the comedian enjoyed between scenes of “Up in Arms,” his starring musical. Also for duration of the picture, Danny had to drink a glass of milk every hour, in addition to eating three regular meals a day with special vitamin content.
The comedian, who has always weighed a healthy, but slender 150 pounds a day while
doing his strenuous singing and dancing specialty numbers for the picture, particularly
while filming his “Melody in 4-
* * *
Star Dust Column
The Agitator – Nov. 28, 1944
By: Virginia Vale
Danny Kaye says he makes love in two styles, wolf and dove, in “The Wonder Man,”
his second picture. He plays identical twins of completely opposite temperaments
and woos Virginia Mayo and Vera-
* * *
Movie Roundup Column
St. Petersburg Times – Oct. 5, 1945
By: Louella O. Parsons
CHATTER: Just before Danny Kaye took off for China he arrived in town from New York
tired and in need of sleep. He went directly to his brother-
* * *
Star Dust Column
The Agitator – Oct. 2, 1946
By: Virginia Vale
Danny Kaye has planned a two-
* * *
Hollywood Column
The Milwaukee Sentinel – Feb. 20, 1947
By: Louella Parsons
Danny Kaye says that when Sylvia Fine, his wife, went to Miami to meet him, some one stole her $6,500 mink coat.
Danny says that he’s very eager to free lance and become a producer on his own.
“Ball
of Fire,” made with Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper some time ago, will be revamped
and made for Danny Kaye at his alma mater, the Goldwyn studios.
* * *
“Chatter In Hollywood”
The Milwaukee Sentinel – Sep. 19, 1947
By: Louella O. Parsons
When Sylvia Fine (Mrs. Danny Kaye) reported for work at Warners, her office was filled with flowers from her admirers, and conspicuous among them was a bouquet from Danny.
Danny doesn’t report until the first of the year, when he starts work on his first Warner picture, but Sylvia is already writing his songs and has sumptuous offices on the Warner lot.
Someone close to the Kayes believes there is a possibility now of a reconciliation, and that things are looking better. This person says that Danny will come back to Sylvia after he gets enough of his freedom.
* * *
Hedda Hopper
The Pittsburgh Press – Oct. 24, 1947
By: Hedda Hopper
[only portions pertaining to Danny have been included]
Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine haven’t reconciled as yet, but they hope to. Danny doesn’t start his picture for Warners until March. In November he goes to Cleveland for a week of personal appearances, and in December he will do a show in Detroit. He told me about seeing “Allegro,” “High Button Shoes,” and “The Heiress” in New York, and says they’re all good. I asked if seeing plays made him want to return to the theater. He replied: “I love the stage. It’s so exciting. Every performance means a new audience, and to them, no matter how old the play, it’s a new experience.”
* * *
“British Critics Hail Danny Kaye”
Spokane Daily Chronicle – Feb. 3, 1948
LONDON, Feb. 3 (AP) – London’s critics hailed Comedian Danny Kaye today as sensational.
Kaye was swamped by autograph seekers last night after his appearance at the Palladium, London’s leading variety theater, where he replaced Mickey Rooney as the star attraction.
One critic said he smashed the “myth that Britain has gone sour on Hollywood stars in the flesh.” Another said his personality could fill the theater for a year.
* * *
“Danny Kaye, Wife Have Reconciled”
Oakland Tribune – April 9, 1948
HOLLYWOOD, April 9, -
Kaye and his wife, Sylvia Fine, who writes his comedy material, had been seeing each other constantly to prepare his newest picture.
They blamed their separation last September on “two people working very hard.”
* * *
Hedda Hopper
Toledo Blade – Apr. 10, 1948
By: Hedda Hopper
[only portions pertaining to Danny have been included]
A reconciliation between Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine is closer than anyone suspects. I feel certain that they will again try to make a go of their marriage . . . Danny, who just got home from England, was invited by the King and Queen to return for the next command performance. The Queen told Danny and Sid Fields that their kind of humor helps the peoples of the world to have a better understanding of each other’s problems. Danny tells me Philip, Princess Elizabeth’s husband, is beloved by all the British people. “You aren’t with him two minutes,” says Danny, “before you want to call him Bill.”
