tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4579741654669764152024-03-04T14:34:30.378-08:00The Danny Kaye ShowStories, rare images, and other curiosities beyond the amazing material in the amazing book "Danny Kaye: King of Jesters"David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-87526463887185291152022-12-14T08:29:00.004-08:002022-12-14T08:29:47.802-08:00White Christmas... Starring Fred Astaire & Donald O'Connor<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_C5IyxT7yVBfh14pcTQVpJLlnpxXeaZdktjVj-WM5TOPO0jl8HvBgPC1XzH4O3Atp1FMed2X0qRxI0r0ivfJMdKsFTY8NhY9O6lnsPO8gnr3jmFi9COQ5aTXevVYL80MRlxqNHzVWl4-f4dQ40bu0nESDXO0tXqOG8nsBzIcIhlqy3N9BPhQWVTI4A/s900/White-Christmas-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="900" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9_C5IyxT7yVBfh14pcTQVpJLlnpxXeaZdktjVj-WM5TOPO0jl8HvBgPC1XzH4O3Atp1FMed2X0qRxI0r0ivfJMdKsFTY8NhY9O6lnsPO8gnr3jmFi9COQ5aTXevVYL80MRlxqNHzVWl4-f4dQ40bu0nESDXO0tXqOG8nsBzIcIhlqy3N9BPhQWVTI4A/w400-h318/White-Christmas-Poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">The plot of <i>White Christmas </i>went through several permutations before Danny Kaye joined the project.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Although Bing Crosby was necessarily attached to <i>White Christmas</i> from its conception, co-star Danny Kaye was a last-minute addition. He was called in days before filming was to begin to replace the ailing Donald O’Connor. O’Connor himself had also been a replacement—for Fred Astaire.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">The project originated in 1952, with Paramount’s desire for a sequel to their 1942 hit <i>Holiday Inn </i>to be named after the picture’s hit song, “White Christmas.” <i>Holiday Inn’s</i> stars, Crosby and Astaire, and composer, Irving Berlin, showed interest. Berlin even had a time-saving idea for the story: “White Christmas” had skyrocketed up the charts to become the number-one single ever recorded, with much of its popularity attributed to how much the tune meant to soldiers off at war. </p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Four years earlier, Berlin and playwright Norman Krasna had created a stage musical,<i> Stars on My Shoulders</i>, that was to be produced by Rogers and Hammerstein. Its plot focused on the post-war life of a retired general who—feeling forgotten—considers running for president, and is given a boost by his former soldiers.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Krasna went to work trying to recraft <i>Stars on My Shoulders</i> as a vehicle for Crosby and Astaire that would feature “White Christmas” as the title song. It didn’t have to play like a true sequel to<i> Holiday Inn</i>, but was to at least harken back to it.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Krasna’s first script, dated September 29, 1952, featured the “well-known song-and-dance team” partners Chuck (Crosby) and Johnny (Astaire). They are longtime friends, who have a friendly rivalry over women—though Johnny is more the playboy, Chuck the protective watchdog.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">They are appearing in the elaborate revue <i>Fancy Free</i> in Miami, and decide to close the show until after the holidays. At a roadside diner, they meet Helen O’Conner and her kid sister, Judy. The boys are both taken with Judy, amusing Helen, who’s used to seeing men fall all over her sister. The girls, also performers, are finishing up a local engagement and have another booking lined up in Pine Tree, Vermont. But the girls have been unable to pay their hotel bill, and the proprietor is holding their trunk.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Chuck and Johnny hatch a scheme to switch trunks and send the girl’s luggage to Vermont, COD. They then go to watch the O’Conner Sisters perform, where they spot the sheriff in the audience, waiting for girls to finish. During intermission, the boys don the girls’ outfits, and the girls escape to the railroad station. After Chuck and Johnny perform the girl’s number, they’re stopped by the sheriff—who lets them go, because he’s an old Army pal. The boys then join up with the girls on the train, and they all head off to Vermont.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">The inn where the sisters are to appear is owned by the boys’ former Army superior, General Waverly. Unfortunately, the inn has few guests, because there’s no snow. So, to drum up a crowd, Chuck and Johnny offer to bring in their <i>Fancy Free</i> company, since they’re “not doing anything,” and put Helen and Judy in the act.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">The whole time, Helen is secretly miserable because she’s falling for Chuck, who she thinks still likes Judy. But Judy has actually been hitting it off with Johnny. Finally, Helen heads to New York to work as a solo act. The General, misreading the situation, tries to console Chuck by telling him Helen left because she liked Johnny.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Chuck is now more worried about the General. He’s now lost a lead singer and there’s still no snow. General Waverly says not to worry, because he has a letter coming that will make everything okay. Soon after, the letter does arrive, but it’s not the news the General was hoping to hear. The Army has declined the General’s request to be reinstated, explaining that he’s “too old.” Chuck intercepts the news, and heads to New York—first to ask Helen to return, and second to ask a favor of another old Army buddy, radio/TV gossip columnist Steve King. On his next broadcast, King shares the plight of the forgotten “old man” and encourages anyone who served under Waverly to support his inn. The show opens on Christmas to a packed house of Army veterans, bringing the General to tears. And as the leads sing “White Christmas,” it begins to snow.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVawdR6lxfyK8Ne6WBbSYoQsF8l8TgVIOisemhf_pLzaQ7dNhAbZaquqPx6eLYoJFnVrEZsLskZMit9dAO2EgMmNYIFrLb0jwOHeGcdSqqJ7V_ZxhG-Mt2BGUMGZU6tfeVUETF0xAaWQ-alvUh-0RAkKqWITOGw5Ran-Nwu9UH14ofzESctDbYDi7Pg/s2240/MV5BYzNiMGRmNjItMTcyZi00YWVjLWJjNmItNzYzMzIxMjQ0NmI0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjA2ODA0Nzc@._V1_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1809" data-original-width="2240" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVawdR6lxfyK8Ne6WBbSYoQsF8l8TgVIOisemhf_pLzaQ7dNhAbZaquqPx6eLYoJFnVrEZsLskZMit9dAO2EgMmNYIFrLb0jwOHeGcdSqqJ7V_ZxhG-Mt2BGUMGZU6tfeVUETF0xAaWQ-alvUh-0RAkKqWITOGw5Ran-Nwu9UH14ofzESctDbYDi7Pg/w400-h323/MV5BYzNiMGRmNjItMTcyZi00YWVjLWJjNmItNzYzMzIxMjQ0NmI0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNjA2ODA0Nzc@._V1_.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">The original plan was to capitalize on the popularity of the song “White Christmas” by reuniting Bing Crosby with Fred Astaire, his co-star in <i>Holiday Inn</i>, in which he introduced the song.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Ultimately, Astaire backed out. The scenario had to be tweaked after his role was given to the younger Donald O’Connor and after Crosby demanded that his character not act too young or frivolously. (Even the characters’ names were changed. The producers suggested Chuck should be the more practical Robert, Bob or James; Johnny should be the more naive Phillip; Helen the less stodgy Betty or Beth; Steve King be the newsier Ed or Walter; and <i>Fancy Free </i>become <i>Heads Up</i>.)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><span class="Apple-converted-space"><br /></span></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Kaye’s arrival led to further changes, to better fit Kaye’s more comical image and to give work to Kaye collaborators Norman Panama and Mel Frank.</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCI0F4MQs52R1va8gmSYdZf004U8s5u3X5Ar1CLMPEBox6wMFnf0CM1f9w4B4QhL_I-K46S86OziEx6TglVepyAzKNoEoQqMF9vR2L5AWUXk-Cpm5nHirD0-b215VF3cccOnrw0eKXTbXNCQ92dYi2iWD19-E0RYlWVOmg10eTNjrQCEP35MDD5Ks-kA/s564/anything%20goes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="318" data-original-width="564" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCI0F4MQs52R1va8gmSYdZf004U8s5u3X5Ar1CLMPEBox6wMFnf0CM1f9w4B4QhL_I-K46S86OziEx6TglVepyAzKNoEoQqMF9vR2L5AWUXk-Cpm5nHirD0-b215VF3cccOnrw0eKXTbXNCQ92dYi2iWD19-E0RYlWVOmg10eTNjrQCEP35MDD5Ks-kA/s320/anything%20goes.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Although Donald O’Connor had to drop out of <i>White Christmas </i>at the eleventh hour, Paramount teamed him with Crosby two years later as song-and-dance men in <i>Anything Goes</i>.</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">In the end, <i>White Christmas </i>would retain three of the nine songs Berlin wrote for<i> Stars on My Shoulders</i>: “(We’ll Follow) the Old Man,” “What Can You Do with a General?” and “Monohan & Callahan” (which was rewritten as “A Singer – A Dancer” when Donald O’Connor was cast, and then re-rewritten as “A Crooner – A Comic” when Kaye signed on).</p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;"><br /></p><p class="p1" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: start;">Despite all the permutations, <i>White Christmas </i>has become a beloved holiday classic that most of us could not imagine any other way.</p></div><p></p>David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-12941123250463413082021-02-02T15:43:00.004-08:002021-02-02T15:45:19.708-08:00In Memoriam: Danny Kaye’s Co-Stars We Lost in 2020<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBCcdhbiZXeeQA-QYRQlGfCaHLWxv5Tek8hIQ9dAN4JdgOi2eRqAySbFqP-gTEnD8KRnnGG_LKRHAHfTnVOIZV9cX0vdfbRT4lmxiJc8ReO2sfzaLl7DtKwwBNlzeqvqFlCypFlpXpr6d/s780/eaiiHgm0D4YX5IKT2Qv67YMl7IO.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="439" data-original-width="780" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfBCcdhbiZXeeQA-QYRQlGfCaHLWxv5Tek8hIQ9dAN4JdgOi2eRqAySbFqP-gTEnD8KRnnGG_LKRHAHfTnVOIZV9cX0vdfbRT4lmxiJc8ReO2sfzaLl7DtKwwBNlzeqvqFlCypFlpXpr6d/w400-h225/eaiiHgm0D4YX5IKT2Qv67YMl7IO.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sam Goldwyn, Danny Kaye, the late Zizi Jeanmarie, and Farley Granger on the set of Hans Christian Andersen.</span></i></div><br />It’s been nearly 34 years since the world lost Danny Kaye—and decades longer than that since his greatest triumphs on film, stage and television. So with each passing year, the world of those who worked with Danny gets a little bit smaller. Sadly, 2020 was no different. Among the notable losses:<p></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Renee “Zizi” Jeanmarie</b>, the French actress/ballerina who broke Danny’s heart in <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> (1952), died July 20, 2020, in Switzerland. She was 96. She met her husband and ballet partner, Roland Petit when they were 9, and they would become dance partners on stage as well as in <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i>. She also starred on Broadway, in the film <i>Anything Goes</i> (1956) with Bing Crosby, and sang a duet with Kaye, “No Two People,” for the <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> soundtrack.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Lovelady Powell</b>, 89, the singer/actress who co-starred in the first episode of<i> The Danny Kaye Show</i>, passed away February 2, 2020. Powell was discovered performing her nightclub act in New York by series producer Perry Lafferty, who suggested she become a regular. She was initially signed to appear in two episodes, as a trial. In the premiere episode, her proper manner played to great effect in sketches and songs. But the show immediately realized that her manner was too distinct and not sufficiently versatile for her to be a weekly supporting player. For her return appearance, they limited her to three songs—all of which were deleted and replaced with numbers by Michelle Lee. Powell did go on to a successful singing and acting career, appearing in <i>The Happy Hooker</i> and in a recurring role on <i>The Secret Storm</i> and <i>Dark Shadows</i>.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Tony Charmoli</b>, choreographer for all four years of <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> and director of<i> Sylvia Fine Kaye’s Musical Comedy Tonight II</i>, passed away August 7. He was 99. From his early years as a stager on <i>Your Hit Parade</i> in the early 1950s, Tony went on to choreograph and direct numerous specials and series for Dinah Shore, Julie Andrews, Bob Hope, Mitzi Gaynor, and many more. In addition to creating the dance numbers for Kaye’s series, he also appeared frequently in them, as part of The Tony Charmoli Dancers. And it was in his kitchen that Danny volunteered to make spaghetti one night and so badly burned his leg that he had to finish the season’s shows bandaged and off his feet.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Roger Beatty</b>, 87, accomplished television writer, died April 6. Beatty got his start as a stage manager for <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> before hitching on to its replacement, <i>The Carol Burnett Show</i>. He spent the next 20+ years writing and helping direct series and specials for Burnett and friends.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Elaine Baird</b>, who appeared in Danny’s first films, <i>Up in Arms</i> (1944) as one of the original Goldwyn Girls, died November 17, 2020, at age 100. She later appeared in a number of westerns, where she met her future husband, actor Richard Crane. After retiring from show business, Elaine worked in management for Bullock’s department stores.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Carl Reiner</b>, 98, who played Kaye’s friend and neighbor Abbot Rosen in <i>Skokie </i>(1981), died June 29, 2020. Reiner was a comedy legend, starting as second banana to Sid Caesar (<i>Your Show of Shows</i>) in the 1950s, creating <i>The Dick Van Dyke Show</i> in the 1960s, directing movie blockbusters like <i>Oh, God!</i> and <i>The Jerk</i> in the 1970s, and more recently appearing in the <i>Ocean’s Eleven</i> films. He even took the stage next to Dena Kaye in 2013 for a tribute at the Paley Center in honor of Danny’s centennial.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Brian Dennehy</b>, 81, fellow <i>Skokie </i>co-star, died two months earlier, on April 15. A year after appearing as the police chief in <i>Skokie</i>, the burly actor rose to fame as Rambo’s nemesis in<i> First Blood</i> (1982). He would work steadily in high-profile movies ever since, including <i>Silverado, Cocoon</i> and <i>Gladiator</i>.</p>David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-68886479749543689032020-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:002020-04-18T13:07:07.425-07:00Backstage at the Danny Kaye Show<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lovelady Powell and Danny Kaye rehearse for the premiere of the <i>Danny Kaye Show</i>.</td></tr>
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Although my book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i> contains an extensive section on Kaye's weekly TV variety show, I know there are many more stories, information and behind-the-scenes photos out there. So, in my infrequent spare time, I have continued to seek out anecdotes, factoids and images on <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i>, perhaps to one day be used in an all-new book devoted entirely to the series.<br />
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I'd love to be able to announce that project... but unfortunately (as you can probably tell from the sporadic updating of this blog) I've just been too overwhelmed with more pressing matters for that to be in the cards in the near time.<br />
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I recently finished a gorgeous coffee-table book all about the Magic Kingdom's original employees (<i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/55ers-Pioneers-Who-Settled-Disneyland/dp/1937878104" target="_blank">The 55ers: The Pioneers Who Settled Disneyland</a></i>) and am now up to my ears in another project related to classic entertainment. If all goes well, when my current work is released in 1 to 2 years, I can then devote my undivided efforts to <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i>.<br />
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As a teaser, I recently acquired a massive collection of behind-the-scenes images taken during the dress rehearsal and the taping of the very first episode of <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> on Aug. 9-10, 1963. These were snapped by a private professional photographer, not by CBS, so they have never been published before. And they are ALL amazing.<br />
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The collection did not include any prints, only negatives and some contact sheets, so at some point I'll have high-resolution scans produced and ideally include a great number of them in the later project. The only problem is there are 463 different images, so choosing how many and which ones to include won't be easy.<br />
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In the meantime, here are a few, scanned from the contact sheets. Enjoy. Be patient. Read (or re-read!) <i>King of Jesters</i>. And one day I can hopefully share many of these in all their glory, along with hundreds of other photos, soundstage diagrams, and wonderful stories that I'm continuing to collect along the way.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIklp9uugiYC64DENhUBjwK2zfyXJ0AE1RnRrmFjzGSsNR_59dy9k9bECeEfqlI8by0gTiS0oe2RSNDq_OsmrkYrdRj2C8J1Shyphenhyphenyx2-SsdfcpsFLeOwy2fyJfvz3GDK82fB_GLORqmaLI_/s1600/DK+show+Koenig+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="681" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIklp9uugiYC64DENhUBjwK2zfyXJ0AE1RnRrmFjzGSsNR_59dy9k9bECeEfqlI8by0gTiS0oe2RSNDq_OsmrkYrdRj2C8J1Shyphenhyphenyx2-SsdfcpsFLeOwy2fyJfvz3GDK82fB_GLORqmaLI_/s320/DK+show+Koenig+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny takes a quick cigarette break between scenes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELc_FyLOyqBIcslFOVAVWG9Vse80f_CLyW-ZbL2Q-GCgC-q65chZ9VVBrk44IsUMB2QcKyrCNdhA8ncXh0znp74nx_9mYrYR6WzpgquhQZKNZOMIP5O0M02sOD4zSKX89xJKI-uO3S2k7/s1600/DK+show+Koenig+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="689" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhELc_FyLOyqBIcslFOVAVWG9Vse80f_CLyW-ZbL2Q-GCgC-q65chZ9VVBrk44IsUMB2QcKyrCNdhA8ncXh0znp74nx_9mYrYR6WzpgquhQZKNZOMIP5O0M02sOD4zSKX89xJKI-uO3S2k7/s320/DK+show+Koenig+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jackie Cooper and Danny rehearse a sketch for the show.</td></tr>
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<br />David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-27664823856816445452019-11-04T12:01:00.000-08:002020-04-18T12:07:32.147-07:00Danny Kaye’s Stomping Grounds, Then & Now, Part IIIDanny spent most of his early years in New York (and a number of his later years, in an apartment at the Sherry-Netherland), but not all. Here are the spots where Kaye spent the majority of his time when not in the Big Apple, and what they look like today.<br />
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<b>(11) Danny’s Last Summer Camp: Bushkill, PA</b><br />
Although he had sworn off performing at summer camps, in 1939 Danny was persuaded by producer Max Liebman and songwriter Sylvia Fine to perform in weekly revues at Camp Tamiment in the Poconos. He found everything about Tamiment’s productions to be distinctly more professional than anything he encountered during his “toomling” days in the Catskills.<br />
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A new Tamiment Playhouse replaced that theater in 1941 and continued to host productions until 1960. The summer camp remained active and successful; in fact, in 1959, Kaye hosted the resort’s annual golf tournament. The resort changed hands several times through the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, until the 2,200-acre property was finally acquired in 2005 by an investment group, which began tearing down structures and auctioning off assets to allow for redevelop into multi-family residences.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvN0kSKDd3hD-BHliIkuHA5QuxBvRCjlx3eG8lk6yeIU90hP2OhW1g9L8Uvf48_AiYI7oMYA72iNPGA0cF7882KIXxzWDNKIdVOV6V0KTe_jkUBAc13lSf-UzOEe9vKAah7ZrRVokDvXTG/s1600/Noel+Coward+Custom.jpg"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvN0kSKDd3hD-BHliIkuHA5QuxBvRCjlx3eG8lk6yeIU90hP2OhW1g9L8Uvf48_AiYI7oMYA72iNPGA0cF7882KIXxzWDNKIdVOV6V0KTe_jkUBAc13lSf-UzOEe9vKAah7ZrRVokDvXTG/s400/Noel+Coward+Custom.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Danny performs with Lee Brody and Imogene Coca in the original Tamiment Playhouse, 1939. <br />
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<b>(12) Danny’s First LA Home: 1710 Angelo Dr., Beverly Hills, CA</b><br />
