Danny Kaye

Trivia of Danny Kaye (18 January 1911 – 3 March 1987)

*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 stage name Danny Kaye for the first time. The act toured the United States and in Asia with the show La Vie Paree. The troupe left for a six-month tour of Asia on 1934. During its stay in Osaka, Japan, a typhoon hit the city. The troupe's hotel suffered heavy damage. The strong wind hurled a piece of the hotel's cornice into Kaye's room. By evening's performance time, the city was in the grip of the storm. With no power, the audience became 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.The experience of trying to entertain audiences who did not speak English inspired him to do the pantomime gestures, songs, and facial expressions that eventually made his reputation as entertainer.

*His trademark red hair was his natural color, but he was persuaded to dye it blond because it looked better that way in Technicolor. Studio mogul Samuel Goldwyn Jr. also had asked him to get his nose fixed so it would look less Jewish, but he refused.

*Kaye refused to appear in any 3D movie. He said 3D was like “looking through a narrow window—not natural.”

*In an interview with Kaye's daughter Dena, she recalled that whenever her father was approached by a fan, he or she would invariably ask for Kaye to recite the dialogue of the famously difficult tongue twister "The Vessel With The Pestle" from the movie The Court Jester (1955). Kaye never refused and recited it verbatim.

*He was a avid Aviator. Kaye got his pilot's license in 1960 and enjoyed flying so much that he continued training until he was licensed to fly 747 jumbo jets, DC-10s, and Lear jets. He held a commercial pilot's license and was experienced in flying both single-engine and multiple-engine planes. Twice, Danny Kaye flew beyond the speed of sound.

*Kaye could commit entire scripts to memory in mere hours and memorized musical arrangements for his volunteer work conducting symphony orchestras at fundraising events because he couldn't read music. He was said to have memorized all of Tchaikovsky in a few hours.In his biography The Danny Kaye Story, he refers to it as "a fly-paper memory."

* If he hadn't found success in show business, he may have become a doctor. He loved medicine and the study of the human body, often read medical journals, and thanks to his celebrity, was invited to sit in on numerous surgeries and other medical procedures. He was an honorary member of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the only non-professional member of the American College of Surgeons.