Danny had an hour’s chat with Winston Churchill. They talked together as fellow craftsmen. Mr. C said, “If we were in the same business, you would make a terrible adversary. That pause you used in your performance—I did the same thing during a speech in Canada 30 years ago. It was effective then, too.” . . . Danny came home with a crown, which our troops in Berlin gave him. And for his daughter, Dena, he brought a music box . . . I asked how the English fans behaved. He replied, “Masses of them waited at the stage door, but didn’t ask for autographs. When I came out they would say, ‘Take care of your health, Danny boy, you’re working too hard.’” . . . He is hoping to get Marlene Dietrich for his first picture at Warners. There is nothing to the yarn that Virginia Mayo will be in it.
* * *
“The Movie Column”
Saskatoon Star-
By: Bob Thomas
Who is the person behind the star?
For every famous figure there is another behind the scenes that gave him the first push toward success.
For an insight into the road to stardom, we asked film personalitiesd this question. “The influence of what single person made you a movie star?” Here’s how they replied:
[Danny’s response]
“There is no single person or event. It is an accumulation—Danny Kaye is an accumulation.”
* * *
“Danny Says No”
The Evening Independent – Apr 7, 1949
By: Hedda Hopper
Ran into Danny Kaye at a special broadcast for the April cancer fund, with Jimmy Durante, Bob Crosby and Kay Starr. Danny’s preparing to leave town again in two weeks. When I asked when he would go into television, he said, “Not for three or four years,” “Why not?” I asked. “Well,” said Danny, “Television is the monster of show business. It eats up more material than anybody can ever supply. I will never do more than one TV show a month.”
* * *
“Danny Kaye a ‘First’”
The Owosso Argus-
ANN ARBOR – (AP) – Film comedian Danny Kaye is the first male member of the University of Michigan Pan Hellenic Association, governing body for campus sororities. He was given an honorary membership Tuesday when he appeared in a benefit show here for the university’s fresh air camp.
* * *
Hollywood
Pittsburgh Post-
By: Sheilah Graham
Danny Kaye won’t be making his Harry Lauder picture when he goes to England in April.
It’s a vacation only—to introduce Sylvia to some of his high-
* * *
“Danny Kaye for Hampden”
The Glasgow Herald – May 5, 1950
Danny Kaye, the American film and stage actor, will attend the Glasgow Charity Cup final at Hampden Park tomorrow.
Mr. and Mrs. Kaye will spend the weekend in the West of Scotland, and I understand (writes our Football Correspondent) that when Mr. George Graham, the Secretary of the Scottish Football Association, learned that they were to be there he invited the American and his wife to the last important football match of the season. The invitation has been accepted.
Apart from the fact that the Charity Cup finalists are Celtic and Rangers the visit of the famous American will undoubtedly swell the “gate.” The Charity Cup competition has suffered in recent years because of a surfeit of football fixtures havint to be played on or near the dates arranged for the competition. Celtic, Rangers, and Kaye will surely increase the interest.
* * *
Hedda Hopper
The Miami News – June 1, 1950
By: Hedda Hopper
Danny Kaye was paged for “Two Tickets to Broadway,” the picture Frank Sinatra wants but Danny has other work to do. He spends a week in Atlantic City, a week in Minneapolis, and two at the state fair in Toronto doing personal appearances. Then in September he starts “On the Riviera” for 20th.
I asked about his trip to London. Said Danny, “The people were lovely, just lovely to me. Danny Thomas was a smash hit at the Palladium, and did our industry much good.”
* * *
On Broadway
Pittsburgh Post-
By: Dorothy Kilgallen
Singer Fran Warren thinks Danny Kaye is the greatest guy in show business—and small wonder. The day before their Palace opening, Danny, after five exhausting hours of rehearsing his own material, spent two hours helping Fran with her routines, costumes and lighting.
* * *
“Studio Buys ‘The Court Jester’, Danny Kaye to Have Star Role”
Albuquerque Journal – Mar. 29, 1954
By: Louella O. Parsons
HOLLYWOOD, March 28 (INS) – I knew very well after I saw “Knock on Wood” that Paramount would not let Danny Kaye go without a struggle. Sure enough, Norman Panama and Melvin Frank have sold the studio “The Court Jester” for Danny, which goes before the cameras in July.
Sylvia Fine will write the lyrics for her ever lovin’ husband’s comedy, part of which will be filmed in England, according to Don Hertman. Two million dollars will be spent on the picture and it’s going to be one of Paramount’s big movie ventures with vistavision and Technicolor.
Jean Simmons is being sought to play opposite Kaye.
* * *
“Danny Kaye Partners Princess”
The Sydney Morning Herald – July 2, 1955
LONDON, July 1—Princess Margaret danced with Danny Kaye early today in a Mayfair night club, says “The Star” diarist.