After moving to California to make movies in the mid-1940s, Danny and Sylvia first rented a home from Muriel Rosenbloom, the ex-wife of boxer-turned-restauranteur “Slapsy” Maxie Rosenbloom. Built in 1926, the 4,025-square foot home featured five bedrooms and five and a half baths. In April of 1946, though, Ms. Rosenbloom wanted to break the lease and tried to have the Kayes evicted early, claiming they were damaging the property. Danny and Sylvia contended the accusation was a ruse to oust them within 30 days, instead of being given six months notice, as stipulated in their lease. The Kayes finally vacated in the fall, after which the landlord found a series of new renters.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgfhopSPlA5YzUrWptcmjwt5JAFTJBAh501vvqKYXyRVQ7aNNh7tCRpFP2Ai9MPsIBisXO10IUcikI_8xH6CBfZ9wzleK75DzoBEDtbxd60dvcmmnKUAPgL9ueGfK9Q21KSdjbv5-dNEd/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-10-27+at+4.05.49+PM.png"><img border="0" height="321" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgfhopSPlA5YzUrWptcmjwt5JAFTJBAh501vvqKYXyRVQ7aNNh7tCRpFP2Ai9MPsIBisXO10IUcikI_8xH6CBfZ9wzleK75DzoBEDtbxd60dvcmmnKUAPgL9ueGfK9Q21KSdjbv5-dNEd/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-10-27+at+4.05.49+PM.png" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Kaye's first SoCal home in Beverly Hills, as it is today. <br />
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<b>(13) Danny’s First Movie Studio: 7200 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, CA</b><br />
Kaye made his first five feature films for Samuel Goldwyn Productions, based out of his offices and soundstages that originally belonged to Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and later United Artists. The lot then became Warner Hollywood Studios and, since 1999, The Lot, specializing primarily in production of TV shows.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPUEVZO_PbFFkGOBaQ4IizqHZ-5R3lFpkkptGtpYuGQKo-codUG0P4tRtATJuWD_Pmt0ylxi37JMhuGh5T15r17BQpwa6LLo7R-XXJ9kHMCocjPmXD24Uyhjxqx0aBe-aQAX6feqf-8Uh/s1600/5c75ebeb274eb6c4bf821ac4969f389a.jpg"><img border="0" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKPUEVZO_PbFFkGOBaQ4IizqHZ-5R3lFpkkptGtpYuGQKo-codUG0P4tRtATJuWD_Pmt0ylxi37JMhuGh5T15r17BQpwa6LLo7R-XXJ9kHMCocjPmXD24Uyhjxqx0aBe-aQAX6feqf-8Uh/s400/5c75ebeb274eb6c4bf821ac4969f389a.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Goldwyn Studios was Kaye's first stop in Hollywood. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUxiu7Ny5xEXtqM2-T9QAiD5juwimow2kwWf7DXKevlgeS2nQOoH4P7s1mmOdIglzlzeXymJ6sVjCCso-1HaPqG85gIjADSgbr3foSfI2fkv_MU28g-KjdSkO258WNYUZn8o5XC7R4hjA/s1600/the_lot_google_street_view_400.jpg"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHUxiu7Ny5xEXtqM2-T9QAiD5juwimow2kwWf7DXKevlgeS2nQOoH4P7s1mmOdIglzlzeXymJ6sVjCCso-1HaPqG85gIjADSgbr3foSfI2fkv_MU28g-KjdSkO258WNYUZn8o5XC7R4hjA/s400/the_lot_google_street_view_400.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Goldwyn's studio is now "The Lot," although this historic office (once Mary Pickford's) was recently demolished. <br />
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<b> (14) Danny’s Longest-Time Home: 1103 San Ysidro Dr., Beverly Hills, CA</b><br />
In 1949 Danny and Sylvia moved into—and a year later purchased—the house that would become their home for the rest of their lives. Built in 1932, the white brick Georgian-style showplace was covered with wisteria and sat on a half-acre at the end of a long driveway, behind by jacaranda trees. It had two stories and about 6,000 square feet (although that figure increased slightly when Danny added his own Chinese kitchen in 1963). For a look inside, Architectural Digest published a <a href="https://www.architecturaldigest.com/gallery/danny-kaye-beverly-hills-home-slideshow">pictorial spread</a>, narrated by daughter Dena. Dena sold the home in 1992, a year after he mother passed. It is currently valued at $12 million.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbZZQslmk_h6k00AOlIjBZ0el3M1rKQhxjaMkhdJejijlhSeW84USoONZsovt0aHdGTkItoZKsMeGEk1J6tTQ-WKKFmOnj3lfjB9Hqy223QSLEajVj9allJaG1-Sux21DhKZyo7PNDb7s/s1600/DannyKaye+home.jpg"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYbZZQslmk_h6k00AOlIjBZ0el3M1rKQhxjaMkhdJejijlhSeW84USoONZsovt0aHdGTkItoZKsMeGEk1J6tTQ-WKKFmOnj3lfjB9Hqy223QSLEajVj9allJaG1-Sux21DhKZyo7PNDb7s/s400/DannyKaye+home.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
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Kaye lived in this beautiful Beverly Hills home for nearly 40 years. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9xIENnm0-zFEjvH7YkSjumVjYUwzJYxMntE46oqXCrJ20hnIlJZ1LypuFaqHo9hK53tkJOzAz-9fteO9FNwE6pPp0hSrdrJfXxg2BLK2y8Sy1Q7_SP6XXr7jmbOBE5Oy7EbkBSuyAHEY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-10-27+at+4.03.16+PM.png"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha9xIENnm0-zFEjvH7YkSjumVjYUwzJYxMntE46oqXCrJ20hnIlJZ1LypuFaqHo9hK53tkJOzAz-9fteO9FNwE6pPp0hSrdrJfXxg2BLK2y8Sy1Q7_SP6XXr7jmbOBE5Oy7EbkBSuyAHEY/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-10-27+at+4.03.16+PM.png" width="400" /></a> <br />
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The Kaye home on San Ysidro Drive was designed for privacy. <br />
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<b>(15) Danny’s TV Home: 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA</b><br />
Kaye spent four seasons at CBS taping 124 weekly episodes of his own variety show,<i> The Danny Kaye Show</i>. The series was recorded on Stage 31 at CBS Television City. As part of the deal to convince Kaye to do a weekly series, CBS agreed to build him the Chinese kitchen at his home as well as a penthouse “dressing room” on the roof above Stage 33. It was actually more of a 1,386-square foot apartment, featuring a full-sized kitchen, waiting room with secretary, bedroom, large living room with a grand piano, two bathrooms, and a patio with a barbecue. After<i> The Danny Kaye Show’s</i> run ended in 1967, Studio 31 played host to a variety of gameshows, sitcoms, talk shows, variety shows, and soaps before becoming the permanent home of <i>The Bold and the Beautiful</i> starting in 1987.<br />
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Late last year, CBS sold Television City to Los Angeles-based real estate investment company Hackman Capital Partners. For now, CBS is continuing to use the complex as headquarters for its international unit and to tape series such as <i>The Young and the Restless, The Late Late Show with James Corden</i>, and—in Danny’s Studio 33—<i>The Bold and the Beautiful</i>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3mqRY81-z4Ui7ArsOTUXlL_wpe6LNfOpO3qlaJWzidH2sCxy9eQTMX5sViFhEcdqAVqj6PvrddYPDhzAmAoKInRNrlcUM1N1HP_VnT9zZqQETQMzyc5n3opJ_vfFHB73gYLv3jH6CZR8/s1600/televisioncity2a.jpg"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3mqRY81-z4Ui7ArsOTUXlL_wpe6LNfOpO3qlaJWzidH2sCxy9eQTMX5sViFhEcdqAVqj6PvrddYPDhzAmAoKInRNrlcUM1N1HP_VnT9zZqQETQMzyc5n3opJ_vfFHB73gYLv3jH6CZR8/s400/televisioncity2a.jpg" width="400" /></a> <br />
<i><br />The Danny Kaye Show</i> was taped on Stage 31 (back, right center of the building on the right), with his quarters on the roof. <br />
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<br />David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-69894096614911223072019-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:002019-11-06T09:54:46.618-08:00Danny Kaye's Stomping Grounds: Then & Now, Part II<div style="height: 0px;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">His Catskills days behind him, Danny Kaye continued his slow climb up the ranks of show business primarily in New York. His biggest stops included:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>(6) Where Danny Met Sylvia: 201 W. 52<sup>nd</sup> St., New York, NY</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Two years his junior, Sylvia Fine grew up not far from Danny. She remembered having a crush on him as a young girl. For his part, Kaye did not seem to remember her, even though he briefly worked for her father, the neighborhood dentist. The first meeting they both recalled was in February 1939, in a loft-turned-makeshift theater on W. 52<sup>nd</sup> Street. Danny was rehearsing for a revue, <i>Sunday Night Varieties</i>, which was in need of another songwriter. Enter Sylvia.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">They called the space the Keynote Theatre, and held performances on three consecutive Sundays. They were ready for a fourth performance, but were closed down when police discovered the facility didn’t have a proper license. The second-story “theater” has been used for a variety of purposes ever since. Today, it’s a for-rent event space called Manhattan Manor, which sits above Rosie Grady’s Saloon and looks out on Central Park.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><i>Sunday Night Varieties</i>, meanwhile, was able to move up in the world, to a better-furnished space inside the Barbizon-Plaza Hotel. The 38-story art deco hotel, at 106 Central Park South, was purchased by Donald Trump in 1981, who closed the hotel in 1985 to convert it into condos and rename it The Trump Parc.</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMalVWBhfz7iicaLX6zvfYNCnxAU6COdCWua2S2iNa6GgYZp01T1z0oYfXyF9vFcNWmAuq_SJQjCabEhMFBPIU6KhQLTouU4KbMlAGji3zMKb1szuBSwNB8Dyp-rKRsUpM2pbLBc_qJ8V/s1600/Manhattan+Manor.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="1476" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRMalVWBhfz7iicaLX6zvfYNCnxAU6COdCWua2S2iNa6GgYZp01T1z0oYfXyF9vFcNWmAuq_SJQjCabEhMFBPIU6KhQLTouU4KbMlAGji3zMKb1szuBSwNB8Dyp-rKRsUpM2pbLBc_qJ8V/s320/Manhattan+Manor.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Through the doors and head up and, for a fleeting moment, you'd find a loft theater called the Keynote.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>(7) Danny’s Broadway Debut: 219 W. 49<sup>th</sup> St., New York, NY</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Kaye first appeared on a Broadway stage on Sept. 28, 1939, in <i>The Straw Hat Revue</i>. Comprised of sketches, songs and variety acts lifted from Danny and Sylvia’s last summer camp gig, the show ran for 75 performances at the Ambassador Theatre on 49<sup>th</sup> Street. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The Ambassador had a unique set-up; because it was built in 1921 on an angled lot, it had to be situated diagonally, creating an extra-wide, none-too-deep auditorium, guaranteeing that even the worst seats in the house were close to the action. Many of its stately architectural features from the days of Danny remain intact, and its hulking chandelier is a reminder of the <i>Straw Hat Revue’s</i> Act One climax, “The Great Chandelier.” The theater has stayed active ever since, and since 2003 has been the home of <i>Chicago</i>.</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNb4yFQ1UXxPjPKi__fm1cy5E-u-TZmhK2jtcWDWj5Wm7i9MDJMpPgIN8HCfmpDu-lHs5CydrighDaZeo4G0jDSFvCDvWx7tOphR4L_KbQ2x-bhj31mKTykFKd2UHw_Hlq0ul__oYMrVnp/s1600/gondolier.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1568" data-original-width="1204" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNb4yFQ1UXxPjPKi__fm1cy5E-u-TZmhK2jtcWDWj5Wm7i9MDJMpPgIN8HCfmpDu-lHs5CydrighDaZeo4G0jDSFvCDvWx7tOphR4L_KbQ2x-bhj31mKTykFKd2UHw_Hlq0ul__oYMrVnp/s320/gondolier.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In the revue's show-stopping "The Great Chandelier," Danny played the Masked Gondolier.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZmhRj7a14jT0Z1q4grK9oJwy0fKrKQM8t_coz57Bd4X8nWfqnbFpIOSlyie3Rrr5uyE21NQV2vj-s1dnx8wewyliXbW7VTlrhnDMdWuCKwrODDX3YVxrENNNkwlzkin8LhNZLBBfGVq3/s1600/static.playbill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiZmhRj7a14jT0Z1q4grK9oJwy0fKrKQM8t_coz57Bd4X8nWfqnbFpIOSlyie3Rrr5uyE21NQV2vj-s1dnx8wewyliXbW7VTlrhnDMdWuCKwrODDX3YVxrENNNkwlzkin8LhNZLBBfGVq3/s320/static.playbill.jpg" width="213" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Even the back of the balcony at the Ambassador offered audiences a close up look at young Danny Kaye.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>(8) Danny’s First Solo: 57 W. 57<sup>th</sup> St., New York, NY</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Kaye’s first break as a solo performer came in January 1940 when he agreed to a two-week tryout engagement at Dario’s La Martinique nightclub, inside the Medical Arts Building on W. 57<sup>th</sup> Street. Although the high-rise had 21 floors, La Martinique wasn’t on any of them—it was stashed in the basement, which had been used as a themed nightclub (first Parisian, then Cuban, and finally Latin American) since 1934.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">At La Martinique, Danny performed Sylvia’s songs in a solo act for the first time, accompanied by Sylvia on piano.</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Over the years, the building—now simply called “57”—has housed a wide range of offices and businesses, including a few other nightclubs and a disco.</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7T5Gp-HjmSHB8CVsjNF1LXvV-KvgPJi9o1h96ysBqKcRx6Ro53zkZe5BeT3yRCSwQPGfRf75G51zC4c0KNswHYdNFz-ZQxmxAxwrsy73kNS8t8ZkMyl8kQjCk7urU7THl09JbbMutqzP/s1600/LaMartinique+57.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="836" data-original-width="1243" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW7T5Gp-HjmSHB8CVsjNF1LXvV-KvgPJi9o1h96ysBqKcRx6Ro53zkZe5BeT3yRCSwQPGfRf75G51zC4c0KNswHYdNFz-ZQxmxAxwrsy73kNS8t8ZkMyl8kQjCk7urU7THl09JbbMutqzP/s320/LaMartinique+57.png" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Through the doors and head down to the basement was where you used to be able to find the La Martinique.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>(9) Danny Goes Legit: 250 W. 52<sup>nd</sup> St., New York, NY</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Kaye had only a small supporting role in <i>Lady in the Dark</i>, and one he kept for fewer than five months, but with it he nearly stole the show. It premiered at Broadway’s Alvin Theatre, which today operates as the Neil Simon Theatre.</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuqdqQzPOwXkxgyDl8unCBsfseIv5Z9im9zuR34AxIr0eDBiVPjhDsYUub55XpmBvrHYUrG5gT-s8fS4A8rke5IZTjPweAesYCjZkUAkTsOLJTj82x5BKYwYz8R-goxLesLjxHfh_WDqQ2/s1600/0001v-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1265" data-original-width="1024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuqdqQzPOwXkxgyDl8unCBsfseIv5Z9im9zuR34AxIr0eDBiVPjhDsYUub55XpmBvrHYUrG5gT-s8fS4A8rke5IZTjPweAesYCjZkUAkTsOLJTj82x5BKYwYz8R-goxLesLjxHfh_WDqQ2/s320/0001v-3.jpg" width="259" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danny in Lady in the Dark at Broadway's Alvin (now Neil Simon) Theatre.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>(10) Danny’s Starring Role: 249 W. 45<sup>th</sup> St., New York, NY</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt;">Danny spent nearly a year and a half headlining the Cole Porter musical comedy <i>Let’s Face It</i> at the Imperial Theatre. The playhouse has premiered A-list productions ever since, including the original runs of <i>Annie Get Your Gun </i>(1946), <i>Call Me Madam</i> (1950), <i>Oliver!</i> (1963), <i>Fiddler on the Roof </i>(194), <i>Cabaret</i> (1967), <i>Pippin</i> (1972), <i>Dreamgirls</i> (1981), and of course Kaye’s return to Broadway, <i>Two by Two</i> (1970).</span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Zb_D-dgJyBlKcDjs_kimcbxj3C9DW72xiYf321yoHjQOF1UjUR-Uys-A9fmNKPU36bSVBFo7uWZmEOQJgVPZv4jeGttwm7J69O9tTtG1tWx_p754qzAW3RZyirs4A9S0TFmunniN7f7P/s1600/0001v.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="1024" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0Zb_D-dgJyBlKcDjs_kimcbxj3C9DW72xiYf321yoHjQOF1UjUR-Uys-A9fmNKPU36bSVBFo7uWZmEOQJgVPZv4jeGttwm7J69O9tTtG1tWx_p754qzAW3RZyirs4A9S0TFmunniN7f7P/s320/0001v.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danny's two longest-running Broadway shows both played at the Imperial.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #555555; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><i><b>Next Time: </b>In Part III, our travels will take us to more Danny Kaye landmarks outside of New York.</i></span></span>David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-79929724520739360382019-10-22T15:20:00.000-07:002019-11-06T09:53:22.825-08:00Danny Kaye's Stomping Grounds: Then & Now, Part I<div style="height: 0px;">
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Unfortunately, there aren’t many people around today who grew up knowing or working with Danny Kaye dating back to his early years in New York. But many places survive that we can visit to see where he began.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><b><br />(1) Danny’s Boyhood Home: 361 Miller Ave., Brooklyn, NY</b><br />During his boyhood in the 1910s, Danny lived with his parents, two brothers, and grandmother in a small apartment on Miller Avenue in Brooklyn. Today, there’s a four-story building at that address, crammed with 20 tiny apartment units, but city records show that structure was built in 1925, after the Kaminskys had moved out. Perhaps the construction is why in the early 1920s, the family relocated to the next block, Bradford Street.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 9.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">(Top) Danny about age 3 with an unidentified friend, possibly in front of his first home, at 361 Miller Ave. in Brooklyn. (Lower) Here's the site today. If
building records are correct and this four-story apartment complex wasn't built
until 1925, Danny and family moved shortly beforehand. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><b><br />(2) Danny’s Elementary School: 700 Sutter Ave., Brooklyn, NY</b><br />Danny was schooled through eighth grade at Public School 149, a five-minute walk from his family’s apartment. The facility, later renamed in his honor as PS 149 The Danny Kaye School, now teaches grades pre-K through fifth. (In 1952, Kaye recorded the school’s fight song, “Good Old 149,” as part of a medley with “I Belong to Glasgow” and “Tchaikovsky.”)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 9.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danny's elementary school, PS 149, has been renamed in his
honor.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 9.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danny's
home from adolescence through adulthood, at 350 Bradford St. in Brooklyn.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><br /><b>(3) Danny’s Longtime Home: 350 Bradford St., Brooklyn, NY</b><br />From the early 1920s through the late 1930s, Kaye listed his home address as 350 Bradford Street. The lease was in his father, Jacob Kaminsky’s, name. But since Danny was an itinerant show business performer, he “moved out” dozens of times, only to keep returning to Poppa until Danny married Sylvia Fine at age 29. The snug two-story brownstone, built in 1901, survives to this day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9aQgGs_-wdSA1MOwtufkrWfBPqX3CqAwFRDZCtxaDqOBTGRVA1qBt9nXO_KNQ23r6a_n2h13HxgzgyscgiolDsru6PE1_7biMgIU7L8kjC18VmsNt5oUOAeaWhfL-Ghzw5N8NoxB4CMBq/s1600/350+Bradford.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="1265" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9aQgGs_-wdSA1MOwtufkrWfBPqX3CqAwFRDZCtxaDqOBTGRVA1qBt9nXO_KNQ23r6a_n2h13HxgzgyscgiolDsru6PE1_7biMgIU7L8kjC18VmsNt5oUOAeaWhfL-Ghzw5N8NoxB4CMBq/s320/350+Bradford.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Danny's home from adolescence through young adulthood, at 350 Bradford Street in Brooklyn, still stands.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /><b><br />(4) Danny’s High School: 400 Pennsylvania Ave., Brooklyn, NY</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thomas Jefferson High School was just a few years old when Danny enrolled. He dropped out shortly before graduation to pursue a show biz career. In 2007, the school was closed due to poor performance and the campus was given over to four smaller, specialized schools (performing arts/technology, nursing, civil rights, fire/life safety).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sWOjHIOxLTGGwNe2XVphQ-et8JV0BslxbQo7SEOCSEW8bhI3QUoxso66y1EB2R3pv6uWUjVnD4YgVTiohgmaGLEYgM-q0WotiX4ExvM4Lluz8xh3zLMd_gfDCCamU-j1rc5GPwB5sKPi/s1600/Tom+Jeff+HS.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sWOjHIOxLTGGwNe2XVphQ-et8JV0BslxbQo7SEOCSEW8bhI3QUoxso66y1EB2R3pv6uWUjVnD4YgVTiohgmaGLEYgM-q0WotiX4ExvM4Lluz8xh3zLMd_gfDCCamU-j1rc5GPwB5sKPi/s320/Tom+Jeff+HS.png" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Danny's high school, Thomas Jefferson High School, is now four vocational schools in one.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
