# Danny Kaye was a freaking genius **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2007, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947 "2007-04-13T13:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/21 "2007-04-13T16:22:55Z")
Danny Kaye was one of the best movie comedians ever. His works were wonderful, and he had the added genius of a decent voice (as he showed more than once, such as _White Christmas_ and _Hans Christian Anderson_). I have loved _The Court Jester_ since I was a child, had it on VCR and now on DVD. Gotta admit Glynis Johns was pretty attractive and seeing Angela Lansbury as a thin beauty is quite the eye-opener. The flagon/vessel/chalice scenes are hilarious, as was his song “Maladjusted Jester.” But there were also his scenes where he gets snapped in and snapped out of his rakish hypnotized self. One movie not mentioned yet is _A Song is Born_, where he is Professor Hobart Frisbee. Yes, it’s a remake of a more classic film, _Ball of Fire_, but the Kaye version has several quite well known musicians, including Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Another staple of Saturday TV matinees. He should be required watching for anyone who loves comedy that doesn’t use the word “fuck” every five seconds. Only Robin Williams as a comedic actor has been even close in my mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/22 "2007-04-13T16:26:37Z")
> [@](#): > > One movie not mentioned yet is A Song is Born, where he is Professor Hobart Frisbee. Yes, it’s a remake of a more classic film, Ball of Fire, but the Kaye version has several quite well known musicians, including Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman. Another staple of Saturday TV matinees. That’s the film I came in to mention. It’s a fascinating look at the state of music in America a half-decade+ before Elvis came onto the scene. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/23 "2007-04-13T16:32:38Z")
[QUOTE=percussion] A good friend of mine who was timpanist in a number of the big North American orchestras told me once his favorite conductor was Danny Kaye. Thats a huge complement from someone who worked with Seji Ozawa, Lenny Bernstein, Andrew Davis, Bernard Haitink etc!! Look for him conducting “Fiddle Faddle” with the NYP on youtube 🙂 [/QUOTE] For the YouTube impaired, I give you [Fiddle Faddle](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc1O5hDlYmk) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/24 "2007-04-13T16:33:16Z")
\ My younger brother barfed on him in an airport. \ ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/25 "2007-04-13T16:49:42Z")
the fencing coach for _The Court Jester_ and Basil Rathbone both agreed that, despite no training whatsoever, he was such a gifted mimic that by the end of shooting he was a fine swordsman. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/26 "2007-04-13T18:40:04Z")
Tapockita…tapockita…tapockita Walter Mitty validated my life. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/27 "2007-04-13T18:48:23Z")
Danny Kaye truly was a freakin’ genius. _The Secret Life of Walter Mitty_ is one of my favourite films, and one of my earliest memories is watching it on TV. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/28 "2007-04-13T19:24:38Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] One of these days I have to hear a recording of his routine that Tom Lehrer used as a basis for “Lobachevsky”. [/QUOTE] “Lobachevsky” was inspired by Danny Kaye’s “Stanislavsky” (written by the incomparable Sylvia Fine, Danny’s wife). It’s on the soundtrack album of _The Kid from Brooklyn_. You can listen to a brief clip of “Stanislavsky” [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B0006O0C9O001004/103-1174302-1220617). ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/29 "2007-04-13T19:43:46Z")
Okay folks. You talked me into it. I’ll be raiding the Danny Kaye section on Netflix this month. My Danny Kaye story, BTW: one of my relatives was the kind of vicarious hypochondriac who asserts confidently – based on evidence of the most paltry sort imaginable – that child X will grow up to be afflicted by disorder Y or Z (and will thus lead a miserable life) unless instant corrective measures are taken. She watched my infant daughter drinking from her bottle, and somehow came to the conclusion that the manner in which it was done would inevitably lead to her speaking in a profound labiodental lisp, thereby destroying any possibility of her achieving the slightest degree of social acceptability yadda yadda yadda. So as Kizarvexilla learned to speak, I subjected her constantly to the repetition of tongue-twisters, particularly those that would vex Biggus Dickus or Winthrop Peroo to a near-fatal degree (fans of the immortal Mr. K will be nodding knowingly by this point in my overblown narrative) At the tender age of two years, my daughter could rattle off “Now Sheila’s not sure what she should be selling / Should Sheila sell seashells or should she sell shoes?” with great aplomb. Though it had taken months of effort, the look of shock on my mother’s – I mean, the aforementioned overreactive relative’s – face upon hearing an impromptu recital was profoundly satisfying. ---