They were at The Milroy—the second time Princess Margaret has been there this week—and
danced a slow fox-
Princess Margaret, in a flowing white ballerina dress, with a five-
She danced most of the time to her favourite tunes.
* * *
[added 6/4/13]
“Christmas Greetings Pour Out Of All the Hollywood Hideouts”
Toledo Blade – Dec. 24, 1955
By: Harold Heffernan
Danny Kaye’s is a long narrow panel in bright pastels showing a ferris wheel with Santa whooping and scattering joy on the top seat. Fellow passengers are reindeer and kindred symbols. Inside is the simple message: Merry Christmas.
* * *
“Danny Kaye Kisses the Pope’s Ring”
The Age – Apr 20, 1956
ROME, April 19 – Danny Kaye, dressed in a dark suit and black tie and looking altogether “very respectable” kissed the Pope’s ring here yesterday.
He had three minutes chat with his Holiness about his “mission.”
Danny is touring the world on behalf of United Nations to collect money and create good will for the International Children’s Emergency Fund.
The Pope, who had seen 8000 people in the Hall of Benediction, at the end of a short speech in which he greeted various groups of pilgrims, walked up to Danny who was standing in the front row.
The Pope asked Danny about the Children’s Fund, expressed his good wishes, and gave his blessing to Danny and his mission.
Danny will appear in two TV shows in Rome and Milan. He will ten go on to Egypt, Israel, Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Spain, Portugal and Britain.
* * *
Dorothy Kilgallen
Toledo Blade – June 1, 1956
By: Dorothy Kilgallen
Danny Kaye is carrying on a feud with a large portion of the population of the French Riviera. He cut the local press dead, and refuses to mingle with the commoners.
* * *
Behind the Scenes of Hollywood
Bradford Era – July 31, 1957
By: Harrison Carroll
This I’ve got to see.
For a circus sequence in Sol C.. Biegel’s “Merry Andrew,” Danny Kaye will wear a
costume made entirely of rubber, which will be inflatable.
When filled with air it
will expand his body measurements to three feet in circumference at the widest point.
* * *
The Lyons Den
Lawrence Journal World – Sep. 6, 1957
By: Leonard Lyons
THE SINGERS: There was a recent announcement that in MGM’s “Merry Andrew” Danny Kaye will sing a duet with Salvatore Baccaloni of the Met. Opera. Operatie singing has been one of Kaye’s few frustrations. At a party at our house one night Kaye persuaded Robert Merill to join him in duets. They sang so much that the next night Merrill had to cancel his scheduled Met. Opera performance in “Barber of Seville” because of horseness.
* * *
“P.S. From Paris”
Sarasota Herald-
By: Art Buchwald
Danny Kaye, who is now in France making a new film “Me and the Colonel,” has been getting a rapping lately in the British press.
“I knew the honeymoon was over a year ago,” he told us. “For a long time I could do no wrong in England. Then the same press guys who credited me with attributes I never had are now crediting me with faults I never had. I guess I can live with it.”
* * *
Hollywood Column
Pittsburgh Press – Feb 9, 1958
By: Erskine Johnson
Danny Kaye, mixing comedy with drama for the first time in “Me and the Colonel”:
“Drama is a lot easier than comedy. Nothing is so unpredictable as comedy dialogue
that is supposed to be funny. For no reason at all it can lay an egg as large as
a medicine ball. But any soap-
* * *
Dorothy Kilgallen’s Column
Toledo Blade – May 13, 1961
By: Dorothy Kilgallen
Danny Kaye won’t star in “All American,” the forthcoming musical by Charles Strouse and Lee Adams. Danny wanted script changes which would “gag up” the show, and the authors couldn’t agree to them.
* * *
“City Wins Danny Kaye”
The Milwaukee Sentinel – Apr. 29, 1961
The Wisconsin Variety Club, Tent No. 14 Milwaukee, has won Danny Kaye for a day.
The right to a 24-
Club officials plan a program in which Kaye will be crowned “Milwaukee’s King for a Day.”
* * *
Louella Parsons in Hollywood
The Milwaukee Sentinel – Dec. 25, 1961
Quite accidentally, Danny Kaye and his accompanist, Sammy Prager, flew to Toyko on the first lap of their USO Christmas and New Year tour of the Pacific on a “nursery express.”
What happened was that Danny’s special plane was not ready at the time of his departure from San Francisco and he and Prager were switched to a flight carrying 137 wives and children of servicemen joining their GI husbands in Korea and Japan.
“Never had more fun in my life,” Danny cabled when the plane reached Toyko. “We put on a continual show for the kids and all the pretty brides kissed us in gratitude when we reached Japan.”