</span></span>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<br /><b>(5) Danny’s Catskills Resort: White Roe Lake Rd., Livingston Manor, NY</b><br />In 1929 at age 18, Danny was hired as a “tummler” at the White Roe Lake House in the Catskill Mountains. Meyer Weiner had purchased the property in 1919 from Emory Keene, who had been operating it as a farm and boarding house. Weiner transformed it into a summer camp for young Jewish singles. Kaye was among the hired hands who made sure all the guests were constantly entertained, so they wouldn’t want to check out.<br />The main house offered lodging (with overflow guests and staff living out of tents), plus courts for tennis, basketball and handball, a baseball diamond, riding stables, boathouse, and private lake, three-quarters of a mile long, for swimming and boating. In all, Danny would spend six summers at White Roe, but brand new during his first was a gorgeous two-story Social Hall down by the lake. Topped by a gabled roof and faced with wood shingles and white trim, the elegant structure featured a recreation hall on the main floor, as well as an auditorium with a professionally equipped, 50-foot-wide stage. Every night it would come alive with dancing to a live orchestra or a stage production.<br />White Roe Lake continued as a Jewish singles resort through the 1950s. In the 1960s, the Weiners sold the property to the Hebrew Institute of Long Island, to use as a youth retreat called Camp HiLi International. The site was later purchased for a private residence, by a party who tore down all structures from Kaye’s days. Only a couple of reminders survive: an abandoned concrete pad where the tennis courts once sat and the entry road running the near-identical dogleg path that it always has, ending at the former site of that glorious Social Hall. In the exact spot sits a modern residence featuring a similar gabled roof.<br /><br /></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYvgfZnky-qLC05Mh1AamVRjbsUe8yhQcYUrupCOTdbP2FlSxEc2D5p3B0Vkg4hvudoHc_7CvvckN8sve8GNbozL2xj0MiWfNzghxBr5oFOSsuFdXaikJE3TFNzW6U6jgeTg47lqRHBi6/s1600/white-roe-lake-hotel-catskill-mountains-ny-ericamaxine-price.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpYvgfZnky-qLC05Mh1AamVRjbsUe8yhQcYUrupCOTdbP2FlSxEc2D5p3B0Vkg4hvudoHc_7CvvckN8sve8GNbozL2xj0MiWfNzghxBr5oFOSsuFdXaikJE3TFNzW6U6jgeTg47lqRHBi6/s320/white-roe-lake-hotel-catskill-mountains-ny-ericamaxine-price.jpg" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><div style="text-align: center;">
White Roe Lake, Danny's first show biz home. The first real stage he ever appeared on was in the Social Hall (lower left).</div>
</span><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxKdm16pbQ1G_bM6lKk7CL1MhFgmYfPwsUxGgMne0coIJB17uD7BJb-i3jNn4pE_r7LBu_ZqUJS50qQ1ZlYAJcZIAFJGHSLFANzdAxpKEcOmTDxowPnQOTN9o7WFwXjvjxnkXLpbROuqL/s1600/0001v-1.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxKdm16pbQ1G_bM6lKk7CL1MhFgmYfPwsUxGgMne0coIJB17uD7BJb-i3jNn4pE_r7LBu_ZqUJS50qQ1ZlYAJcZIAFJGHSLFANzdAxpKEcOmTDxowPnQOTN9o7WFwXjvjxnkXLpbROuqL/s320/0001v-1.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Danny (back row, second from right), his arm around his mentor Nat Lichtman, with his 1935 castmates in front of White Roe's Social Hall.</span></div>
<br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLzcKCrQ5HNEgN-vBUSsz-mnCBFXU_s4URODCCD-uZ4YmCokY78l0o5vLSggnyyKxiG2ounmMQgoswglXA3YSQlnBMk89IgBFnRMZ0Ixpbtd1ejLb5afnBt0zFOM7vRgjrs6ODRRtB6EL/s1600/White+Roe+today.png"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDLzcKCrQ5HNEgN-vBUSsz-mnCBFXU_s4URODCCD-uZ4YmCokY78l0o5vLSggnyyKxiG2ounmMQgoswglXA3YSQlnBMk89IgBFnRMZ0Ixpbtd1ejLb5afnBt0zFOM7vRgjrs6ODRRtB6EL/s320/White+Roe+today.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">All buildings have been torn down along White Roe Lake to make room for a private residence built on the site of the old Social Hall.</span></div>
<br /><br /><i><br /><b>Next Time:</b> In Part II, our travels will take us to five more historic Danny Kaye landmarks in New York</i></span><i style="color: #555555;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">.</span></i></div>
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<br />David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-80751329390026289942017-12-20T16:32:00.001-08:002017-12-20T16:32:46.340-08:00Working with Danny Kaye & UNICEF<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SCbXde1kI5oDE2pE5-Bqv66pnXj-SsPqVyp2eFO5p4iA77SEeeoWfFzIz8kwsSnWK75T7CZ6Wr-LsqqCDdVAVZwCQs6LjB92oek2wjGrXe181AV3qNPTAuYswifTnNfO38RaMNMSStYU/s1600/1966+trick.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1304" data-original-width="1600" height="325" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4SCbXde1kI5oDE2pE5-Bqv66pnXj-SsPqVyp2eFO5p4iA77SEeeoWfFzIz8kwsSnWK75T7CZ6Wr-LsqqCDdVAVZwCQs6LjB92oek2wjGrXe181AV3qNPTAuYswifTnNfO38RaMNMSStYU/s400/1966+trick.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Kaye spent over 30 years tirelessly promoted the United Nations Children's Fund.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Danny Kaye’s work to benefit the United Nations International Children's Fund began in the early 1950s when he convinced Paramount Pictures to film him meeting with impoverished kids around the world, bringing them joy and medicine. The film, <i>Assignment: Children</i> (1954), would be shown in movie theaters and then patrons would be encouraged to donate.</div>
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Two years later, Danny headed out on a similar mission, this time taped by CBS for Edward R. Murrow’s <i>See It Now</i> TV show. Kaye would then spend the rest of his days touring the world and promoting UNICEF as its first Special Ambassador.</div>
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On June 1, 1983, when I interviewed UNICEF’s Horst Cerni for my book <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i>, Danny—despite failing health—had just been honored at a UNICEF benefit and was hoping to resume his travels after the summer.</div>
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(<b>David Koenig</b>) What is your position with UNICEF?</div>
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(<b>Horst Cerni</b>) Well, I’ve just taken over in the Special Events section. I used to be in Geneva. I just was in transit from Geneva to New York. So the person who did this before and who worked with Danny Kaye quite extensively is no longer with us, unfortunately.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) How long have you been with UNICEF?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) I’ve been with UNICEF since 1966.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Did you know Danny Kaye all this time?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) No, I had worked with him once at the Expo in Montreal, in ’67, was it? And then I had seen him in Europe last year.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) What kind of person did you find him?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, I think he is certainly a marvelous performer. And what I have seen him do in Europe as well as in Montreal was quite exciting, especially dealing with children who do not understand English. He’s a tremendous communicator.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) You helped him set up in Montreal?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) No, I don’t remember exactly what the situation was there, but it was at the UN Pavilion. And I think, like in the US, the 31st of October was declared UNICEF Day at the Expo and he was invited to be the honored guest of that.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) How did Danny first become associated with UNICEF?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Yeah, it was quite a coincidence. He was traveling, I think, from London to New York on the same plane with the executive director of UNICEF at that time. So they started talking, and he became interested. He came over to the UN and he was invited to become our special envoy or special ambassador to talk about the needs of children and get acquainted with the situation of children—that’s how it really started. It was 1953, exactly 30 years ago.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Did anyone know he would work so well with children?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) I think only on the basis of his performances, and I guess his appearances on TV as well as in movies, he was known to be a good comedian, with children especially, and I think that must have been the reason he got invited to work for us—to do something for us.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) How were the tours set up?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, I don’t know how the first one was set up, since Paramount was behind it, and they filmed his tour. So that resulted in a major movie documentary, which was released even in theaters. And then another tour in the 1970s we filmed. But we arranged it so he got acquainted with various UNICEF-assisted activities, and usually it is in conjunction with information distribution and fund-raising concerns that our national committees organize.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Each tour requires tremendous planning?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, we haven’t had any major tours for some time. I mean he had gone to Europe last year and he will be going again this fall—as a matter of fact, we’re working right now to see if we can set up a trip for him, but that would depend to some extent on his health improvement. So we are not quite sure, but we have field offices most developing countries, and they are equipped to arrange the visit in the most essential way and to meet government people to possibly set up some appearances, not necessarily performances, but certainly appearances with children.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Was last year a long trip?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, only in Europe—and the United States, of course—but I mean the major trip was to the Netherlands (in 1981).</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Did it consist of benefit shows?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) There was a benefit football game, actually. It was a rather curious event in the sense that it was organized, I think, by executives playing against journalists. And it’s an annual event and he is very much loved in the Netherlands. They invited him to come to see if he could participate in this as a fund-raising event for UNICEF.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) What was his part in the game?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, for example, at the opening ceremony, he joked around with the musicians, and then in the middle of the game all of a sudden he started blowing the whistle and he appeared as an ambulance attendant and he rushed on the field with the game in the way, and he got a red card from the referee and then he wheeled off one of the players, saying, “He is no good to play.” He put on a funny little show.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Is <i>Assignment: Children</i> still being shown?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) It’s still being shown, but more as a reference. But it’s still apparently used in some schools and so on.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Do prints of <i>See It Now</i> exist?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) We have a kinescope only because it was a television program.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Is it still shown?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Again, I think that’s more for reference, because it has never been distributed. It doesn’t belong to UNICEF. It was a CBS show.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Were language barriers a problem?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, no, it’s incredible. In most other countries, he meets people and personalities who speak English, but with children and the average person (in non-English speaking lands) he’s able to communicate just with signs and sounds and so on. And he has been quite amazing.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Is he still involved in the Trick or Treat campaigns?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Well, this is of course a regular feature in the United States every year and he has been very actively promoting it in various years. As a matter of fact, up until a couple of years ago, I think since the 1960s, he was flying (himself) across the country and stopping in over 20 different cities in one day. And he did something similar also in Canada.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Is it still going on?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) Yeah, but he has not been promoting it directly. I mean I don’t know in the last year since I wasn’t (involved), so I really can’t say if he has been appearing at any particular function in connection with it. It’s possible.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSimtBMeZ9OL555t6JWEboDPWHuku6zhM-JMku4AN5P8fe6A3tRFrqXOpfbDBTbENKpMIDZw8gs9Q0Bhz-wjeJtpuufNF_TxUfpOfamnYRP_9KfaMWqqZETDA3w_kaP_9uOV7xFhJK7jG5/s1600/kaye+trick+or+treat.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1253" data-original-width="1534" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSimtBMeZ9OL555t6JWEboDPWHuku6zhM-JMku4AN5P8fe6A3tRFrqXOpfbDBTbENKpMIDZw8gs9Q0Bhz-wjeJtpuufNF_TxUfpOfamnYRP_9KfaMWqqZETDA3w_kaP_9uOV7xFhJK7jG5/s400/kaye+trick+or+treat.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Through the 1960s, Danny would fly himself to dozens of cities in a single day to promote UNICEF's Trick or Treat campaign.</td></tr>
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(<b>DK</b>) What is the Trick or Treat campaign?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) It’s simply that the children go from house to house, and instead of collecting candy, they go in an organized through their school or youth organization with a little collection box, and collect funds for UNICEF.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Is he still flying?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) I don’t know.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Did he film a TV special for UNICEF in 1971 or 1972?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) I’m not aware of it. I know we made a film after his visit to the refugee camps in Pakistan. That was in 1971.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Was it theatrically shown?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) No, it’s just a documentary which we show at events or admission committees. It’s called <i>The Pied Piper</i>.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Tell me about the next trip in fall.</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) We are discussing a trip to Asia, but the exact details have not been worked out, depending on his health condition. So we have to wait and see a little bit.</div>
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(<b>DK</b>) Have you met Sylvia?</div>
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(<b>Cerni</b>) I was with her in Montreal and his daughter was there at the same time. I only met them at the World’s Fair. (He is usually accompanied) by just his manager, Herb Bonis. Obviously the best person to talk to is Herb Bonis, because he would have all the details. At UNICEF, the people who have dealt with him in the past are not here now.</div>
David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-20261055014198926802017-10-06T16:35:00.001-07:002017-10-06T16:35:22.367-07:00Memories of "Knock on Wood"<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPNBS1ePDFVccrCmZ_QPxCfXum8h5Sl5Ie5d0u1qR34fc3hRGAKjrEdDjtowm4JsHOEg8j1OpyFnZ4xvGGN6O3puwGhyR3uI420yePoxFZp89feSi2PzFlJinZenTMt6qNO4ZuRfLZgxY/s1600/Knock_On_Wood_Half_Sheet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1258" data-original-width="1600" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZPNBS1ePDFVccrCmZ_QPxCfXum8h5Sl5Ie5d0u1qR34fc3hRGAKjrEdDjtowm4JsHOEg8j1OpyFnZ4xvGGN6O3puwGhyR3uI420yePoxFZp89feSi2PzFlJinZenTMt6qNO4ZuRfLZgxY/s400/Knock_On_Wood_Half_Sheet.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Kaye left a wonderful impression on AD Francisco Day during the production of <i>Knock on Wood</i>.</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Francisco “Chico” Day, the assistant director of Danny Kaye’s </span><i style="text-align: center;">Knock on Wood</i><span style="text-align: center;"> </span><span style="text-align: center;">(1954), was the first interview I conducted solely for my book—30 years in the making—</span><i style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i><span style="text-align: center;">. </span><br />
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It was a Wednesday afternoon, February 3, 1982. I was a wide-eyed, 19-year-old college kid; Chico was 74 and had been in show business since the 1940s. He’d worked on over 60 movies, with Tracy, Hepburn, Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Billy Wilder, and Cecil B. DeMille, for whom he helped pull off the parting of the Red Sea in <i>The Ten Commandments</i>. He got a lot of assignments, especially those shot in Mexico and Spain, because he was bilingual, and was the first Mexican-American to join the Directors Guild. But Chico struck me as a sweet, humble man who lived in a modest high-rise apartment in Los Angeles, and lit up with joy talking about working with Danny. (I checked in on him after the interview, and that year he sent me a Christmas card.)<br />
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Here’s our conversation:<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] You made a lot of films for Paramount.<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Oh, yeah. I was about 25 years at Paramount.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Just Paramount? You were under contract to Paramount?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] No, no. You know, we were employed at the time in the so-called “Golden Era,” you know? We weren’t under contract; we were hired on a yearly basis, but we weren’t under contract at all. We worked in many, many pictures over many, many years.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] You were assigned to your films or you went door-to-door shopping?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Oh, yeah. They had the directors and the writers and the assistant directors and the production managers and the stars and everything. It was at that time, the so-called “Golden Era.” We really had stars. Now you pick up anybody on the street and he’ll be a star the next day. We used to groom them.<br />
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Anyway, Danny was a wonderful man. I loved working with him. But he always wanted me, whenever he had to do something, he wanted me to do it first. Like he had to climb a ladder in a theater, one of those backstage ladders way up onto the roof, and he didn’t want to do it until I did it. And when we were on the street and he had to run and then slide and then turn, he wanted me to go and do it for him.<br />
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So we had a great rapport with each other and I think that Danny was and still is one of the great mimics of the world. He’s a great musician, he knows music quite well, and comedy, and what else is there? I mean for a man who has attained as much popularity and position in the world as Danny.<br />
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I haven’t seen him since I made that (picture). We used to have a great set-up when he’d come into the stage, he’d always crawl out and say (in a heavy accent), “Cheee-co?” And I says, “Yes, Danny?” And he says, “Did you took a chave?” And I’d say, “Yeah, Danny.” And then he’d say, “You took a chit?”<br />
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And you know he was a great fellow to be around with and a great pro. He was always on time. There was no problem EVER with dialogue. If there was something that they were rehearsing and it didn’t work out the way that they thought it would work out, why just like that Danny would rehearse it once and that’s all. He had a real photographic mind and he would do anything that he had that we could do, because if the directors had something new for him, something that was better, Danny would take it always. But usually Danny was the one that would make suggestions, as far as I can remember.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] He would improvise a little?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] When it came to things that required music or anything like that I imagine that he and his wife would go over it, but he would improvise gags, whatever came up, whatever he was thinking about. He was just really one of the people I enjoyed working with and learning a lot of things from him becasuse he had a great personality and was very kind to people, very cordial.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdYQQPV4-ETBW3yEkWxaa2GJoayAarEv3V1pDD0kzZoMpiTz2-dWO0J8k0Pu85TzXz4JuF6R7pdchPz8esf4PQMjYGuKTaUTBbWIVrRtuLlA7unVK3Dvi5EEG8N-pQocX_kq2kEudZD6N/s1600/Chico+Day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="225" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsdYQQPV4-ETBW3yEkWxaa2GJoayAarEv3V1pDD0kzZoMpiTz2-dWO0J8k0Pu85TzXz4JuF6R7pdchPz8esf4PQMjYGuKTaUTBbWIVrRtuLlA7unVK3Dvi5EEG8N-pQocX_kq2kEudZD6N/s320/Chico+Day.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chico Day was an assistant director at Paramount for 25 years. He semi-retired in 1981 and passed away in 1995.</td></tr>
