“Danny Kaye Believes There’s Room For All”
Toledo Blade – Sep. 4, 1962
By: Joe Hyams
HOLLYWOOD (HTNS) – Ask Danny Kaye a question on an interview and his eyes answer
for him. Sometime ago we began making notes about this. “The salmon-
This is not to say that Mr. Kaye is hostile and uncommunicative. He is neither. Ordinarily, he is warm, friendly and a nonstop conversationalist. It is the sight of the interviewer’s pad and pencil that immobilizes all but Mr. Kaye’s eyes. So, the other day when visiting him on the set of Columbia’s “The Man From the Diner’s Club,” we arranged for the film’s press agent to take notes surreptitiously.
Did Mr. Kaye think the film industry was in deep trouble?
“Joe, I found out a real piece of information in Washington a couple of months ago. Did you know that there’s never been a brand of cigarettes discontinued? No one cigarette was ever replaced. By the same token, no entertainment medium has ever been replaced.
“When vaudeville was in its heyday as the only form of entertainment, radio came along. People in New York were glued to their sets. If they go to Newark and three hours of organ music, they were delighted. Everyone said radio would kill vaudeville.
“Then motion pictures and records came along and they were going to kill radio. Then along came television, which was going to do in motion pictures.
“But nothing kills everything. Television is now the biggest mass entertainment medium, but it won’t kill movies. Everything has a place in the order of things.
“When I first came into movies people said they were finished because there were no replacements for men like John Gilbert and Tom Mix. I never knew them. But, they did find replacements, just as they’ll find replacements for the big stars who’ve left our generation.
“All the mediums will continue—it’s just that people will get more selective. But that’s as it should be. That’s life today. People have more choice of entertainment. I’m not just interested in movies or television, but I also play golf, fly, and cook. I’m interested in the world itself and I’m selective.”
Kaye paused for a moment, unaware that he had said a large mouthful. The press agent put down his pad and began to munch on a sandwich. We did have another question, though, and unthinkingly took out a notebook.