* * *
The Lyons Den
The Sumter Daily Item – Mar. 24, 1962
By: Leonard Lyons
FLIER: Danny Kaye awoke early last Sunday, noticed that it was a clear, sunny day
and took a cab to the airport. He piloted his new eight-
The exam usually takes four hours. In Kaye’s case (he passed with a high grade) it took six hours. That’s because of his one weakness—he simply cannot add.
* * *
Earl Wilson Column
Beaver County Times – Apr. 16, 1963
By: Earl Wilson
Danny Kaye’s so great at the Ziegfeld – warm, talented, charming, slick, energetic – it’s hard to write about him except to repeat his line that he might be on all night “because I like to hear me more than anybody.” And that party for him afterward at the Blair House – everybody from Margaret Truman to Judy Garland! What a tribute to what a guy!
* * *
Hedda Hopper
The News and Courier – May 21, 1964
By: Hedda Hopper
Danny Kaye steps aside at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas June 9 to make room for Maurice Chevalier. That burned foot didn’t stop Kaye. He’s singing and dancing all over the place.
* * *
The Voice of Broadway
The Washington Observer – Sep. 22, 1964
By: Dorothy Kilgallen
Danny Kaye is wearing his right hand in a bandage. He broke a bone while taping a TV show.
* * *
Earl Wilson’s Column
St. Petersburg Times – Oct. 10, 1966
By: Earl Wilson
Danny Kaye kissed Jessica Russell while preparing that Chinese feast at the New Gold
Coin for the CBS-
* * *
“Danny Kaye Wows Fans In Phoenix And Vegas”
The News and Courier – Feb. 10, 1968
By: Florabel Muir
Before leaving for France and Ely Landau’s “The Madwoman of Chaillot,” Danny Kaye
completed a one-
* * *
Earl Wilson Column
St. Petersburg Times – Feb. 13, 1968
Danny Kaye in his brilliant act at the Las Vegas Sahara says, “I feel compelled to
explain my long hair. It’s for a movie with Katherine Hepburn, ‘The Madwoman of Chaillot.’
I play an elderly semi-
* * *
Hollywood Close-
The Calgary Herald – May 17, 1968
By: Marilyn Beck
Danny Kaye is pushing hard to finish production of Mad Woman of Chaillot in the south
of France so that he’ll be back in time to kick off his summer-
Danny’s bugged about the bookings his manager has arranged for him. He’ll be playing dozens of cities around the U.S. – and not one is a National League City. Danny, an avid baseball fan, wanted the tour set up so that he could be in the same towns as the Dodgers.
* * *
Stage and Screen
The Leader-
By: Bruce Peacock
Danny Kaye opens a one-
Kaye has just completed a co-
Kaye’s planned tour for last season was cancelled with the outbreak of the Israeli-
* * *
“Jeans To Evening Wear There’s A Fashion Jump”
Derrick – Apr 1, 1969
By: Edith Head
[portion of a larger article]
I’m keeping a list of what kind of clothes men like best on women. Danny Kaye came into my office to see the sketches I had made for his costume as King of the Mardi Gras. I asked him the usual question, “Do you like pants and pants suits on women?”
Danny’s answer: “I like women in anything they wear!”
No wonder he’s so well-
* * *
“Danny Kaye’s Room Looted of $2370”
The Pittsburgh Press – Dec. 13, 1969
Comedian Danny Kaye passed through Pittsburgh and didn’t think the overnight stop was a bit funny.
Burglars looted his hotel room and made off with his luggage and other personal items valued at $2370.
Kaye, 56, told police he arrived in town alone about 6 o’clock last night and checked into the William Penn Hotel. He later went on to the Penn Theater to hear the Pittsburgh Symphony.
While he was gone, Mr. Kaye said, somebody got into his room and stole his luggage, a watch valued at $400 and several traveler’s checks. He said there were no signs of forced entry in the hotel room.
Regarding the symphony performance, Mr. Kaye said: “It was fine.”
* * *
It Happened Last Night
Pittsburgh Post-
By: Earl Wilson
Danny Kaye hopes to go back into “Two by Two” with foot in cast and on crutches—“Danny’s in pain,” says a friend, “but he figures he might as well be in pain on stage as in pain lying around.”
* * *
Earl Wilson’s Column
The Milwaukee Sentinel – Mar. 24, 1971
By: Earl Wilson
I saw Danny Kaye, foot in a cast, outside his hotel, and he grimly reminded me of my unfair suspicion that he’d been kidding weeks ago when he hurt himself in “Two by Two.” He looked at his foot and at me and said, “Some gag!”