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[<b>DK</b>] Was that the first time you met him?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Well, you know, I had seen Danny in the studio because I was at Paramount for many years, but that was the first time I worked with him.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] There was (second-unit) filming in England, France and Switzerland. Did the whole crew go out there or was it just location shooting?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] I don’t remember in <i>Knock on Wood</i>—it was all done on stage here at Paramount. We never went on location, but with other pictures, naturally. <i>Patton, The Magnficent Seven</i>: Mexico. <i>Patton</i>: Spain, England, India, Morocco, Crete. You took the whole crew. From here we took the nucleus crew and then we augmented it in Spain and then when we went to England and we had to use some of the English personnel. When you go to any other place that has the people involved, that are in the motion picture business, the theatrical business, they we’d use some of them. But usually we took our own crew.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Do you remember anything about the directors?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Panama and Frank? Oh, they were great. You know I never thought that two people could get along, but I think this was an exception. Originally they were writers together, and then when they decided to produce and direct, one of them would direct one picture and one of them would produce. Then they’d change around in the other picture. So it was very congenial as far as I was concerned. I know that later on when I left Paramount I think that they sort of broke up and decided to go their own way, but I wasn’t involved in any of that. I always thought they were very congenial and every once in a while, you know tempers would come up just like in any other human being and it was one of those things that was conveniently and defintiely settled and never, NEVER allowed a situation. They were really wonderful to work with.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] So did just one of them direct the film?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Well, they were both on the set. But one of them was the one who took charge of that one particular picture. Like in <i>Knock on Wood</i>, let me see, I think it was, uh, Panama--was Panama the young one? You know it’s a funny thing. this was the only picture I did with them and naturally I didn’t think too much about it later on. But anyway they would change around. If they decided, like they decided that one of them was to be the director and that’s it. Interference as far as doing whatever he wanted to do, no, NEVER. The other one didn’t interfere at all. They would get behind the camera and discuss maybe one thing or another and whatever it was, why, if the director, the one that was directing, decided that what he was it, why that was done. There was no argument about it.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Was that for the whole picture?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Yep, yep.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Okay, in most musicals they tape the music before.<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Well, musicals, I worked in several of them, in fact I worked on a lot of them; <i>Hello, Dolly! </i>was one of them, one of the later ones. But they pre-score the whole thing and then they have the playback and they play the music and then they have the singing and everything, whatever can be done. And the actor or actress just mouths it. But it’s so beautifully done, so well done, and we have person who is in charge of the music is on the set all the time and whenever they have music to do and he watches the mouhting very closely—his ear on the music and his eyes on the actor of actress to see that it is absolutely in sync. Then naturally the first time, the so-called “rushes,” the very next day we see the film and then everybody’s in the theater and they watch for all of these things to see if it does jive wth the music and so forth and so on. And that’s the way it is.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Do you know like Danny’s specialty songs, like he had one in <i>Knock on Wood </i>called “The Drastic, Livid Life of Monahan O’Han.” He was in a bar with some Irishmen and he starts to sing the song. There’s all these words and it’s really fast. Was that a plyaback on that?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Well, I’ll tell you what. I think that it was, but the other way is called a direct recording. I would imagine in a situation like that it might be done direct. We would sometimes use two cameras, so that if you got it perfect the first time, that was it. But at other times when there is a doubt, they do what is called a pick-up. They move the camera around and get a closer angle or whatever it is and then they start maybe a few bars back and then they pick up whenever the fault that occurred and they correct that with another take. It’s done different ways, but it’s usually the actor or actress feels whether they want to do it again or not. If they want to do a pick-up, why, they do a pick-up. If they want to do it all again, they’ll do it all again. It depends on how the individual feels at the time.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Sylvia Fine, Danny’s wife who wrote all those patter songs, did she hang around the set?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Well, Sylvia I don’t remember too much on the set. But Sylvia was there, I think, whenever Danny needed her or whenever she wanted to be there. Once in a while she would be on the set that I recall, and Danny would go over whatever it was they had to do and then she would watch and see that it was taken and done right. I have a remembrance that it was very few times that she ever came on the set.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Did you have any other stories?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Well, those things are so spontaneous, the things that happen, I don’t remember too much and it was so long ago. But my recollection of Danny as a person: very business-like, very attentive, cordial, a real gentleman. I never saw Danny really mad, though I’m sure that he must have. But when he came on the set he was just as joyful as he could be, always smiling and alert—my gosh, he was really a brilliant man. And I don’t ever remember him using his temper, you know though I guess he’s human, he could have. And he was always very polite with the other actors, very helpful. He would go and even if one of the actors had a problem, Danny would go ahead and rehearse with him, calm him down. That is if the actor wanted that type of—because actors are really very individual and some of them don’t want to have that particular feeling of the star wanting to help them.<br />
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There was this one individual that played the part of Brodnik. I don’t know if you remember the story(line), but Danny was to be met by Brodnik, and “Brodnik” would be the key word—that’s how Danny was supposed to know that this was the contact. And when we first rehearsed it, why it was really a wonderful situation because the fellow that played Brodnik would come by, Danny would get very close to him and he’d say (winking seductively), “Brrrrodnik.” Oh, You know, nobody could do anything like Danny did. He was always a great comedian. So, every once in a while I’d play that. I’d be Brodnik and I’d go up to Danny and I’d say (with an inviting wink), “Brrrodnik!”<br />
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The one thing I recall is having a good time. Always. From the time that Danny came on the set it was a pleasure. And then when the time came to take the scene, why then everything became very professional, very serious. But during the whole in-between, Danny was—if he wasn’t in his dressing room, if he wasn’t transacting business—he was talking to somebody and having a good time.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Had you ever worked with any of the people on the crew before or after, like Mai Zetterling?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] I think that Mai, that was the first picture that she did. Now with Mai, we used to have a “Myer.” We used to say, “Hey, Myer!” to anybody and she used to think that it was “Mai.” That we were calling to her, see? And she would answer and pretty soon we just stopped using it because it disturbed her. Tobin Thatcher, I worked with him. Steven Giraut, I worked with him. He was Dr. Karl Krueger.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] The technical people? Were you one big company or did you all get your jobs as you did and just ended up in the same film by chance?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] It was a family. We worked the year round. So we’d go with maybe a completely different crew, but you know they were all people that were employed at Paramount, so we knew each other.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] So you really liked your job?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Oh, my gosh, yes. There’s no job in the world that can compare to the motion picture business at that time. See, now a lot of lawyers have taken over and it’s a business. It’s a business that these lawyers should never be in, because it’s not a business of percentages. I mean that you feel that any one picture is like the other. It’s a business and that’s the way it should be treated. But it’s not so. It’s a creative business and they have no right in the motion picture business. However, you know, it doesn’t make any difference to me who it is that takes over. But the thing is that I don’t think that we’re making the type of pictures that we did when I was involved. Well, I’m still active, but the motion picture business has certainly changed considerably and a lot of the young people that are coming in are wonderful. They’re very talented, but they just don’t seem to have the creativity that the people of that era had. Maybe I’m not wise in saying that, but that’s the way I feel about it.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Maybe now they just think of it as a job?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] No, I think what the trouble is, that the people that are coming into the business, they don’t want to start from the bottom. For instance, they go to UCLA or USC or any of the universities and they take a course in motion pictures, and when they come out they want to direct. Right off the bat. Well, if they can and if somebody’s willing to give them a chance, fine. But there are very few, very few that can do that. However, I’m not doubting that a lot of the young ones that are coming up have the talent, because that’s where talent comes from is youth. The only thing is that some of the old-timers can teach the young ones a lot of things to do. A lot of short cuts, a lot of ways of doing things. For instance, if you’re doing a stunt and the stunt works from a certain point to a certain point, a lot of directors would want to shoot the entire thing all over again from beginning. And other directors that are in the wise in this business and don’t want to take the time if so much of the take was good, they’ll change the angles on the camera and then do that portion coming into where the error was and then continue on. And so it’s a business where you have to know a lot of tricks and a lot of ways of remedying the situation.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] Save time and money.<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] We did. I imagine that <i>Knock on Wood</i> probably was made for about $1 million in those days. A million two, a million three. Now you couldn’t make that for less than $10 million. So prices, living conditions, cost of living, and everything else goes up with it. Salaries are so tremendous now. I think that when we were doing that, in ‘53, I think the highest salary for first assistant director was $75 a week. Now, my gosh, a first assistant director, just a minimum, gets about $1,440 a week. Plus a lot of things.<br />
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[<b>DK</b>] So you’re a unit production manager now?<br />
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[<b>Day</b>] Yeah, well, I’m an assistant director or a unit prodution manager, either. Whatever comes up first. I’m working on seven projects right now, but I don’t know which one will materialize. Now for instance an assistant director that’s working on a weekly rate here in Hollywood effective as of July 1, 1982, he gets $1,445 a week—that’s for five days. Plus he gets a production fee of $63 a day! That’s something that I don’t even think counts as salary. It’s just a bonus. And on a distant location the production fee is $314 a week for first assistant director and the salary goes up to $2,024, and to think of getting $75 a week at that time and now getting over $2,000 a week. It’s quite a change.<br />
<br />David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-6094266734562357142017-08-21T11:56:00.001-07:002017-08-21T12:25:07.503-07:00It's Back! The Danny Kaye Show Returns to Prime Time<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlif7-VbwIvxxhV5Mtfjm3kJL6vAsceC72MkRWZA9P5UtvLaxW02lAMPhjI_Ba51ZbTgQUDvIQ46BeMHUoNhw0e7P-NZvzUqu-IH4JEowjKUwi-UmVTUNKxp90hqfWOro90pRbg5LF88X/s1600/x240-SYi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="320" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlif7-VbwIvxxhV5Mtfjm3kJL6vAsceC72MkRWZA9P5UtvLaxW02lAMPhjI_Ba51ZbTgQUDvIQ46BeMHUoNhw0e7P-NZvzUqu-IH4JEowjKUwi-UmVTUNKxp90hqfWOro90pRbg5LF88X/s400/x240-SYi.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: start;">
Danny Kaye reteamed with his Court Jester co-star, Angela Lansbury, in the second episode of the second season of <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i>, here performing “The Night of the Piranha” sketch (<i>Night of the Iguana</i> spoof). The 1964 show is one of 40 episodes being broadcast by JLTV.</div>
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Early this summer, Jewish Life TV began airing episodes of <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> – most of them shown for the first time since they were originally broadcast more than 50 years ago.<br />
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For me, this is simply a broadcasting miracle, the greatest cause for celebration among Danny Kaye fans since the Kaye Centennial festivities of 2013. The shows can be found Thursday evenings at 10 p.m. (EST/PST) and every weekday at 2 p.m. EST, 11 a.m. PST.<br />
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Granted, not everything is roses. First off, JLTV is carried by only one satellite company (DirecTV) and a small number of cable TV providers (including Charter and Comcast in a smattering of regions). That leaves most of us to look for it streaming at jltv.tv.<br />
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As well, there have been some complaints that JLTV has cut out significant chunks from some episodes, not always judiciously, such as going to commercial in mid-sketch and not returning to the end of it (problems that, reportedly, have been corrected).<br />
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They’re also repeating episodes rather frequently (at least during the weekday run), which is causing viewers to wonder just how many episodes they have access to, and how long before they drop the program.<br />
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I went to Brad Pomerance, senior vice president of news & programming for Jewish Life TV, for some answers:<br />
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<b>Q:</b> Brad, First of all, thank you for doing whatever it took to be able to broadcast the <i>Danny Kaye Show</i>. It’s truly historic; most of these shows have not aired since their initial broadcast over 50 years ago (even back during their original run, only a handful of episodes each year were selected to re-run a single time in May and early June, after they’d run out of new episodes for the season).<br />
So, how did JLTV come to acquire rights to <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i>?<br />
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<b>JLTV:</b> For about five years now, JLTV has been working with an individual who specializes in the acquisition of classic television series. When this classic television expert made us aware that the rights to <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> had become available, we jumped at the opportunity. Ultimately, JLTV acquired the episodes from Dena’s Trust, the organization that represents all rights in the intellectual property and copyrights held by Danny Kaye and his wife, Sylvia Fine. JLTV could not be more pleased that we can offer this incredibly entertaining program to our nationwide television audience. <br />
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<b>Q:</b> How many different episodes did JLTV acquire the rights to air and for how long?<br />
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<b>JLTV:</b> Currently, JLTV has acquired the rights to air 40 episodes over a one-year term. In our scheduling model, we "premiere" a new episode every Thursday night. We have not repeated any new episode on Thursday night. We are stripping the series in daytime, five days a week – that is where repeats come into play. Any editing errors are immediately remedied once discovered.<br />
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<b>Q:</b> Is there an opportunity to license additional episodes?<br />
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<b>JLTV:</b> We understand that additional episodes may become available and we look forward to that possibility in the near future.<br />
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<b>Q:</b> How were the episodes chosen? So far, there seems to be a preponderance of episodes from the series’ first two “black-and-white” years.<br />
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<b>JLTV:</b> The episodes were selected by JLTV in consultation with Dena’s Trust. Episodes from all four seasons of the Emmy Award-winning series were chosen.<br />
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<b>Q:</b> Can you share any reaction you’ve had to the show from viewers so far?<br />
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<b>JLTV:</b> The reaction has been uniformly positive. Here are just a couple of examples that we have received at www.jltv.tv/feedback. <br />
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<i>J.M. from New York writes:</i><br />
<i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> is even better than I remember. Danny is brilliant, the writing is excellent and the musical numbers superb.<br />
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<i>J.D. from New Jersey writes:</i><br />
We've enjoyed your new addition to JLTV's line up with <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i>. Keep them coming.<br />
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<b>Q:</b> What would you advise Danny Kaye fans whose cable/satellite service does not carry JLTV?<br />
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<b>JLTV:</b> They can place a request at www.jltv.tv/getjltv. They should also contact their video provider and let them know that they want them to add JLTV to their channel line-up. <br />
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I've contacted my TV provider; you should do the same! Hopefully the attention will encourage JLTV to expand its <i>Danny Kaye Show</i> programming, edit each episode more carefully, and help Dena's Trust clear the rights so all of these episodes will eventually find their way on to DVD – complete and uncut.<br />
