“Sylvia and Danny Kaye Will Go Separate Ways”

The News and Courier – Nov. 12, 1962

By: Hedda Hopper

HOLLYWOOD—One of our most successful teams in show business, Sylvia and Danny Kaye, are about to go their separate ways—professionally, that is. Danny signed for an hour show on television next season, and Sylvia’s turning to Broadway with an adaptation of “The Scarlet Pimpernel.” I asked Sylvia how she let Danny get trapped by TV . . . “I wasn’t asked,” she said. “It’s his decision and he’s happy with it. I’m not equipped to do a show a week—can’t write that fast. Besides if I don’t finish the play, I’ll lose my option. I spent much time going through two intricate English estates to get the rights.”

Together, Sylvia and Danny parlayed $70 and loads of talent into a million dollar husband and wife partnership. Sylvia whipped out the words and music for Danny’s fast-talking delivery. The $70 was all they had when they eloped to Fort Lauderale, Fla., in 1940. An interviewer once said to Kaye, “I gather your wife has been a great help to you.” . . “That,” Danny said, “is a pale and watered down way of putting it.”


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