“Kaye Inspires Loyalty”
Edmonton Journal – Mar. 7, 1968
By: Kevin Thomas (Times-
Portions in blue are from the Des Moines Register's article "For Danny, It's 'A Question Of Stretching'" from Feb. 25, 1968
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LAS VEGAS – “You’re the greatest guy in the world,” cried a voice in the darkness.
“But you don’t know my real personality,” replied Danny Kaye from the stage in the Congo Room at the Sahara Hotel here.
Those who do know him, however, seem to agree with the woman who made her remark for all to hear.
Like many reputedly temperamental entertainers, Kaye inspires loyalty.
His pianist, Sammy Prager, has been with him 24 years. His conductor, drummer Sidney Kaye (no relation), has been with him 15 years. With him on the opening night of his Sahara debut was Philip Goldfarb, a department store executive with whom he once performed in the Catskills 35 years ago.
“I can’t put it into words, and I don’t even try any more,” says Sidney Kaye. “All I know is when I’m up there for Danny, I’m happy. He’s a warm, wonderful human being. That’s not to say he can’t be as mean as the next man, but even then there’s always some warmth mixed in. I’ve decided that people like Danny or Jerry Lewis can’t be judged like the ordinary man. Whenever they’re difficult I always think that’s part of their being special.”
The woman’s spontaneous expression of affection and appreciation for Kaye came near the end of the first turn he had enjoyed doing since opening night.
He had sung, danced, mimicked and mugged his way through his unique repertoire in
five previous performances, but this was the first time he felt he had really reached
his audience. Now he was transformed by the warm response.
He makes no attempt to
hide his need for this kind of love. He said, “I couldn’t be any happier. You never
know when it’s going to happen. It’s an indefinable chemistry between me and the
audience. I can go out and hate them when they don’t respond and they’ll never know
it. That’s technical proficiency.”
If Danny Kaye were not an entertainer, he might easily have been a flyer. As it is,
he is a licensed pilot with instrument, commercial and jet ratings and has just flown
all over the world with the Israeli National Youth Symphony, which he conducted in
a series of fund raising concerts. Along with conducting symphony orchestras for
charity, his other grand passion is Chinese cookery. Once he served an 11-
After winding up his Vegas stint, he flies to Paris to make The Madwoman of Chaillot, his first film in five years. It asks whether it is the asylum inmates or the rest of the people who are truly insane.
“I play the ragpicker,” Kaye said. “He’s a disbarred archeologist. Do you know the cast? Katherine Hepburn, Simone Signoret, Margaret Leighton, Yul Brynner, and now I think Paul Henried has signed.
“The people are important. It’s like this. Pilots fly a little better when they’re flying with great fliers—it’s the same with actors, runners or golfers. It’s all a question of stretching. Unless a man keeps stretching he never knows where he can go.
“When we did the TV series we started at the top and finished an hour later. Every goof was left in. This gives a sense of immediacy the audience can identify with. You can turn an accident into an advantage. It can have the brilliance of imperfection. Hey, I like that—‘the brilliance of imperfection.’
“All those stories about me having been the last holdout to TV were nonsense. I always felt if I could work for TV, and TV could work for me, I’d be delighted. I wouldn’t dream of saying I wouldn’t do TV again. Perhaps it would be in a different form.
“Right now—though it might be only a phase—I want to play theater-
“What’s most
important to me now is my emotional and physical well-