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David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-21347350300068100662017-02-10T11:06:00.000-08:002017-02-10T11:06:39.892-08:00Why The Court Jester Gave Ulcers to Paramount Execs<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcqrlEIqFE5CZf53LtoHcsLGh5jNHgTiZWAJr5in6pDJAz0c9YWOsq6xc6tI7llF79QQZOoE4uluCk7Xw6OYYut0_UPFUnliEVmRaDlwse2RI5AHpMFicA_IrlYsgcOpzQiFGUm_2RrEg/s1600/Court+Jester+finale.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><i><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzcqrlEIqFE5CZf53LtoHcsLGh5jNHgTiZWAJr5in6pDJAz0c9YWOsq6xc6tI7llF79QQZOoE4uluCk7Xw6OYYut0_UPFUnliEVmRaDlwse2RI5AHpMFicA_IrlYsgcOpzQiFGUm_2RrEg/s400/Court+Jester+finale.jpeg" width="400" /></i></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Big crowd scenes that got out of hand contributed to massive cost over-runs on The Court Jester.</i></td></tr>
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What would turn out to be Danny Kaye’s greatest motion picture triumph started out as his biggest bomb.</div>
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<i>The Court Jester </i>(1956) was supposed to cost comfortably less than $2 million. Its final price tag hit $4 million and the picture, in its initial run, made just half of that.</div>
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So where did all the extra money go?</div>
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The biggest cost overruns came from the picture going dramatically over-schedule. It was originally budgeted to be filmed in 48 days, plus 12 rehearsal days and 10 days of second unit shooting. It ended up taking 76 days for principal photography, 18 to rehearse, and 18 for second unit shooting. The biggest—but far from the only—problems were underestimating just how difficult it would be to pull off the tournament and especially the elaborate “midget battle” finale. In fact, an entirely new, larger contraption had to be built mid-way through shooting to launch the midgets when the originally device wouldn’t work.</div>
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Among the other cost over-runs:</div>
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• The midget number cost an extra $75,000 to shoot, the “basket number” an additional $40,000.</div>
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• Photographer Ray Rennahan had to be replaced at the last minute by Ray June, costing an extra $8,000.</div>
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• The main title had to be remade several times, increasing its cost by $30,000.</div>
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• 21 scheduled filming days were lost: $408,000. In fact, production went so long that other movies, including <i>The Ten Commandments</i>, needed its equipment and soundstages, and sets had to be constantly broken down (an extra $7,100), stored and rebuilt (another $28,100) over and over again.</div>
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• They also lost staff as production dragged. William Watson was added late in the game as second unit director. An extra $7,200.</div>
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• Robert Alton was called in to replace James Starbuck as dance director (though Starbuck retained choreographer credit). Up-charge: $18,000.</div>
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• An extra day of retakes: $14,000.</div>
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• Increases in lighting expenses: another $95,000.</div>
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• More stuntmen, $10,000.</div>
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• More extras, $15,000.</div>
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• Costumes for all of them, $22,000.</div>
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• More wigs, $9,000.</div>
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• Additional insurance, $8,100.</div>
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• Underestimate of split screen expenses: $8,000.</div>
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Not all of the cost over-runs were surprises. In fact, just before filming began, the directors, Norman Panama and Mel Frank, could tell they were going to blow past their budget by hundreds of thousands and they started lopping out entire scenes and songs, including an elaborate opening planned for Danny’s character to perform at a circus with the midgets. If the directors would have filmed the version they’d originally intended, I have no doubt the film would have cost closer to $5 million.</div>
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For more details on all the ups and downs of creating the The Court Jester—and Danny Kaye’s other classic movies—check out <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i>!</div>
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<i>(And my apologies for not providing a story for these last many months, due to being overwhelmed by several other projects. Hopefully, things will start picking up again around here!)</i></div>
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David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-80095354461347245072016-07-19T08:51:00.000-07:002016-07-19T08:51:35.945-07:001,001 Rare Danny Kaye Photos<a href="http://gettyimages.com/" target="_blank">Getty Images</a> has compiled a repository of millions of news, magazine and publicity photos, including more than 1,000 fascinating images of Danny Kaye.<br />
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Among the ones that caught my eye, there are more than a dozen shots of Danny entertaining in the early 1940s at New York's La Martinique nightclub, where he first performed "Stanislavsky" and where he made famous numbers like "Anatole of Paris."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1_TRvYQQy_tzdGfw4sYjq2otJu6d2FVJlcksYzZHjy04P18JkIhjnt4kRtNWCmpVlFFX53gKFeqU1ifVm9z6DBnVjrV7wQtKAQd_ExeejLu7O5b8YMH_MDJ7_OTpTGe9nVvWrDlinZsq/s1600/50458040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1_TRvYQQy_tzdGfw4sYjq2otJu6d2FVJlcksYzZHjy04P18JkIhjnt4kRtNWCmpVlFFX53gKFeqU1ifVm9z6DBnVjrV7wQtKAQd_ExeejLu7O5b8YMH_MDJ7_OTpTGe9nVvWrDlinZsq/s400/50458040.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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My favorite image from the La Martinique: Check out long-haired Sylvia Fine at the piano in the rear.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC16JWxWqvXhWF1qSo4TVhx6u35WpsubUjD6l3MhdPyn4hzeeSCjKR6uspKx-4PQD0-ql-0uNfAMDCVWX7z15Lt2ELnqBMPPowNR8x131Kc4My4cFvcXQZDGAL3Bt_xBotXn1ZFGixIkhj/s1600/50458038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC16JWxWqvXhWF1qSo4TVhx6u35WpsubUjD6l3MhdPyn4hzeeSCjKR6uspKx-4PQD0-ql-0uNfAMDCVWX7z15Lt2ELnqBMPPowNR8x131Kc4My4cFvcXQZDGAL3Bt_xBotXn1ZFGixIkhj/s400/50458038.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This sumptuous shot of the Gunslinger daydream sequence from <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i> (1947) gives a nice view of the skeleton set.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvTN6-QbN7hUZJxMnGY1kGz4igk7ZlARIgG9Ya_KuCf2LuNKXXt9tceqnq75CLjPldXhcsFNSaZaBg2sjfXPErCIiHEcwlLS9GcfPAT7-voas78mck9BAdGqW-dB5USPeA2yYlqcfu3gE/s1600/96718534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigvTN6-QbN7hUZJxMnGY1kGz4igk7ZlARIgG9Ya_KuCf2LuNKXXt9tceqnq75CLjPldXhcsFNSaZaBg2sjfXPErCIiHEcwlLS9GcfPAT7-voas78mck9BAdGqW-dB5USPeA2yYlqcfu3gE/s400/96718534.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Kaye as Walter O'Mitty in <i>Mitty's</i> filmed-then-deleted Irish Informant daydream sequence, in which he sang "Molly Malone."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaTVBmdGCekOAASJY8UNknCNCzB1TEBCCLxgwFuE-pdI2vb8oYSH5-lWGuKm_Y32MOT1mgDqSPwvIUfH22Ic_nd5h6wgJBIc-u5SZNgeoj56oy1CyhALWUsQIZS8SP49d8lLLKdbdJ5eU/s1600/50502547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRaTVBmdGCekOAASJY8UNknCNCzB1TEBCCLxgwFuE-pdI2vb8oYSH5-lWGuKm_Y32MOT1mgDqSPwvIUfH22Ic_nd5h6wgJBIc-u5SZNgeoj56oy1CyhALWUsQIZS8SP49d8lLLKdbdJ5eU/s400/50502547.jpg" width="313" /></a></div>
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Danny plays around with a bizarre musical instrument between takes on <i>A Song Is Born</i> (1948).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrp3Besgqjfx2tDjiQPGCOIQFSZJvcO3w_HzVxS7BXrZ-6BEFsrAPTqJbehS30JhrL3pYxYcvJvBXNPF5q_NwkNfUBjwGxIcznOajPvlnN7jws6lOajehwYMI4KSFsP2vzUjllsAgKPmGK/s1600/514689552.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrp3Besgqjfx2tDjiQPGCOIQFSZJvcO3w_HzVxS7BXrZ-6BEFsrAPTqJbehS30JhrL3pYxYcvJvBXNPF5q_NwkNfUBjwGxIcznOajPvlnN7jws6lOajehwYMI4KSFsP2vzUjllsAgKPmGK/s400/514689552.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
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Kaye, in street clothes, entertains children on the set of <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> (1952).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41iwfHmyPiBysftEpqRb1YC4T9QgYKJ-9UG5qCFp0E3MDuI17q3iXdJ4j9tKrzf92jQdy8ScFLtPnfU1AMWIahx_0aXJjXLb3utZDySjXJjAcYgs8pYUavjW9DZYtC_9LQ51qJ5ZoYkq7/s1600/50693580.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi41iwfHmyPiBysftEpqRb1YC4T9QgYKJ-9UG5qCFp0E3MDuI17q3iXdJ4j9tKrzf92jQdy8ScFLtPnfU1AMWIahx_0aXJjXLb3utZDySjXJjAcYgs8pYUavjW9DZYtC_9LQ51qJ5ZoYkq7/s400/50693580.jpg" width="352" /></a></div>
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Danny goes over the <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> playlist with composer Frank Loesser (at piano) and orchestra leader Walter Scharf.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBaAo5syNHsyF2yuNzy2Xf0JaXdDqoN91HXidPbXvwzuSou7Crv_y4orBwp1r-36IP_CmvX0mDr3UHC75T4nJYyz679HAATf3yxZZT7RNpx3C9mQYrK-RuxUvyYu1Px0KewXiFfziPC-sx/s1600/50371707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBaAo5syNHsyF2yuNzy2Xf0JaXdDqoN91HXidPbXvwzuSou7Crv_y4orBwp1r-36IP_CmvX0mDr3UHC75T4nJYyz679HAATf3yxZZT7RNpx3C9mQYrK-RuxUvyYu1Px0KewXiFfziPC-sx/s400/50371707.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Recording Loesser's songs, with Scharf conducting and Kaye and co-star Ziti Jeanmarie (standing on box) in the "recording box."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pTM_egZLlKGb_qCh5sO6y6tBBTcQhkdXTusokADa58lTcq6GQOHECZDsgOcbvmJYsRrTU4yCeZFZUVNlL_b6z4C4bNJytQCtwLgsgEIHXB0DUAytHREdb2MTsAJ6jfJbNaLk1hk1R9Uh/s1600/50371689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9pTM_egZLlKGb_qCh5sO6y6tBBTcQhkdXTusokADa58lTcq6GQOHECZDsgOcbvmJYsRrTU4yCeZFZUVNlL_b6z4C4bNJytQCtwLgsgEIHXB0DUAytHREdb2MTsAJ6jfJbNaLk1hk1R9Uh/s640/50371689.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Danny and Vera-Ellen dance on the slippery underside of a boat for <i>White Christmas</i> (1954).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCOjDKnFJBOhn4uyBDuG5wBGCLwbhueDJ8UdSVc6Ar79d50eHRSnYxaafqC9B76ArR_M8CyCgeHtlel4kB_QOPP6jg2N4_tay7KLLrIs0n4smGZ3Z2nZjL8CtW9LQvsXiMWSoUXabnI1j/s1600/50393024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="305" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgCOjDKnFJBOhn4uyBDuG5wBGCLwbhueDJ8UdSVc6Ar79d50eHRSnYxaafqC9B76ArR_M8CyCgeHtlel4kB_QOPP6jg2N4_tay7KLLrIs0n4smGZ3Z2nZjL8CtW9LQvsXiMWSoUXabnI1j/s400/50393024.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sylvia, ever-present cigarette at hand, with her husband on the set of <i>The Court Jester </i>(1956).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIl3PPb_URqQzrE_N9PBaUP2vSasXnjVX0c2XLQc6kXm4icg4cTbNYeF4qEG7jUWr-3-XviSdmedk62lltLtgLV6edx0hG_FKckLjRr5ZC4t007b9PmQec_cXBsEcPMPcmiBaoVAzfdGe/s1600/517823126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfIl3PPb_URqQzrE_N9PBaUP2vSasXnjVX0c2XLQc6kXm4icg4cTbNYeF4qEG7jUWr-3-XviSdmedk62lltLtgLV6edx0hG_FKckLjRr5ZC4t007b9PmQec_cXBsEcPMPcmiBaoVAzfdGe/s400/517823126.jpg" width="325" /></a></div>
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Danny, Sylvia and daughter Dena rehearse her first commercial recording, "Little Child" (1956).<br />
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<br />David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-18851428774327838892016-07-12T09:48:00.000-07:002016-07-13T11:46:57.341-07:00What’s Wrong with This Picture?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlImQv7S8XN9u34NTKDQ5PiIxTNmUUCB2iqXW-BDKw_PDsrLTwTJ9OoPrtVU34wOFF-W8sCcc7tEvqrwR1H1DtwJzbVjxXNcY7AGidExKIqBBb1Fo5v_Mj_dWX4_mUmWQWQ5SOUE3vEhT3/s1600/s-l1600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlImQv7S8XN9u34NTKDQ5PiIxTNmUUCB2iqXW-BDKw_PDsrLTwTJ9OoPrtVU34wOFF-W8sCcc7tEvqrwR1H1DtwJzbVjxXNcY7AGidExKIqBBb1Fo5v_Mj_dWX4_mUmWQWQ5SOUE3vEhT3/s400/s-l1600.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice anything unusual in this foreign Danny Kaye poster?</td></tr>
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This is a half-sheet poster for the 1970s Italian re-release of one of Danny Kaye’s best known movies. Can you tell which one?<br />
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The cast and crew mentioned make clear it’s <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i> (1947). The foreign re-title, “Sogni Proibiti,” is a common Italian phrase, meaning “Forbidden Dreams”—and is used as the title to this day whenever the film is broadcast in Italy or sold on DVD.<br />
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The artwork, though, may have thrown you for a loop. The color photo is actually from <i>The Man from the Diner’s Club</i> (1963). The line art is even stranger. The head shot appears to be a bad Europeanized redraw of the famous pop-eyed image of Kaye from the original Mitty ad campaign. (<a href="http://thedannykayeshow.blogspot.com/2014/01/secret-outtakes-on-new-mitty-dvd.html" target="_blank">See here</a>) The tux-and-girls shot, though, appears to be a redraw of elements from several movies, notably James Bond in <i>Thunderball</i>, but none of them having anything remotely to do with Danny Kaye or Walter Mitty.<br />
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Evidently, the Italian distributor was trying to capitalize on the Bond-mania of the early 1970s and pretend that one of Mitty’s dreams was to be a tough guy secret agent. (Spoiler alert: It wasn’t.)David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-4824498772756150282016-07-06T11:45:00.000-07:002016-07-13T11:47:34.871-07:00Undiscovered Danny Kaye's Around-the-World Burlesque Show<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUX_fbP4Pc_kFDHo0SB227_XN9Xh3QnHmTPZkdofzj6EVy6pT8OO4uLNvGNAM2zhV9kplpDfWykvjWyg1GFFiqDLXbru2WGX048JWewnc9JLpnWAX3a2XtfsuOYIaTMrIuSiqfV68NZlj/s1600/La+Vie+Paree+1933.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBUX_fbP4Pc_kFDHo0SB227_XN9Xh3QnHmTPZkdofzj6EVy6pT8OO4uLNvGNAM2zhV9kplpDfWykvjWyg1GFFiqDLXbru2WGX048JWewnc9JLpnWAX3a2XtfsuOYIaTMrIuSiqfV68NZlj/s640/La+Vie+Paree+1933.png" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A.B. Marcus played up the girls whenever he advertised “La Vie Paree” (1933).</td></tr>
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Danny Kaye’s 16 months touring with the A.B. Marcus Show from 1933-34 changed his life. After five summers mired as a toomler in the Borscht Belt, it made him part of a professional stage troupe, sent him across the country and around the world, and helped him discover new singing, dancing and comedic talents he didn’t even know he had.<br />
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It started in the fall of 1933. Danny, then 22, was in Detroit, having tagged along on a vaudeville tour with the lead dancers from his Catskills resort, Dave Harvey and Cathleene Young. They called themselves “The Three Terpsichoreans,” but when girly revue producer A.B. Marcus hired them (reluctantly including Danny as the third-wheel in the ballroom dance team), he’d bill them as merely “Harvey, Young & Kaye.”<br />
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They were among about a dozen groups and soloists who performed in the 20-some acts. Harvey, Young & Kaye usually did straight dance acts that developed into some comical overtones. Danny was good at ingratiating himself with the other performers and quickly found work in supporting roles in other dance routines and skits. By the time the show was headed overseas, he had worked himself into more than half the acts.<br />
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Harvey, Young & Kaye joined the troupe in the Midwest, played through Kalamazoo and Benton Harbor, Michigan, in early October 1933. Seventy entertainers, musicians and artisans piled into two Pullman cars, with their props and belongings carried in three 70-foot baggage cars. The plan was to head up into Canada, then hopscotch back down to the East Coast, through the Southeast, and then head westward, performing one-night stands along their way to San Francisco.<br />
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Mr. Alvord, the advance manager, furiously worked weeks ahead to book midnight shows at theaters in any town their train would stop. Stops included Winnipeg, Mason, Iowa; East Liverpool, Ohio; Bluefield, West Virginia; Winston-Salem, Greensboro, Charlotte, Spartanburg, Charleston, Birmingham, Atlanta, Mobile, Alabama (where the New Orleans police chief sent a representative to check out the show to see if it would be acceptable for his fair city. It wasn’t; he withdrew the permit); Dallas, Wichita, Amarillo, and a farewell performance February 7, 1934, in San Francisco, before they set sail on the steamship MS <i>Asama Maru</i> the next day for the Far East.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimK1bMQRpu1szk_i0s0ZMYoCXOJGgVAPAtHWx4OdxrI4rKmvJBOwsykVpJVgmodNZ63D60o9JajAdxVO51uCGlr_kiVBTtRGcwzeJwPeYphdg5QrM8duHsQOi8GIrcIH96oFAOyfYGTydy/s1600/marcus_program.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimK1bMQRpu1szk_i0s0ZMYoCXOJGgVAPAtHWx4OdxrI4rKmvJBOwsykVpJVgmodNZ63D60o9JajAdxVO51uCGlr_kiVBTtRGcwzeJwPeYphdg5QrM8duHsQOi8GIrcIH96oFAOyfYGTydy/s400/marcus_program.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harvey, Young & Kaye were featured on the lead page of the program for one of the shows performed in Asia.</td></tr>
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In the U.S., they called the revue “La Vie Paree,” which Marcus said was conceived “to portray a glimpse at the night life of Paris, including such resorts as the Follies Bergere, Moulin Rouge, and Casino de Paris.” It did get a little racy, so no one under 16 was admitted. Alvord would tell theater owners that they could have their choice of either the G-rated show or the naughty, midnight version. Invariably, they wanted the latter.<br />
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Joining Harvey, Young & Kaye on the playbill:<br />
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• featured dancer/dance producer Leon Miller, a “diminutive chap with saucer-like eyes and feet that just won’t behave”<br />
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• Ben McAtee, headline comedian with horn-rimmed glasses whose routines included “a droll travesty on mind reading”<br />
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• charming comedienne Margo Busch, whom one reviewer described as “statuesque… as blondely lovely as Jean Harlow and as graceful a kicker as Charlotte Greenwood”<br />
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• comedienne Georgene Millar, “Marcus’ version of Zazu Pitts”<br />
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• Elmer Coudy, former lead comic who’d been with Marcus since the early 1920s and had made his name back then by singing blackface<br />
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• Eula Coudy, Elmer’s wife and leader of the 11-piece California Night Hawks band; she claimed to be “the only woman orchestra director in the world with a major musical show”<br />
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• Dorothy “Dottie” Coudy, their daughter and a featured singer/dancer<br />
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• blonde prima donna Lillian McCoy<br />
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• accordionist Les Sechrist<br />
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• singer Lee Mason, “a lad with curly hair and an appealing tenor voice”<br />
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• Six Bounding Ali Babas, “swarthy” acrobats/“gymnasts from Araby”<br />
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• The Brady Sisters, a “neat dancing specialty”<br />
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• Ha Cha San, an exotic dancer famous as the “Silver Goddess” for appearing in nothing more than a coat of heavy Vaseline mixed with silver paint (and presumably a tiny pair of silver-painted panties); when the tour returned to the U.S., Marcus claimed they’d discovered the Chinese native in the Orient and convinced her to come to America; in fact, she was American and Marcus had seen her act at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1933 and convinced her to join his tour once the Fair shut down in the fall.<br />
