“Oscar for Danny Kaye Big Rumor in Filmland”

Nevada State Journal – October 18, 1958

By: Vernon Scott

HOLLYWOOD (UPI) – An Academy Award for Danny Kaye?

That’s the hottest rumor in movietown these days, and nobody’s more amazed than Danny—that rare actor who doesn’t think he deserves it.

“I’m flattered by the Oscar rumors, but I don’t think I deserve an award,” he says.

Gone are the zany props, the rapid-fire “git-gat-giddle,” the outrageous mugging that made Kaye a top comedian, and in his very first shot at a straight role Danny hit the bullseye in “Me and the Colonel.”

“The part was a startling change from my usual brand of comedy. It was a real leap off the diving board. A gamble. It was not only a character role, but there was no music, no funny props, no costumes to depend on.

“For the first time in my life I played somebody other than Danny Kaye, and I loved it,” the funnyman said.

Danny liked the change of pace so well he is starring in his second straight role, playing the life story of musician Red Nichols in “The Five Pennies.”

Again, Danny draws on warm, sentimental humor, instead of the explosive yoks that rocked his audience in “Up in Arms” and “Knock on Wood.”

“The transition was easy for me,” he continued. “But I couldn’t have done it ten years ago. For one thing, I’ve grown older, and if a man matures in his thinking he comes to a point where he must try a new avenue in his career. That’s what happened to me.

“All my travels for the United Nations have given me an insight into people and situations that I never understood before.

“I realize now that people have to see humor in the tragic moments of life if they are to survive. Humor and tragedy are very close.”

Danny’s personality off screen has undergone a metamorphosis comparable to his movie revolution. He’s no longer the wise-cracking, flip character he once was. He seldom raises his voice or mugs it up for laughs—but there’s still a twinkle in his eye.

Sitting in his dressing room at Paramount Studios, he discussed his career intently.

“If you’ll think back to the pictures I’ve made, you’ll realize there were one or two scenes in every one of them that included moments of serious drama. Every comedy needs that element. Just as every drama needs a few laughs.

“If a heavy drama came along that appealed to me, I’d do it, but I’ll never give up comedy. I couldn’t.

“When I’m through with ‘The Five Pennies’ I’ll head for Japan to make ‘The Bamboo Kid.’ It’s a comedy in the old Kaye tradition.

“A new career has opened up for me,” Danny concluded. “Now I have an opportunity to do a different type of picture every time I go to the post.”

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