“Comedian Danny Kaye dies”

Tri City Herald – Mar. 4, 1987

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Comedian Danny Kaye, who enthralled adults and youngsters alike with tongue-twisting patter in such films as Hans Christian Andersen and The Court Jester, then became an advocate for the world’s children, died Tuesday at the age of 74.

The red-haired star, who worked his way up from busboy to Broadway, TV and the movies and international honors, died of heart failure brought on by complications of internal bleeding and hepatitis, said publicist Warren Cowan.

His wife of 46 years, Sylvia, and his daughter Dena were at his bedside at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center when he died at 3:58 a.m.

Kaye, who also starred in such film classics as White Christmas and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, was hospitalized Sunday and had been in extremely critical condition, said hospital spokesman Ron Wise.

Dr. Charles Kivowitz, his physician, said Kaye contracted hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver, from a blood transfusion during heart surgery in February 1983.

President Reagan said the comedian “could light up a room by just smiling.”

“A comedian, actor, singer and conductor, Danny Kaye delighted millions the world over with his special talent for making us laugh,” Reagan said. “Children, especially, felt his warmth and humanity and he enjoyed a special bond with his young audiences.”

Kaye’s titles as official permanent ambassador-at-large for the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, earned him the title “Ambassador to the World’s Children.”

“He was truly a champion for children in every continent,” said U.N. Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar.

“While UNICEF gives them food and medicines, I make them laugh,” Kaye said after visiting refugee camps in India in 1971.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presented Kaye with a special Oscar in 1954 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982 for his charitable works, especially with UNICEF. He also received a special Tony award in 1953 and Emmy awards for The Danny Kaye Show in 1964 and best children’s television special in 1975.

Queen Margreth of Denmark knighted Kaye in 1983 for his portrayal of Hans Christian Andersen in the 1952 musical film. The citation called him “the Pied Piper to the children of the world.”

Earlier that year, Kaye was awarded the 22nd annual Gold Medal of the USO. He had entertained U.S. servicemen in Korea, Vietnam and World War II.

Although Kaye couldn’t read music, he conducted symphonies all over the world to benefit children and musicians’ pension funds. He had a unique touch, like using a flyswatter to lead the New York Philharmonic in a 1981 performance of Flight of the Bumble Bee.

“As a guest conductor with virtually every major American orchestra, Danny Kaye raised more than $6 million for musicians’ pension plans during the past quarter century,” said Catherine French, chief executive officer of the American Symphony Orchestra League in Washington. Kaye won the group’s Gold Baton in 1973.

“Danny’s death has diminished grievously the American image the whole world loved—warm, frank, loveable, irreverent, funny, kind and generous. We all mourn the passing of an abundant and unique talent,” said composer-conductor Leonard Bernstein.

Last year, Kaye was nominated for an Emmy for an appearance on The Cosby Show. In February 1983, he won the 1982 Screen Actors Guild Annual Award for “fostering the finest ideals of the acting profession.”

“He was a controlled zany,” said comedian-director Carl Reiner. “He was the epitome of grace and zaniness; a strange combination and he became a type of comedian to emulate.”

Born David Daniel Kaminsky on Jan. 18, 1913, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Kaye began his career working the Borscht Belt circuit of summer resorts in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

In addition to his work as an entertainer, Kaye was a founder and managing limited partner of the Seattle Mariners baseball team, and a walking baseball encyclopedia; a licensed pilot with instrument, commercial and jet ratings; an honorary member of both the American College of Surgeons and American Academy of Pediatricians, and an internationally recognized amateur chef specializing in Chinese and Italian cuisine.

He once entertained three of France’s most eminent chefs for a home-cooked dinner at his Beverly Hills estate. Asked if he was nervous, Kaye said: “Why should I be nervous? What do they know about Chinese cooking?”

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