Centennial Celebrations Continue

Danny Kaye did not live long enough to see his 100th birthday, but did masquerade as an addled geezer in The Court Jester.

I just returned from this weekend’s Danny Kaye Film Festival in Pasadena and must say I greatly enjoyed my visit. The audience was small but passionate, and seemed to enjoy the stories and 50 rare images I shared from Danny’s earliest years.

Additional festivities in conjunction with the Danny Kaye Centennnial celebration continue through the spring. This Friday January 18, 2013, marks Danny’s actual birthday—and the day he would have pretended to be 100 years old. (He was actually born in 1911, but shaved two years off his age as he was nearing 30 and hoping to make it big on Broadway as a fresh-faced youngster. I suspect he considered shaving even more than two years off, but that would have made him younger than his new bride, Sylvia Fine, and that wasn’t going to happen.)

To celebrate Danny’s anniversary, “The Danny Kaye Show” blog will publish some amazing, extra-special tales from The Court Jester, stories you won’t find anywhere else—not even in the astounding new book Danny Kaye: King of Jesters! So check back on Friday for an extra special birthday present!