* * *
[added 2/14/13]
Earl Wilson’s Column
Beaver County Times – Sep. 16, 1971
Danny Kaye cleaned out his dressing room at “2x2” the last afternoon of his show, and scarcely looked after his final performance. He hustled and hobbled to his car (after a standing ovation), returned to his hotel, and took control of his plane next morning to fly to Mayo Bros. for a checkup. He should be given credit for sticking it out to the very end despite his injury and finishing on good terms with the cast and the authors including Martin Chanin and Richard Rodgers. Tricia O’Neill, the ingénue, is sure to go to big things.
* * *
“Danny Kaye Gives UNICEF $135,569”
Yuma Daily Sun – Feb. 2, 1972
UNITED NATIONS, N.Y. (AP)—Entertainer Danny Kaye has been presented a check for $135,569 to be used for UNICEF rehabilitation work in an area of Peru hit by a major earthquake last May.
Representatives of six American corporations gave Kaye the check Tuesday. The check was payment for six million product wrappers and labels collected by volunteers for the U.N. Children’s Fund.
The companies—Bristol Myers, Clark Gum Co., General Foods, Hunt-
* * *
“Danny Kaye honored”
The Deseret News – June 13, 1973
Actor-
* * *
[added 2/14/13]
Earl Wilson’s Column
The Milwaukee Sentinel – Feb. 25, 1977
By: Earl Wilson
Danny Kaye spends more than 20 hours with the chef on the Wine & Food Society’s “Dinner with Danny Kaye” at David Keh’s Chung Kuo Yuan restaurant. Danny, in a red shirt, with a scarf knotted around his neck, presided over six appetizers and 11 main courses. He beamed when Norman Chi, the manager, praised his handling of the cleaver, saying he can cut the water chestnuts so thinly you can see through them.
* * *
VIP medical grapevine
Boca Raton News – May 21, 1978
By: Ruth Nathan Anderson
Comedic-
“Danny (born David Daniel Kaminsky) is doing well on the diuretics (water pills)
and physiotherapy prescribed for him,” Sylvia said, “but he’s still limping because
of the pain. He told me, ‘It hurts worse than a bad review.’”
Aside from Danny’s
tireless fund-
* * *
“When It Comes to Ear (Kiss), Nose (Cher) and Throat (Nicks), Dr. Ed Kantor Is No. 1 in Rock”
People – Aug. 21, 1978
[This is the opening paragraph of an article about a doctor who treated celebrities. If you would like to read the entire article, click the above link. Danny was only mentioned in this first paragraph so I have included it here among the columns.]
Dr. Edward Kantor is in his Beverly Hills office tending to Danny Kaye. A phone rings,
and it is another patient—Barbra Streisand. "I thought I'd have some fun with her,"
recalls the 49-
* * *
Star-
Danny Kaye has never taken a dime for his well-
* * *
People
“He raised his hand and the orchestra played”
Hawk Eye – August 23, 1985
Danny Kaye will be waving the baton at the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s benefit for the Musicians Pension Fund Sept. 8. Kaye says he has never learned to read music and certainly doesn’t think of himself as a serious conductor. “I never behave as a serious anything,” he said. “It’s still a surprise to me when I raise my hand and give a downbeat and everybody plays. Everybody wants to lead an orchestra. It’s the greatest feeling of neurotic power in the world.” Mayor Tom Bradley proclaimed the concert date Danny Kaye Day to mark the entertainer’s nearly three decades of charitable service. Kaye’s appearances in the past 25 years on behalf of retired orchestral musicians have raised nearly $6 million in pensions for performers in the United States and abroad.
* * *
“Kaye Creates a ‘White Christmas’ For Sick Kids”
The Spokesman-
Danny Kaye, who’s had a lifelong love affair with the world’s children, talked Paramount Home Video into sending copies of its “White Christmas” video to the nation’s children’s hospitals.
Kaye made the film with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney in 1954.
* * *
“Entertainment At A Glance”
Orange County Register – Jan. 12, 1986
Danny Kaye is going to play a dentist in an episode of NBC’s “The Cosby Show” that will be telecast later this season.
Actress Sonia Braga (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”) made a recent appearance as a school teacher. Stevie Wonder is scheduled to play himself in an episode to be taped in February.
No details were available about what Kaye will do on the show. One thing is certain, however. He won’t need laughing gas to tickle your funny bone.