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• La Fanette, Ha Cha San’s sister who also danced unclothed, with fans. She claimed to have originated the fan dance at Le Cafe du Rat-Mort in Paris, and that Sally Rand copied her.<br />
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• dancers Karels’ Adagio Four, “three husky chaps who toss a doll-like miss around”<br />
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• The Marcus Peaches, nearly three dozen showgirls, who provided pretty scenery, which helped audiences to overlook their lack of song and dance training. Danny’s <a href="http://thedannykayeshow.blogspot.com/2013/02/love-letters-from-danny.html" target="_blank">first hard-core romance, Holly Fine</a>, was a Peach, whom Marcus had discovered sipping a soda at a drugstore. He’d teach her to dance. Marcus even admitted his Peaches “have been chosen solely for their beauty and they display that beauty in gorgeous stage sets just as completely as the law will permit.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIIkRd38G2GOS7N_mRw41vZXn-2arFEqq9NeVPnCZQM3mh4kK89pXIDO9pxe8jlIL7lhX7XJF1Q8f1Jrf_3MTbrO86cvnxjbcntdP1yruCx1aMEDVmjIXsg3pPSl3WAjL_UoABmNOkDu1/s1600/fine-kayeother.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="326" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKIIkRd38G2GOS7N_mRw41vZXn-2arFEqq9NeVPnCZQM3mh4kK89pXIDO9pxe8jlIL7lhX7XJF1Q8f1Jrf_3MTbrO86cvnxjbcntdP1yruCx1aMEDVmjIXsg3pPSl3WAjL_UoABmNOkDu1/s400/fine-kayeother.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaye <i>(far right)</i>, with girlfriend Holly Fine and unknown.</td></tr>
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In the many reviews I was able to track down for the shows, I could only find one that mentioned Danny, sort of—it mostly referred to Cathleene Young, “a gorgeous blond with the grace of a gazelle, accompanied by two partners, compose the dancing trio of Harvey, Young and Kaye.”<br />
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The world tour, which Marcus anticipated could last up to three years, was to begin February 26 at a massive new theater in Tokyo, the Nippon Eiga Gekljo. The showplace cost 21 million yen ($6.5 million in 1934 dollars) and seated almost 1,000 more people than Radio City Music Hall, making it among the largest theaters in the world. Marcus hoped his troupe would play two shows a day there for three months, assuming they could keep extending their work permits.<br />
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After seven weeks, “La Vie Paree” (and two complementary revues, “Broadway Merry-go-Round” and “Fantasies of 1934”) had entertained a quarter of a million Japanese theatergoers and took in 400,000 yen.<br />
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“Then something happened,” said Mr. Alvord. “Further extension was refused. The reason was a technicality of the law, according to the officials. Although the statute had never before been invoked, it plainly stated in the book that only one extension of a work permit might be granted. We had enjoyed two. Engagements were cancelled in Osaka and Nagoya and we sailed for Shanghai.”<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIjorR8wh5kEal_oXQQWoQAciWSHj0hXNnVaeGKSyqtC7QTUUGQEQpgzHJiWuYtdbTAUEkVJUu3tYKm1-ZRVge6YxuXKRXaD72md0Ft5jPKXuhoysbQe_B5C-T2wqtLBuh1JSvow5-nHy/s1600/Kaye+on+Marcus+tour+Low.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyIjorR8wh5kEal_oXQQWoQAciWSHj0hXNnVaeGKSyqtC7QTUUGQEQpgzHJiWuYtdbTAUEkVJUu3tYKm1-ZRVge6YxuXKRXaD72md0Ft5jPKXuhoysbQe_B5C-T2wqtLBuh1JSvow5-nHy/s400/Kaye+on+Marcus+tour+Low.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kaye<i> (front row, third from left) </i>& crew enjoy the nightlife in the Orient. Partners Cathleene Young & Dave Harvey are standing, middle of second row. I assume most of the Asians in the back row work at the restaurant where the photo was taken. Other educated guesses would be the girl to the right of Danny is either his girlfriend Holly Fine or comedienne Margo Busch. The muscular gents are likely Bounding Ali Babas. The darker girl in front of Young might be Ha Cha San?</td></tr>
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Fortunately, after playing in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Canton, Manila and Singapore, Japanese authorities let the troupe return to Japan and finish up their tour in Osaka. Since enough time had passed, they were able to grant a new permit by terming the Osaka booking “a new deal.”<br />
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Out of welcoming ports, Marcus called the troupe back to the U.S. to regroup, after just short of seven months away. The group sailed on the MS <i>Heian Maru</i> from Kobe, Japan, on October 1, 1934, arriving in Seattle 15 days later. Danny stayed on with Marcus performing shows in the States until January 1935, when he had had enough—gaining plenty of experience, despite most of the attention going to his more unusual co-stars.David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-7736099377265528232016-06-02T09:01:00.000-07:002016-06-03T10:37:45.953-07:00The Hans Christian Andersen Recordings Made Just for Danny Kaye<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFg53R3VcTJ2pRfFIm9Nnt4bA7XS2Bw40qkSjO1VLF8c87nWLSuf0dAGXmtXlVq0lXVghiTEhiA9yFNsE2IXddOHgCpAkzURy9XyhbrMoB_U4chdcDdkRlU8BZz6pUBoQiES4InSdhATsS/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFg53R3VcTJ2pRfFIm9Nnt4bA7XS2Bw40qkSjO1VLF8c87nWLSuf0dAGXmtXlVq0lXVghiTEhiA9yFNsE2IXddOHgCpAkzURy9XyhbrMoB_U4chdcDdkRlU8BZz6pUBoQiES4InSdhATsS/s400/maxresdefault.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Kaye learned his songs for <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> from a fresh-faced kid just out of college.</td></tr>
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I discovered Danny Kaye through repeat viewings of <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i> in prime time on KTLA Channel 5. In the late 1970s, Mitty and Kaye’s other Goldwyn features were moved into the rotation at the channel’s weekend afternoon Family Film Festival, hosted by Tom Hatten. The amiable Hatten had joined the station in the early 1950s and was quickly promoted to host of the Popeye show, airing old Fleischer cartoons and instructing young viewers how to draw the characters during the breaks.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYoA57MJbNthVEu2t4UJJkJ45k74mO-Ct1i5Xdlw9S7EDCVCG9dF_JXWQzd7gKA3FBu-GwKGtvs40uhEcersKXQxVj95U1lm0vbD5lTtuKhZFjDIEDts1Bgy7ijzKR0zWRYR1TK_dnCIFz/s1600/hqdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYoA57MJbNthVEu2t4UJJkJ45k74mO-Ct1i5Xdlw9S7EDCVCG9dF_JXWQzd7gKA3FBu-GwKGtvs40uhEcersKXQxVj95U1lm0vbD5lTtuKhZFjDIEDts1Bgy7ijzKR0zWRYR1TK_dnCIFz/s320/hqdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom Hatten hosted KTLA-5's Family Film Festival on weekend afternoons from the late 1970s through the 1980s</td></tr>
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As renowned movie memorabilia collector Rick Greene recently told me: “I’ve been reading – and loving – the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye book</a> and just finished the chapter on <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i>, and remembered a story about that film.<br />
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“In the early and mid-1980’s, I was friendly with Tom Hatten at KTLA when he hosted the Family Film Festival. I loaned him memorabilia on several occasions which he showed on air and even mentioned my name, giving me credit for the stuff (usually Jerry Lewis or Martin & Lewis posters, books, records, etc., that he’d hold up and talk about). He would usually drive over to my apartment and pick up and then return the stuff... such a nice guy. So, I had the opportunity to sit and shoot the breeze with him a few times.<br />
<br />
“One time he told me that in late 1951, he was contacted by someone associated with Frank Loesser to go into the recording studio and record all of the songs he had written for Danny Kaye’s next film for Goldwyn, <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i>. The purpose for this was so Danny, who didn’t read music, could learn the songs from these recordings just before filming was to begin as he was traveling around the world performing his stage act. So Tom and a gal went into the studio with a FULL orchestra and made the recordings of every song. These records were rushed to Kaye wherever he was in the world, and he listened to them over and over.<br />
<br />
“Tom said that when the film came out, he noticed that Danny faithfully copied his every inflection and pause from his recordings, which flattered him. He said it was one of the most unusual show biz jobs he ever had, as it was never intended to be heard by anyone other than Danny Kaye!”<br />
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David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-90630840121902608112016-04-21T11:15:00.000-07:002024-01-09T07:05:44.675-08:00Walter Mitty Goes Dutch<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-omA6yoBX4YPjwEuswLVRFBeWDRVdF9qMS7xZV2OrRN3D_5uhLa4pVnmqUGF_7NpZKzRvamsIV5kQIaCqEErDzYZ9x2usXq2fRsmc0nfVOb92HbMoXbDmm9oHdEPYHScSNjmtBKDkSNKy/s1600/kaye+mitty+poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-omA6yoBX4YPjwEuswLVRFBeWDRVdF9qMS7xZV2OrRN3D_5uhLa4pVnmqUGF_7NpZKzRvamsIV5kQIaCqEErDzYZ9x2usXq2fRsmc0nfVOb92HbMoXbDmm9oHdEPYHScSNjmtBKDkSNKy/s400/kaye+mitty+poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Humorist James Thurber loved Danny Kaye as Walter Mitty of the daydreams, so spent several years encouraging the Studio include more and more dreams.</td></tr>
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As is well documented in my book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a>, James Thurber hated Danny’s filmed version of his short story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” He hated the musical and specialty numbers, the broad comedy, the melodrama, the Goldwyn Girls, everything—except the dream sequences. He considered them to be closest in tone to that of his writing and, when screenwriter Ken Englund spent 10 days with Thurber crafting script version number four (of an eventual 13), the humorist concentrated most of his efforts on Thurber-izing the existing dreams and adding as many new ones as they could find a place for.<br />
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One Thurber suggestion, which made it into the January 18, 1946, script, was a Dutch Dream they inserted into the wedding scene. Walter is standing at the altar, as his arranged fiancee Gertrude (Ann Rutherford) is walking down the aisle. The electric fans in the background dissolve into windmills in Holland, rotating to the echoes of “ta-pocketa, ta-pocketa.”<br />
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Walter is transformed into a Dutch Boy in a field of tulips, with Rosalind (Virginia Mayo) as his Dutch bride. Merry villagers pelt the lovers with tulips, accompanied by a “<b><i>very brief</i></b> song and dance <b><i>which is not a musical number</i></b>, but only a four-line snatch of a corny folk tune to show that everybody’s happy.” (Thurber’s emphasis)<br />
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<i>Narrator: </i>“And there is no happier lad in all the country by the Zuider Zee than Walter Van Mitty as he embraces his betrothed Rosalind Van Horn, the fairest maiden in all tulip land. Little did he realize that at that very moment grim tragedy lurked and that this was to be his last kiss—”<br />
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Walter looks down and sees a trickle of water by his wooden shoes.<br />
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<i>Walter:</i> “The dyke! There’s a leak in the dyke!”<br />
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They run to the dyke and Walter shoves a finger in the hole.<br />
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<i>Walter:</i> “Rosalind, run! Save the town!”<br />
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<i>Rosalind</i>: “But you’ll drown!”<br />
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<i>Walter</i>: “No matter—”<br />
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He clutches her. She sobs. They kiss.<br />
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<i>Walter</i>: “No, you must.”<br />
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<i>Rosalind:</i> “Just give me something to place by my heart.”<br />
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He hands her his wooden shoes. She runs off as he blows her a kiss. The dyke breaks, and an avalanche of water consumes Walter.<br />
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We then return to the chapel, just as Walter goes to fish Gertrude’s wedding ring from his pocket and instead pulls out Rosalind’s little shoes, confirming to him that’s his dream girl is not just a dream.<br />
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After Englund returned to the Studio and submitted the revised script, it was handed over to one of Kaye’s comedy writers, Phil Rapp. The fatalistic Dutch Dream was the first to be cut.<br />
<br />David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-5456121490629906312015-12-17T16:07:00.000-08:002015-12-17T16:07:07.298-08:00Danny & Stannie<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WQjy-DqkGwx3Iu5HhrlbYAkevuiN6TMY4kh75K5R2NVUbDVhxCEJ0FhNuEy5P-nI7quY6qH4jgDSOkuHpn7nvCDZM9iHYX2TRn33ovjWXDLT0vvH45Ua3HIc-E4FLW4fpMcdpQVcM0oY/s1600/kaye+with+stan+oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7WQjy-DqkGwx3Iu5HhrlbYAkevuiN6TMY4kh75K5R2NVUbDVhxCEJ0FhNuEy5P-nI7quY6qH4jgDSOkuHpn7nvCDZM9iHYX2TRn33ovjWXDLT0vvH45Ua3HIc-E4FLW4fpMcdpQVcM0oY/s320/kaye+with+stan+oscar.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Kaye stepped up to receive Stan Laurel's special Academy Award, after the comedian fell ill.</td></tr>
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Danny Kaye and Stan Laurel didn’t exactly run around in the same circles. Kaye hob-nobbed with the elite in all fields—the finest actors and musicians, nationally known doctors and politicians. Laurel’s closest friends were his fellow screenwriters and other behind-the-scenes show biz folks.<br />
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Yet Danny greatly admired Stan’s work and talent, and in the early 1960s was among the many who visited the elderly Laurel at his beachside Santa Monica apartment. There, Laurel would welcome all who called, whether famous admirers like Dick Van Dyke and Marcel Marceau or just plain regular folks who’d always dreamed of meeting their idol.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWCN9LQuKudVWz_ZYcnJkOKTGYvtKWQZsE-UfMaN7et1QreWGkED-BRI-t7ky_CeZUOrcXwZ6SI5As3AFR9DEdG9F1NvC6mzOymukn6zvn3IIjC0qcCnh30tdQN_5E6TBfoBzhT7i3fDP/s1600/stan-with_oscar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpWCN9LQuKudVWz_ZYcnJkOKTGYvtKWQZsE-UfMaN7et1QreWGkED-BRI-t7ky_CeZUOrcXwZ6SI5As3AFR9DEdG9F1NvC6mzOymukn6zvn3IIjC0qcCnh30tdQN_5E6TBfoBzhT7i3fDP/s320/stan-with_oscar.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stan finally gets his hands on the prize.</td></tr>
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In 1961, Laurel was selected to receive an honorary Academy Award, but shortly before the ceremony, he developed a hemorrhage in his left eye. He had Danny Kaye accept the Oscar for him. Soon after, Dick Van Dyke personally delivered the statue to Stan.<br />
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(Ironically, one other special Oscar was presented that same year—to Gary Cooper, who was also too ill to attend and had his award picked up by Jimmy Stewart. Four weeks later, Cooper was dead of cancer.)<br />
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Laurel would live four more years. By the time Stan passed away, on February 23, 1965, Danny—through his weekly variety show—had become a fixture on CBS. Not long after, a photographer who had visited Stan at his apartment several times thought the Tiffany Network should pay a proper, posthumous tribute to Laurel and recruited Van Dyke and other celebrities to convince CBS.<br />
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CBS agreed. But instead of showcasing the work of Laurel and Hardy, CBS used only quick, seconds-long clips and instead turned <i>A Salute to Stan Laurel</i> into a variety show featuring dance numbers and a parade of CBS sit-com stars in unfunny skits (from Lucille Ball to Fred Gwynne dressed as Herman Munster). Kaye’s second banana, Harvey Korman, appeared in one sketch as a cop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUdFFbS53lFg1GHYb_kBbiEuXUQJw749yLIKsyhc6u02ytAZ-4jQ_nSOlKYxda4AcNhzQptpMmaXivXXy5Spl8bzXzE9pzNNq7dh2SNr_9y9OI4mGx-lWZeilO-VUEz2cxZzovCjVRKfT/s1600/stanlaurelban.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuUdFFbS53lFg1GHYb_kBbiEuXUQJw749yLIKsyhc6u02ytAZ-4jQ_nSOlKYxda4AcNhzQptpMmaXivXXy5Spl8bzXzE9pzNNq7dh2SNr_9y9OI4mGx-lWZeilO-VUEz2cxZzovCjVRKfT/s1600/stanlaurelban.jpg" /></a></div>
Danny was also asked to participate and wisely declined to appear in any sketches. Instead, he consented to briefly reminisce about accepting Laurel’s Oscar and introduce a clip of Stan receiving it. The short bit was reminiscent of the “Sit Down Spot” Kaye would do at the end of each week’s <i>Danny Kaye Show</i>. Though he appeared for less than 60 seconds, Kaye received equivalent billing of those who were cursed with larger parts. The show was widely panned by audiences.<br />
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For those interested in Laurel and Hardy and the full story of the awkward variety show tribute, check out the forthcoming book <i>Laurel & Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies</i>, which is being launched in a special collector’s edition pre-sale on <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/373772146/laurel-and-hardy-the-magic-behind-the-moviesspecia" target="_blank">KickStarter</a>. In fact, those who buy a copy of the new book can also add on <i>Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</i> at a discounted price (see "Me and My Pal" package)! So there is a Santa Claus!<br />
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David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-72248871309975396812015-12-07T14:09:00.000-08:002015-12-07T14:09:03.637-08:00The Danny Kaye Holiday Gift GuideLooking for something special this Christmas for the Danny Kaye fan in your life? You can’t go wrong with any of these 10 great suggestions:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8iadbfvILWqNI6dgKXpNP3FezFMt64UGqIechJ348hIm9v-zk2wEuqtI750pEl4WyBdv5ubJbtaTcyF7BsMNIikSF1O2CTafq9R8-7TxP86Fj4ZYDzu4tq30Fe1ekMyv4l6gKYSa9_ogn/s1600/cover170x170.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8iadbfvILWqNI6dgKXpNP3FezFMt64UGqIechJ348hIm9v-zk2wEuqtI750pEl4WyBdv5ubJbtaTcyF7BsMNIikSF1O2CTafq9R8-7TxP86Fj4ZYDzu4tq30Fe1ekMyv4l6gKYSa9_ogn/s1600/cover170x170.jpeg" /></a><br />
<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0149EBRHW" target="_blank">The Court Jester: Original Soundtrack</a></b> <br />
In teaming with her most accomplished collaborator, Sammy Cahn, Sylvia Fine (Danny’s wife and songwriter) created what to me is her greatest movie work. And the original sountrack contains several songs—“I Live to Love,” “Pass the Basket,” the gorgeous “Where Walks My True Love”—that ended up being cut from the picture. Through its print-on-order system, Amazon has begun reissuing the soundtrack on a 12-track CD. Get it?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkr1vVyScKTLSLxLhITT9EpPIIpXaav3KJBawXa-5XOdDefoL5XqFQENo1kef-5VnRRrxxD273e9NtEQ5zHQeAPeAguWa9RlvGQGejHc2cfVRFX4J-AIk6ThhzEasjZY9kN8vxi1ykmJi/s1600/51l5M%252Bx7RyL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXkr1vVyScKTLSLxLhITT9EpPIIpXaav3KJBawXa-5XOdDefoL5XqFQENo1kef-5VnRRrxxD273e9NtEQ5zHQeAPeAguWa9RlvGQGejHc2cfVRFX4J-AIk6ThhzEasjZY9kN8vxi1ykmJi/s200/51l5M%252Bx7RyL._SY344_BO1%252C204%252C203%252C200_.jpg" width="132" /></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></b> <br />
This is part biography, but primarily a behind-the-scenes look at Danny at work, filled with stories of making all his wonderful movies, TV and radio shows, audio recordings, and stage performances.<br />