**Author:** ![Will\_Repair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a698b9/32.png) [@Will\_Repair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Will_Repair)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/30 "2007-04-13T20:34:43Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] Any other Danny Kaye fans out there? [/QUOTE] I had his LPs! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/31 "2007-04-13T20:42:39Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] And apparently he was the inspiration for a dog in some Warner Brothers cartoons, in his “Russian” guise. [/QUOTE] Daffy Duck also did the Russian Danny Kaye in the Clampett cartoon _Book Revue_. “Nothing could be feener than to be in Caroleener in the MOOOOOOOOOOOOORnink!” ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/32 "2007-04-13T20:48:57Z")
I haven’t seen a Danny Kaye film since I was a little kid catching them on TV, but one thing about him has always stuck with me: He seemed not only to be a warm person, but to greatly _enjoy_ whatever it was he was doing on screen. Unlike a lot of actors, who seem to resemble Jon Lovitz’s Master Thespian character, Kaye let just a little bit of himself show in the roles he played. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/33 "2007-04-13T22:38:08Z")
[QUOTE=Loach] For those of you that didn’t catch it he was great in Harlan Ellison’s _Paladin of the Lost Hour_ which was on the new Twilight Zone in the 80s. [/QUOTE] Ellison was not pleased with the casting. [Ellison Webderland: Harlan Talks About Writing 'Paladin'](http://harlanellison.com/iwrite/aboutpal.htm) > [@](#): > > For him to accept a role in this segment of TZ was considered an indication of its quality. And everyone was delighted. I was not delighted. > > Viewers of the show have raved about Mr. Kaye’s performance. While it contained much of merit, I do not voice my opinion, suggesting only that they read the original story. Or hear this recording. The interpretations are quite different. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2007, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/34 "2007-04-13T22:54:13Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] Ellison was not pleased with the casting. [Ellison Webderland: Harlan Talks About Writing 'Paladin'](http://harlanellison.com/iwrite/aboutpal.htm) [/QUOTE] Who cares what Harlan thought. He’s an obnoxious idiot when it comes to such things. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/35 "2007-04-14T03:11:11Z")
He was also one of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/36 "2007-04-14T03:35:18Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] “Lobachevsky” was inspired by Danny Kaye’s “Stanislavsky” (written by the incomparable Sylvia Fine, Danny’s wife). It’s on the soundtrack album of _The Kid from Brooklyn_. You can listen to a brief clip of “Stanislavsky” [here](http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B0006O0C9O001004/103-1174302-1220617). [/QUOTE] Dammity-damn-damn! I can’t play the clip! Does this piece include lyrics along the lines of…“Be a tree! Be a sled! Be a spool of purple thread!”? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/37 "2007-04-14T03:55:43Z")
[QUOTE=freckafree] Dammity-damn-damn! I can’t play the clip! Does this piece include lyrics along the lines of…“Be a tree! Be a sled! Be a spool of purple thread!”? [/QUOTE] The brief clip to which I linked doesn’t include those lyrics, but the full song does. Be a tree, be a sled, Be a purple spool of thread. Be a storm, a piece of lace, A subway train, an empty space. For another shot at listening to the clip, it’s the fourth track [here](http://www.samgoody.com/Kid-From-Brooklyn-Front-Page_stcVVproductId2987411VVcatId463278VVviewprod.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/38 "2007-04-14T04:45:20Z")
Danny Kaye also had a knowledge of medicine that rivaled some doctors. Besides observing surgeries, he once diagnosed his own inflamed appendix and landed his plane (he was a private pilot) at the nearest airport to the Mayo Clinic to get it attended to. He would have made a hell of a doper. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/39 "2007-04-14T07:30:50Z")
I also heard that he never once read a book. He just always stared the book down and demanded it give its information to him. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947/40 "2007-04-14T07:41:29Z")
[The pellet with the poison’s in the vessel with the pestle. The chalice from the palace has the brew that is true.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS75NtlH3gI) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/danny-kaye-was-a-freaking-genius/399947.md?page=3)