It’s based on 30 years of research and interviews with 50 of Kaye’s closest co-workers and friends, and clears up a lot of the nonsense written in prior books and online.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKbtZaN-1c8w9OQ5xiHjDJnGChwBDPhW5ECYLCsIdpZ_uCNH2DSfTuGvGiFsx5VAYWv5LfvcFAfubiKgkRUmealpNCNJAZmJ43iwrrKKmbNrQIfm2oLV-hQfwv-VmVCznB2dSjIKEUNdc/s1600/k2-_34b20262-5b8c-4c4b-81aa-f95e592c9f61.v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaKbtZaN-1c8w9OQ5xiHjDJnGChwBDPhW5ECYLCsIdpZ_uCNH2DSfTuGvGiFsx5VAYWv5LfvcFAfubiKgkRUmealpNCNJAZmJ43iwrrKKmbNrQIfm2oLV-hQfwv-VmVCznB2dSjIKEUNdc/s200/k2-_34b20262-5b8c-4c4b-81aa-f95e592c9f61.v2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b><a href="http://www.walmart.com/ip/White-Christmas-Giftset-Worldwide-With-Lobby-Cards-Widescreen/15029622" target="_blank">White Christmas Gift Set </a></b> Nine years ago, Turner Classic Movies teamed up with Starbucks to put out a “gift set” combining the <i>White Christmas</i> DVD with a soundtrack CD. Four years later, Paramount Home Entertainment updated the package—putting it in a shiner case, adding a couple of special features to the DVD, substituting music downloads for the CD, and throwing reprints of the lobby card set. The second set is still available from several retailers. It’s a nice package, but if you’re just interested in the movie, there’s a better alternative...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl33GpHjTbTzBPbxS0NUpo7tBxnoTnvMXDDEYtjcPb1_Ncx6w73eTkcAAD2-IzPImH4HtXB1xS7b9vs8I-IM0YI53gJM8-MP8ug5grL5t27p3PYTSXId9LJoE2z9-4PxaiXwK1afS-XJFC/s1600/WhtChrstms_DmndEd_BRD_3D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl33GpHjTbTzBPbxS0NUpo7tBxnoTnvMXDDEYtjcPb1_Ncx6w73eTkcAAD2-IzPImH4HtXB1xS7b9vs8I-IM0YI53gJM8-MP8ug5grL5t27p3PYTSXId9LJoE2z9-4PxaiXwK1afS-XJFC/s200/WhtChrstms_DmndEd_BRD_3D.jpg" width="158" /><b></b></a><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/White-Christmas-Diamond-Anniversary-Blu-ray/dp/B00MMPB45Q" target="_blank">White Christmas: Diamond Anniversary Edition</a></b> It seems like every Christmas, a new, re-re-remastered edition of <i>White Christmas</i> would be released, in a slightly different package, with some new but insignificant bell or whistle. There’s now no longer need for any more. Last year’s Blu-Ray release is high-definition perfection. It proudly sits on my shelf next to other beautiful Blu-Rays like <i>Hans Christian Andersen, On the Riviera, Knock on Wood, </i>and<i> On the Double</i>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sd8ayjnaTkDIEsiZnd4LpeUhrbOMzJsBYbGbeJI-SmV6jun8A1LduGnPtFXYNfgaEqoK5G1kdVJG2rCqSTvdHFfYZcqQ8BlvYyKNN1pqZYVIRda7mNPb8I8vp25Rc1ZfLr1vJN-Osf6j/s1600/51-tswGl1dL._AC_UL320_SR214%252C320_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9sd8ayjnaTkDIEsiZnd4LpeUhrbOMzJsBYbGbeJI-SmV6jun8A1LduGnPtFXYNfgaEqoK5G1kdVJG2rCqSTvdHFfYZcqQ8BlvYyKNN1pqZYVIRda7mNPb8I8vp25Rc1ZfLr1vJN-Osf6j/s200/51-tswGl1dL._AC_UL320_SR214%252C320_.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="133" /></a><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Great-Movie-Comedians-Charlie-Collection-ebook/dp/B015EYQU5K" target="_blank">The Great Movie Comedians</a></b> Repeat showings of <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i> on KTLA-5 started my love of Danny Kaye movies, but this classic book by Leonard Maltin opened my eyes to everything else, beyond the handful of movies reshown.I read that chapter on Danny Kaye over and over again—not to mention Maltin’s spot-on analysis of many of my other favorites, like Laurel & Hardy and the Marx Brothers.<br />
This book had been out of print for years, so it’s great to see it finally back in circulation in a new expertly updated edition.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGmmISEJlQYB42caw7s-uiOGiWUhcaCyxEyW2MuZ9swqiumjwJYR4I036TC2t2R8d6kPojAFNfwZFdu7mxqJsRS2mB0e9njWT_aFZQVQfhkG6CB7b6L9Sy2j5vMtKVKOvD1AqCDHxZ_KO/s1600/TheDannyKayeShow_Legends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGmmISEJlQYB42caw7s-uiOGiWUhcaCyxEyW2MuZ9swqiumjwJYR4I036TC2t2R8d6kPojAFNfwZFdu7mxqJsRS2mB0e9njWT_aFZQVQfhkG6CB7b6L9Sy2j5vMtKVKOvD1AqCDHxZ_KO/s200/TheDannyKayeShow_Legends.jpg" width="140" /></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kaye-Danny-Legends/dp/B0124KXXHA" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: Legends</a></b> This latest batch of <i>Danny Kaye Show</i> episodes on DVD release is another winner, with six fascinating shows featuring such guests as Lucille Ball, Louis Armstrong, George Burns, Tony Bennett, and Shirley Jones.<br />
This is the third collection of shows released, maintaining the high level set by a collection of Christmas shows (issued in 2012) and a “Best of...” with, among others, the premiere (2014).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBki_oulE_b-ZwUxbi1nMHS35uJR7PFFlG7Cn6ghrZGLSn18HzfR2F6odyTWvSkF6kJWa8sYsTCStLPxW_UfRAHd2BEjEgHyU5Ux5zbfB_Et-SmVCmeoTvhQuvBWgQaDSM9U5CRaqwXM7/s1600/ra%252Cunisex_tshirt%252Cx3104%252Cheather_grey%252Cfront-c%252C650%252C630%252C900%252C975-bg%252Cf8f8f8.u1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBki_oulE_b-ZwUxbi1nMHS35uJR7PFFlG7Cn6ghrZGLSn18HzfR2F6odyTWvSkF6kJWa8sYsTCStLPxW_UfRAHd2BEjEgHyU5Ux5zbfB_Et-SmVCmeoTvhQuvBWgQaDSM9U5CRaqwXM7/s200/ra%252Cunisex_tshirt%252Cx3104%252Cheather_grey%252Cfront-c%252C650%252C630%252C900%252C975-bg%252Cf8f8f8.u1.jpg" width="184" /></a><b><a href="https://www.teepublic.com/show/100904-wallace-davis-productions" target="_blank">White Christmas Shirts</a></b> A number of inventive companies are offering T-shirts, blouses and tank tops with <i>White Christmas</i> images on them. Payyand offers shirts with the iconic Santa foursome shot and with the stage play’s logo, but my favorites are the T’s, tanks and hoodies with a logo for “Wallace-Davis Productions.” (Redbubble also has Wallace-Davis logo’ed throw pillows and welcome mats!)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc0it-ET63fv9B_hnwd7R7L-1yfwflZIV5c2K6NjeUFJAUVLkEz_Hb2iYR-U4_f4UPKA0HsisH2SnKPGlvPYEjchnLxjOOXMiT7M1MLVWK1KK6g938VfHozNR9W3ddgMiEGZcp_LyN82z/s1600/51FhFShVdBL._SX300_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCc0it-ET63fv9B_hnwd7R7L-1yfwflZIV5c2K6NjeUFJAUVLkEz_Hb2iYR-U4_f4UPKA0HsisH2SnKPGlvPYEjchnLxjOOXMiT7M1MLVWK1KK6g938VfHozNR9W3ddgMiEGZcp_LyN82z/s200/51FhFShVdBL._SX300_.jpg" width="200" /></a><b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001M5EB6Q" target="_blank">Poster Reprints</a></b> Pop Culture Graphics sells colorful print-on-demand reproductions of movie posters, including several Kaye titles (mini-11x17’s of <i>The Court Jester, White Christmas, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, </i>and<i> A Song Is Born</i>, plus full-size 27x40 one-sheets of the <i>Man from the Diners Club</i> and—the coolest—<i>White Christmas</i> in Italian). At $10 for an 11x17 or $20 for a 27x40, including shipping, they’re a lot more affordable—and likely more vibrant—than an original.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3jsa7RiMQEWL0aJSthCXafLrJW1xrPziPIwrxPbkxYe_cTwwbntvtiR-roX9SsvDjBAcJVLvHo1omzxPmyFBaRLYmV21seuwkSXeuHh0P34d1iUWZnKe1lYKB0ahaeRN71we5mUYUiWw/s1600/51fSmyBbScL._SX425_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge3jsa7RiMQEWL0aJSthCXafLrJW1xrPziPIwrxPbkxYe_cTwwbntvtiR-roX9SsvDjBAcJVLvHo1omzxPmyFBaRLYmV21seuwkSXeuHh0P34d1iUWZnKe1lYKB0ahaeRN71we5mUYUiWw/s200/51fSmyBbScL._SX425_.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Photo-Jigsaw-Puzzle-Danny-warner/dp/B00GQA88ES" target="_blank">Danny Kaye Jigsaw Puzzles</a></b> Prints Prints Prints offers three different photo jigsaw puzzles featuring Danny—one a handsome portrait, one as Mitty the Kid, and one at a nightclub with Bette Davis. At $34.99, they’re a little pricey, but very cool looking.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh98G2BAT0_fz3sxs9_HrssROeh2JYbmlJD_ais_3_PPo4ghNpuitrggloenz0_dQFc8ShKKM1spbcD3ewBPWW5AocSTerN5KEx9_yQmOUehqzogBbRjmWU7d0IPFAaxx2og35KwwZDVGk2/s1600/craftsman-books.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh98G2BAT0_fz3sxs9_HrssROeh2JYbmlJD_ais_3_PPo4ghNpuitrggloenz0_dQFc8ShKKM1spbcD3ewBPWW5AocSTerN5KEx9_yQmOUehqzogBbRjmWU7d0IPFAaxx2og35KwwZDVGk2/s200/craftsman-books.jpg" width="173" /></a><br />
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<b><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Classic-Homes-Angeles-Douglas-Woods/dp/0847833844" target="_blank">Classic Homes of Los Angeles</a></b> This stunning coffee table book by architecture expert Douglas Woods showcases fine estates in Southern California, including Danny Kaye’s former home on San Ysidro Drive in Beverly Hills.<br />
Since the Kayes never invited me over for dinner in Danny’s Chinese kitchen, this is the closest I’ll ever get.<br />
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Enjoy the holidays, everyone, and I hope to have another article for you next week!David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-85126396301011420142015-11-06T11:04:00.003-08:002015-11-06T11:05:37.233-08:00The Sketch Danny Saved by Obliterating<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxi0vP1-ZOdEf5ZCgInzYSozArVeduwXtqkQN_tvH9GV0jjfdhMKCx1ECrEXtbQYqI-JaCChU2BXlBRTT0B3CKsHCbcjmC899cb8ycZFlkrpIKBAX1yILJKYurN0Owmn8iRpTZ16ohUfN/s1600/fledermikado.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxi0vP1-ZOdEf5ZCgInzYSozArVeduwXtqkQN_tvH9GV0jjfdhMKCx1ECrEXtbQYqI-JaCChU2BXlBRTT0B3CKsHCbcjmC899cb8ycZFlkrpIKBAX1yILJKYurN0Owmn8iRpTZ16ohUfN/s400/fledermikado.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Kaye had a blast helping to destroy this <i>Mikado</i> spoof on a 1964 episode of The Danny Kaye Show, and crack up Imogene Coca and Harvey Korman in the process.</td></tr>
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The new <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kaye-Danny-Legends/dp/B0124KXXHA" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: Legends DVD</a></i> contains several slick entries of the <i>Danny Kaye Show</i>, but one episode that was so riddled with screw-ups it could have turned into one of the most embarrassing productions Kaye was ever associated with. Instead, thanks to Danny’s ad-libbing, it turned into one of the most fun.<br />
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What helped tremendously that week were two of Kaye’s co-stars, guest star Imogene Coca and series regular Harvey Korman. Coca had decades of experience adjusting to mid-performance mishaps. In 1939, she and Danny had appeared in dozens of sketches together live on stage at Camp Tamiment, and in the 1950s she and Sid Caesar had performed countless more sketches on live TV. Kaye’s TV series wasn’t live, but almost. It was shot “live on tape,” meaning it was recorded straight through in real time and then aired on CBS, usually with minimal editing, four nights later.<br />
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Series regular Harvey Korman, on the other hand, had much more trouble keeping a straight face when the unexpected came up, as weekly viewers of the <i>Carol Burnett Show</i> know (which Korman signed on for weeks after the last <i>Danny Kaye Show</i> aired). Tim Conway, in particular, knew Harvey’s weakness and would delight in trying to crack him up and get him off script.<br />
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Danny wasn’t quite so bad, but would occasionally try to break up Korman to help liven up a so-so sketch. Such was the case on the taping of December 6, 1964. Practically from the start, things started to go wrong. During a quick cold opening astronaut sketch, Danny stumbled on some of his lines and laughed it off—but you can see that he’s amused by Harvey slightly dropping his straight face, just for a millisecond. A dance number and a “perpetually-unemployed Rudy” skit followed, without a hitch. But then came Tony Bennett singing a few songs and one of the camera operators, for some reason, kept shooting the overhead boom mic.<br />
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Next up was one of Imogene Coca’s patented routines, a spoof of Swan Lake, with her in a molting swan costume. Although a comedienne, Coca had also spent years studying ballet and would frequently parody it. Swan Lake, too, went off effortlessly, because it was a number built around Coca and one she had performed many times before.<br />
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But then the wheels came off the bus. At Tamiment, Kaye and Coca had done a Jewish <i>Mikado</i>. So for the TV episode’s big production number, they’d do a World War II Japanese <i>Mikado</i>, called the <i>Fledermikado</i>.<br />
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From the opening scene, the actors started tripping on some of their lines. Korman began losing a little of his composure. Kaye—probably sensing the sketch would otherwise be flat—called him out mercilessly. He also took note of all the other things that kept going wrong—what was supposed to be an avalanche of hats falling from the sky turned into a dribble. Harvey hit his hat on the top of a low doorway. Harvey’s fake beard fell off. Kaye used the fallen beard as a punchline and prop for the remainder of the sketch, at one point even pinning it on Coca’s chin. By the end of the skit, he had the entire dancing troupe in hysterics.<br />
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Proof that this disaster was far more hilarious than if they would have stuck to the script is the fact that, as was their custom, the episode was taped in front of a live audience twice, once where the sketch went relatively smoothly, and once where everything went wrong. You can see which version ended up airing the following Wednesday night.David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-67636453831708431002015-09-25T08:55:00.000-07:002015-09-25T08:56:16.374-07:00Danny Kaye’s Symphonious Sidekick<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0YnaoemhPJZyKSweOzsn7xQWlEIhC-RClYYAkrLE3xMhq821emq9o5NJGI-Pn8xHnTDdGCCdVffvaFGukjMAMy7zXQNMs8fyQTqt_wzElNSWtVofID89dG6q3kaqVP_KTW0oCCr7J2B8/s1600/weston+with+kaye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV0YnaoemhPJZyKSweOzsn7xQWlEIhC-RClYYAkrLE3xMhq821emq9o5NJGI-Pn8xHnTDdGCCdVffvaFGukjMAMy7zXQNMs8fyQTqt_wzElNSWtVofID89dG6q3kaqVP_KTW0oCCr7J2B8/s400/weston+with+kaye.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orchestra leader Paul Weston (at far left, on Danny Kaye's right) could be a goofy foil to Danny and was a fine comedian in his own right.</td></tr>
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I’m anxious to see next month’s DVD release of a new batch of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kaye-Danny-Legends/dp/B0124KXXHA" target="_blank">Danny Kaye Show</a></i> episodes, containing several I’ve never seen before and most of which have never been rebroadcast since their airing 50 years ago.<br />
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Yet from our vantage point, watching the series today is a vastly different experience, apart from the styles in music, comedy, pacing and fashion. Many of Kaye’s once-big-name special guests are now all but forgotten, including one minor celebrity who was there every single week for four years: his orchestra conductor, Paul Weston.<br />
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Those unfamiliar with Weston may look back on his playful exchanges with Danny or his occasional appearances in songs or sketches, and assume he was some sort of “Ed McMahon” character, over whose jolly, diminutive head many of Kaye’s jokes would sail. In fact, in addition to being an accomplished conductor, arranger, composer and pianist, Paul was also an veteran comedian. For decades, he and his wife, singer Jo Stafford, created a series of comedy albums, in which they played an unconventional lounge act, Jonathan and Darlene Edwards.<br />
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But what most of the <i>Danny Kaye Show</i> crew I interviewed for my book <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i> remembered was just how beloved Weston was.<br />
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As production assistant Maggie Warren Scott recalled in her unpublished memoirs “When It Was Fun”:<br />
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<i>We all loved Paul Weston, the orchestra conductor. What a great, great guy, and what a sense of humor. Danny loved to sing and I think he thought he knew more than he did about music.</i><br />
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<i>One evening during musical rehearsal, Paul was conducting and Danny gave him one of his “looks” and said, “The tempo’s slowing up.”</i><br />
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<i>Paul, without losing a beat, looked over his shoulder and said, “Not over here, it ain’t!” Paul just kept going.</i><br />
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<i>Another tempo problem one day, Danny gave Paul the glare and Paul was sitting on his stool watching Danny. The song had already been prerecorded.</i><br />
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<i>There was one time that Danny got back at Paul, big time. The audience was in and the orchestra guys were in their seats. Paul hadn’t come in yet. Danny went over to the orchestra and whispered something to them.</i><br />
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<i>We always opened Danny’s show with him making an entrance and then he would go into his opening number. Paul entered, went to his podium, got the cue from the booth, raised his baton, and started. The musicians just sat there. Paul tried again and nothing. Finally, off stage, Danny was in hysterics and Paul knew he had been had, BIG TIME!</i><br />
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<i>We all had out own “areas,” as we called them. When you got into someone else’s area, it was, “Stay in your own area!” Paul would leave the bandstand and run over with his comments about a sketch, a prop, or anything he felt was wrong, and we would say, “Stay in your own area!”</i><br />
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<i>Someone got a piece of carpet and put it under Paul’s stool and music stand, so that every time he’d start to move, it was, “Get back on your carpet and stay in your own area!”</i><br />
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<i>Paul had now named the City Slicker (a bar near CBS studios), the “Chicken Room.” After every show we would invade the “Chicken Room.” Every Saturday night, the phone would ring and it would be Jo Stafford, one of the all-time great singers and Paul’s wife. She would ask, “Has Paul left yet?”</i><br />
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<i>The anwer, “Oh, yeah, he just left.” You want to bet?</i>David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-13753391173613202362015-09-01T08:10:00.004-07:002015-09-01T08:10:51.260-07:00What to Expect on the New Danny Kaye Show DVDChristmas is coming early again this year, with the October 15, 2015, release of another batch of six great <i>Danny Kaye Show</i> episodes.<br /><br />
This third collection, called “Danny Kaye – Legends,” features Kaye swinging with A List guests, like Lucille Ball, Louis Armstrong, and George Burns.<br />
<br />
The two previous releases included one disc with black-and-white episodes from the series’ sketch-centric first two seasons, and a second disc with color episodes from the music-heavy third and fourth seasons. As a bigger fan of the early shows, I’m not crazy about the idea of this time offering just two Season Two shows and four from the latter years, but completely understand the decision, since the bigger musical stars and the full color do make those shows seem much more contemporary.<br />
<br />
Here’s what to expect:<br />
<br />
• <b>The Lucille Ball Show</b>. Including this disc was a no-brainer. Danny and Lucy work great together, from the balloon dance opening to the quick-change sketch finale. This episode has been viewable in pieces on YouTube for several years, but it will be great to see it cleaned up and reassembled. (Episode 42, originally aired 11-4-64)<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqspkeTmzp1PILQStW6lY6odqfd4GbhHlvIgS2H6UW9Su6PkIEQP-rbvgeb1QfdhbiT9mSU5VRKQVJUyKaw6MIlhhgi8NadkAbWGGv9yLkvFJko3LDtjABz4H9v9ByxH2_HUu2kBoZ5IZ/s1600/danny+kaye+lucille+ball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDqspkeTmzp1PILQStW6lY6odqfd4GbhHlvIgS2H6UW9Su6PkIEQP-rbvgeb1QfdhbiT9mSU5VRKQVJUyKaw6MIlhhgi8NadkAbWGGv9yLkvFJko3LDtjABz4H9v9ByxH2_HUu2kBoZ5IZ/s1600/danny+kaye+lucille+ball.jpg" /></a></div>
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• <b>The Tony Bennett Show</b>. The crooner may be the reason for including this episode, but Danny reuniting with Imogene Coca, his Camp Tamiment co-star, from the 1930s, in spoofs of Swan Lake and the Mikado, will be my main reason for watching. (Episode 47, 12-9-64)<br />
<br />
• <b>The Shirley Jones Show</b>. This episode may have been “love-themed,” but taping it was anything but, as recalled director Steve Binder (who would be fired after the next episode). On the plus (and perhaps more accurate) side, the Righteous Brothers perform “Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.” (Episode 68, 9-29-65)<br />
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• <b>The Liberace Show</b>. I’m really looking forward to this one, Liberace notwithstanding. It features Danny in one of his James Blonde spoofs, in a Giovanni sketch, and teaming with two lovely frequent guest stars (Victoria Meyerink and Vikki Carr) in the song Billy Barnes wrote for them, “Vickie.” (Episode 106, 1-11-67)<br />
<br />
• <b>The Satchmo Show</b>. Louis Armstrong actually taped two episodes of <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i> a month apart in late 1966. Whichever one the DVD’s producers choose, whether the one with the Salute to St. Louis medley and Danny’s Paul Revere number or the one with “The Five Pennies Saints” and Kaye’s Spanish fairy tale “Jose and the Beanstalk,” they can’t go wrong. (Episode 104, 11-16-66, or Episode 107, 1-4-67)<br />
<br />
• <b>The George Burns Show</b>. Burns’ wife and longtime comedy partner Gracie Allen died just a couple of years before this episode was taped, so it will be great to see the master back performing. He works flawlessly with Kaye, in a medley of old standards and in a Jerome sketch. (Episode 113, 3-1-67)<br />
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My thanks to DVD producer MVD Visual for continuing to make these shows available and for picking out another group of winners. Keep releasing them, and we’ll keep buying them.David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-88482008290513912682015-07-28T15:24:00.000-07:002015-07-28T15:24:25.707-07:00Danny Kaye’s Two Sets of Screen Tests<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTX8xIR7D5JTC0DcY7bbE_itiKnAjBxlDRz-2yWq0uBjwFFWuxseepoZ-3cGt-dcrWZHNtDzGCtAn4R4ZsiZgweYFQjADBeO6jKoTDrKPhq1FIJ2hvvrhxCGBJilIw2jTb0T0JWFgzCUQs/s1600/UP-IN-ARMS.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTX8xIR7D5JTC0DcY7bbE_itiKnAjBxlDRz-2yWq0uBjwFFWuxseepoZ-3cGt-dcrWZHNtDzGCtAn4R4ZsiZgweYFQjADBeO6jKoTDrKPhq1FIJ2hvvrhxCGBJilIw2jTb0T0JWFgzCUQs/s400/UP-IN-ARMS.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Producer Sam Goldwyn wanted to make sure Danny (and one particular Goldwyn Girl) were ready for their close-ups before filming started on <i>Up in Arms</i>.<br />
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Soon after signing his five-picture deal with Sam Goldwyn to come to Hollywood, Danny Kaye agreed to report to the studio a year early—in August 1942, during the summer hiatus of his hit Broadway show, <i>Let’s Face It</i>—to make a series of screen tests. Those tests, which resulted in Goldwyn bleaching Danny’s hair blond and almost forcing him to undergo plastic surgery on his nose, are covered in my book, <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i>.<br />
<br />
But what I did not mention is that Goldwyn later had Kaye undergo a second series of screen tests before he would allow the cameras to officially begin rolling on his first movie, <i>Up in Arms</i>.<br />
<br />
After <i>Let’s Face It</i> closed in the spring of 1943, Kaye relocated to Hollywood to begin preparing for his first feature film role. He was originally supposed to star alongside a Broadway revue performer, Virginia Mayo, but Kaye’s wife, Sylvia, protested. Goldwyn agreed to consider casting another unknown, Constance Dowling, in her place and relegating Mayo, for this one picture, to featured “Goldwyn Girl.” Mayo then would be promoted to co-star for Danny’s four remaining films.<br />
<br />
Goldwyn insisted, however, that Mayo be included in the stars’ color tests, which were filmed to sync the Technicolor and to make sure all the leads looked and sounded perfect.<br />
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Principal photography was set to begin June 21, 1943. On May 10, the studio produced Color Test A with Kaye, Mayo, Dowling, Dinah Shore, and Dana Andrews running through lines inside a hospital room.<br />
<br />
On May 20, under the supervision of director Elliott Nugent, they filmed Test B on the dock and inside Dr. Hamiliton’s office. This time, only Kaye, Mayo and Andrews were needed. No Dowling.<br />
<br />
And on June 14, Color Test C featured Kaye, Mayo, Dowling, Shore and Lenore Aubert.<br />
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The next several days included make-up tests, wardrobe tests, dialogue rehearsals, and posing for color stills. For all of them, Goldwyn made sure Kaye was joined by Mayo—providing her with perhaps one of the most exhaustive preparations for a bit part in movie history.<br />
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David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-53619156119379349182015-06-11T09:47:00.000-07:002019-11-06T09:59:37.219-08:00The Danny Kaye Biographies His Wife Almost Wrote<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gJldqJTtKziHl5-WYUURb6oGQfBcRvy1lrdgM81ifYafECphDYVHfysZefPzg23f8QvNtTmAUL80lO1qSM5ye5IlPegWkFWTy7D4tpmhc4UVomwbBiU2epfsxuaPzRO7coWuTFagje1_/s1600/Danny+Kaye+Sylvia+Fine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="307" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6gJldqJTtKziHl5-WYUURb6oGQfBcRvy1lrdgM81ifYafECphDYVHfysZefPzg23f8QvNtTmAUL80lO1qSM5ye5IlPegWkFWTy7D4tpmhc4UVomwbBiU2epfsxuaPzRO7coWuTFagje1_/s400/Danny+Kaye+Sylvia+Fine.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Danny Kaye and his private life were almost the topic of at least three biographies by his wife, Sylvia Fine.</td></tr>
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The other existing biographies of Danny Kaye (unlike the incomparable <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Danny-Kaye-Jesters-David-Koenig/dp/1937878015" target="_blank">Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</a></i>) will tell you that two separate times—once in the 1940s and again in the late 1980s—his wife, Sylvia Fine, attempted to write her own biography of her famous husband. The Kayes’ personal papers at the Library of Congress tell a slightly different story.<br />
<br />
Sylvia’s first attempt at a Danny Kaye book started in March 1946. She thought it would be great for prestige and publicity, but her schedule was packed writing songs for Danny’s weekly radio show and for his upcoming movie, <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i>. More pressing, she had just discovered she was with child and would experience a difficult pregnancy.<br />
<br />
So, Sylvia hired a ghost writer, the well known New York literary agent Ethel Paige. Paige had edited and authored several books. Her most recent was <i>Private Lives of Movie Stars: Hedy Lamarr, James Cagney, Barbara Stanwyck, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball</i>—a book that may have sounded juicy, but was really just press agent puffery. Just what Sylvia was looking for.<br />
<br />
By October 1946, Sylvia was less than two months away from her due date and news was beginning to leak of her rocky relationship with Danny. Fan magazines had begun hinting at his carrying on with Eve Arden. This was not the time for a writer to be digging into their personal life. Sylvia demanded the project be scrapped and that Paige “cease her activites on behalf of Danny in the writing of a book.”<br />
<br />
By March 1947, Sylvia was ready to take another crack at it, this time by her own hand. She would have to be in complete control of the story. Doubleday & Co., at the time the world’s largest book publisher, paid her a hefty advance, hoping for a whimsical look at the entertainer’s life. Instead, Sylvia spent the next two years writing a more critical look she called <i>Seven Years in a Pressure Cooker</i>. The writing period coincided with the bumpiest time Danny and Sylvia’s marriage would endure, including their seven-month separation. As their relationship finally matured into a “new normal,” she opted to return the advance and scrap the whole project.<br />
<br />
Sylvia again started writing a book—but not a biography—in 1976. After teaching a class on the history of musical comedy, first at USC in 1972 and then at Yale for the fall semester of 1975, she thought each lecture would make a great chapter in a book. She paid to have each lesson transcribed, and then began tweaking them into book form. (Interestingly, her chapter on lousy Broadway shows, titled “Turkeys—And Why,” singled out Danny’s only Broadway show she wasn’t involved with, <i>Two by Two</i>.)<br />
<br />
But early on in the project she realized the lessons would be better seen and heard rather than read about. So she turned her efforts to pitching them as a TV series for PBS. They eventually were produced as three specials, starting with <i>Musical Comedy Tonight</i> (1979).<br />
<br />
Sylvia took one last stab at a memoir in 1987, when she signed a contract with Alfred A. Knopf about seven months after Danny’s death. She called it <i>Fine and Danny</i>, a title she’d first thought up for a video compilation of her husband performing her best bits, which she’d put together a few years earlier for a special event in their honor. But Sylvia, at heart an intensely private person, could never bring herself to finish the book and, four years later, died.<br />
<br />
But what about Danny and Sylvia’s daughter, Dena? She is an accomplished writer and author in her own right. Might one day she write a book about her parents? Martin Gottried’s near-fictional <i>Nobody’s Fool </i>claims that the Kayes forced Dena to sign a contract stipulating that she would never write a book about her parents, lest she be cut out of the will. I can only assume this story is apocryphal, since a few years ago Dena was working on a book that she had hoped to have published in connection with the Danny Kaye Centennial Celebration in 2013.<br />
<br />
Alas, the economics of today’s publishing industry prevented its publication as the lavish, photo-filled, coffee-table hardcover she envisioned. Instead, a number of those rare photos are now available for viewing on the Library of Congress’ website. And we are left to hope that one day Dena will sit down and share the fascinating story her mother tried to, but couldn’t.David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-43960413659352387602015-05-19T09:11:00.000-07:002015-05-19T09:11:56.029-07:00The Danny Kaye Sitcom That Almost Was<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSr_MPBqd4le5jjuVTLR5Y5WVSJIimYuVvSz-wH3lPScSq8BU7XzmNNKJwza9ykFl5U_k349_inm4WPclRv1vGtj44x0CxNkcVkiNk555swMUPYWOPRWpB9dD6nStXhFdbLds0S5Zf8u7a/s1600/dr.+danny+kaye.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="303" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSr_MPBqd4le5jjuVTLR5Y5WVSJIimYuVvSz-wH3lPScSq8BU7XzmNNKJwza9ykFl5U_k349_inm4WPclRv1vGtj44x0CxNkcVkiNk555swMUPYWOPRWpB9dD6nStXhFdbLds0S5Zf8u7a/s400/dr.+danny+kaye.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new <i>Danny Kaye Show</i> was planned in 1986 as a spin-off of <i>The Cosby Show</i>.</td></tr>
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<br />
Inspired by the mid-1980s success of the family-friendly <i>Cosby Show</i>, Danny Kaye seriously considered starring in his own self-titled family-friendly situation comedy for NBC.<br />
<br />
To that point, Danny had limited experience with sitcoms. He’d guested in episodes of <i>The Jack Benny Show</i> and <i>The Lucy Show</i> in the early 1960s, as payback for guest spots on his variety series. But the rest of his TV work was specials and a handful of spots on talk shows and variety programs.<br />
<br />
So the idea was to put him on an episode of the top-rated <i>Cosby Show</i>, to gauge his comfort level and the audience’s reaction. The episode, which aired in February 1986, was sort of a quasi-pilot called "The Dentist," with Danny playing the Huxtables’ unorthodox dentist, Dr. Burns.<br />
<br />
The show was well received, but rather than feature the character in a true spin-off, work began on a true pilot for his own series, <i>The Danny Kaye Show</i>.<br />
<br />
As lead writer/producer, Kaye looked to Ernie Chambers, who was a writer on the first three years of Kaye’s 1960s variety series, then left to produce its summer replacement, <i>The John Gary Show</i> (bankrolled by Danny’s company, Dena Productions). Chambers then went on to produce other variety series (<i>Joey Bishop Show, Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour</i>, etc.), before branching into sitcoms and specials.<br />
<br />
Chambers was joined by <i>Carol Burnett Show</i> veteran Saul Turteltaub and his writing partner, Bernie Orenstein, who had first written together, then produced together, on <i>That Girl</i>, and had continued to write and produce together ever since.<br />
<br />
Their idea was to mix the wacky character he played on <i>Cosby</i> with many of Danny’s own personality traits and hobbies. Kaye would play Dr. Henry Becker, a baseball-loving, French pastry cooking pediatrician at a children’s hospital in Pittsburgh.<br />
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They completed their 30-minute pilot script on August 26, 1986. Unfortunately, in just the few months since <i>Cosby</i>, Kaye’s health seriously deteriorated. He had undergone quadruple bypass heart surgery three years prior, during which a tainted blood transfusion gave him hepatitis C. Six months after receiving the script, he was dead. <i>The Cosby Show</i> would be Danny’s final appearance.<br />
<br />
Interestingly, if the sitcom would have ever happened, it would have been the fifth time Kaye had starred in a "Danny Kaye Show," following his radio show of the 1940s, his stage act of the 1950s and 1960s, a TV special of the early 1960s, and his TV variety series of the mid-1960s.David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-40695993871978385632015-05-07T16:19:00.000-07:002015-05-07T16:19:18.757-07:00Dr. Who Was Danny's Double<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEEKGCrGNCGHnhmovp-MWID4pI5NUxdNht8fEflfYUMnR1Y2dLPihl8CwH0FeDXl1G5w1BpQNcGPleTY4Oo6p0pxXL7W42Tt39LGeNivAAgJwQ7ZlBflAqs4C0t_ZlgT12h7aHeVhwbOa/s1600/pertwee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEEKGCrGNCGHnhmovp-MWID4pI5NUxdNht8fEflfYUMnR1Y2dLPihl8CwH0FeDXl1G5w1BpQNcGPleTY4Oo6p0pxXL7W42Tt39LGeNivAAgJwQ7ZlBflAqs4C0t_ZlgT12h7aHeVhwbOa/s400/pertwee.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Comic Jon Pertwee looked so much like Danny Kaye, he was hired to play him.</td></tr>
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Although he became best known as BBC’s time-traveling Dr. Who in the early 1970s, Jon Pertwee started out as an English comedian who was so often mistaken as Danny Kaye, that in time he was hired to play Danny Kaye.<br />
<br />
Pertwee didn’t just look like Danny. He was also equally limber-limbed and nimble-tongued. So, after Kaye’s triumphant appearances at the London Palladium in 1948, Pertwee worked an impersonation of Kaye into his vaudeville act. His impression was so well received, that it was featured in the British film <i>Murder at the Windmill</i> (1949, released in the U.S. as <i>Mystery at the Burlesque</i>), which was really just an excuse to show off a bunch of vaudeville acts.<br />
<br />
The comparisons to Kaye, however, soon began to irk Pertwee. Worse, autograph-seekers were constantly walking up to him and asking for Kaye’s signature. During one music hall appearance in 1951, he told a reporter, “I am tired of being mistaken for Danny Kaye. I am waiting for the day when I hear of Danny Kaye being mistaken for me.”<br />
<br />
Yet that resemblance did get Pertwee more work. In 1953, writer/directors Norman Panama and Melvin Frank had hoped to film their new Danny Kaye picture, <i>Knock on Wood</i>, entirely in London and Zurich, and cast Swedish beauty Mai Zetterling as the leading lady. Yet as soon as they laid out their shooting schedule, to begin June 1, news came that Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation, televised nationally, was to take place June 2. Suddenly it seemed easier and less expensive to make the movie on a Paramount soundstage, with a Paramount crew.<br />
<br />
Instead, a second-unit crew would spend the last two weeks of May filming Zetterling and a body-double for Kaye running around England and Zurich. And the obvious choice to hire as Danny’s lookalike? Pertwee. Unfortunately, Pertwee had a prior commitment, so a stand-in for the stand-in had to be hired for the last three days of filming. Those exteriors in Zurich at the airport, clinic and hotel? Pertwee. The shots in England, on the country road, river bank, clinic, railroad station, hotel, alley, and driving to and from the castle? Also Pertwee. But the exteriors about two-thirds into the movie in England at a crossroads, on the streets, and outside the pub and hotel? Some other guy, who’s noticeably taller and lankier than Pertwee (or Kaye, for that matter).<br />
<br />
Zetterling, too, had to get on a plane to Hollywood, so after the first three days of second-unit work, a double for Zetterling was used in the remaining far shots.<br />
<br />
As a sly nod to Kaye’s double, Panama and Frank in their next Kaye picture, <i>The Court Jester</i>, named one of the assassinated lords Sir Pertwee.<br />
<br />
But that wasn’t Pertwee’s final Kaye connection. In 1975, he sang Danny’s fairy-tale tunes on the soundtrack to <i>Hans Andersen</i>, a stage version of Kaye’s <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> musical (1952). (Pertwee’s 1959 movie <i>The Ugly Duckling</i>, however, had nothing to do with Andersen or Kaye).<br />
<br />
Pertwee died in 1996, like Kaye at age 76, and was compared to Danny till the end.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tClL4rO0WkieC6WO0ztDElIVPvenbLsgUVIlcieHI5sDzFYzDNgAG-YEdnnhC1ZcoevrvqjT1UX882uPtzyJ6Jv4zSPeVdwntfrC4lXNIW8jVT1XRQb4teCkfsmh0AlVQeC-Oeg7U8in/s1600/3rd-pertwee_1208530i.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2tClL4rO0WkieC6WO0ztDElIVPvenbLsgUVIlcieHI5sDzFYzDNgAG-YEdnnhC1ZcoevrvqjT1UX882uPtzyJ6Jv4zSPeVdwntfrC4lXNIW8jVT1XRQb4teCkfsmh0AlVQeC-Oeg7U8in/s400/3rd-pertwee_1208530i.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">British comedian Jon Pertwee gained famed as the third Dr. Who, after years of living as a Danny Kaye lookalike.</td></tr>
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David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457974165466976415.post-77656120836465499882015-01-13T09:21:00.000-08:002015-01-13T09:21:47.248-08:00Son of Goldwyn Helped Spread Kaye Stories<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEZK9IAqWZB1LGtaGYipbmfB-RsGdMTLZ1bg7Jja2axC8NVHWI_P2DBlYsoRx6eO-wXr7bacgdptE_Bq-Ka0CS2dj8BA7Yew5oSD9F2HmEtCsEArICIUV_axe3bt2ytIekvvw4kBZtvS_/s1600/hanschristianandersenpiedpiperart.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMEZK9IAqWZB1LGtaGYipbmfB-RsGdMTLZ1bg7Jja2axC8NVHWI_P2DBlYsoRx6eO-wXr7bacgdptE_Bq-Ka0CS2dj8BA7Yew5oSD9F2HmEtCsEArICIUV_axe3bt2ytIekvvw4kBZtvS_/s1600/hanschristianandersenpiedpiperart.jpg" height="275" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Producer Sam Goldwyn's son began producing shows himself not long after Kaye appeared in his sixth and final Goldwyn film, <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> (1952).</td></tr>
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<br />
Samuel Goldwyn Jr., son of the independent studio head who brought Danny Kaye to Hollywood and produced his first five films, died Jan. 9 at the age of 88.<br />
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His legendary father saw Kaye on Broadway in <i>Lady in the Dark</i> in 1940 and immediately began to pursue him for films. It took him until May 14, 1942, to sign Kaye and his songwriting wife, Sylvia Fine, to a five-picture deal, the first—the war comedy <i>Up in Arms</i>—to begin production a year later.<br />
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It was followed by <i>Wonderman, The Kid from Brooklyn, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, </i>and<i> A Song Is Born</i>. After Danny left to “freelance,” he returned to Goldwyn one last time, for <i>Hans Christian Andersen</i> (1952).<br />
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Goldwyn Jr. became a respected producer in his own right, first in television in the 1950s and eventually in the movies starting in the 1980s. But I’ll always know him as the person who donated—and maintained strict control over—his father’s business papers to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science’s Margaret Herrick Library.<br />
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After several years of begging, I was finally able to get permission from Mr. Goldwyn to pore over scripts, treatments, production records, contracts and correspondence concerning the making of the six Kaye films—research that proved invaluable in the writing of my book <i>Danny Kaye: King of Jesters</i>.<br />
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Goldwyn Jr. also held on to the rights to <i>The Secret Life of Walter Mitty</i>, and over the last decade-plus of his life, he continuing searching for the right script and the right star to remake the Kaye classic. He finally settled on Ben Stiller, whose 2013 film would prove to be Goldwyn Jr.’s final screen credit.David Koenighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10417031199817349010noreply@blogger.com3