Trivia

One of the original owners of the Seattle Mariners professional baseball team.

He had a passion for Chinese cooking and built a kitchen in his house. For years, he invited people (some of them celebrities like Shirley MacLaine, Michael Caine, Cary Grant, John Denver and Itzhak Perlman) and would show them what his cooking genius was about. Qualified guests like French chef Paul Bocuse said they were amazed by his cooking ability.

In an interview with Kaye's daughter Dena Kaye, she recalled that whenever her father was approached by a fan, he or she would invariably ask for Kaye to recite the dialogue of the famously difficult tongue twister "The Vessel With The Pestle" from the movie El bufón del rey (1955). Kaye never refused and recited it verbatim.

In an article in "Look" magazine he related that once while flying over Kansas he correctly diagnosed a pain in his right side as appendicitis. He landed at the nearest airfield and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery. He said he was told that a delay of even a half-hour might have resulted in the appendix rupturing.

Held a commercial pilot's certificate with the following ratings: Airplane Single and Multiengine Land & Instrument Airplane. In addition, he held type ratings to act as Pilot-in-Command of two small business class jets: The LR-Jet (Learjet 20 & 30 series)and the IA-Jet.

Died of hepatitis and internal bleeding, the result of a transfusion of contaminated blood during bypass heart surgery four years earlier.

Was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6125 Hollywood Blvd.; for Motion Pictures at 6563 Hollywood Blvd.; and for Radio at 6101 Hollywood Blvd.

Served as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF.

Conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra at New York's Carnegie Hall for a benefit concert on March 10, 1958--with his feet.

He was Bob Hope's and Humphrey Bogart's favorite comedian.

His trademark red hair was his natural color, but he was persuaded to dye it blond because it looked better that way in Technicolor. Studio mogul Samuel Goldwyn Jr. also had asked him to get his nose fixed so it would look less Jewish, but he refused.

His daughter Dena has revealed that his birth certificate indicates that he was born in 1911, not 1913 as Kaye had publicly claimed, and that no one in the family knows why he made this alteration to his age.

His father, Jacob Kaminski; his mother, Clar; and his two older brothers, Mack and Larry, emigrated from Ukraine to the United States in 1910. Jacob had to work two years before he could pay off those steamer tickets. Three years after this journey, their third and last child was born, and the only one born in America: David Daniel, or as his parents called him: Duvidelleh.

On April 21,1954, he was appointed UNICEF's Ambassador at Large, and made a 40,000-mile good-will trip, which resulted in the short, Assignment Children.

Was the first choice of producers to star in the Broadway musical "The Music Man", but the role eventually went to Robert Preston.

Was named as "King of Brooklyn" at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn Festival in 1986.

Made his acting debut playing a watermelon seed in a school play at Brooklyn's P.S. 149.

Toured Australia in the mid-'50s as Cinderella's friend Buttons in a pantomime version of "Cinderella".

Film mogul Sam Goldwyn wanted him to have an operation to reshape his nose but Danny said until people were seen running out of the cinema screaming he wasn't going to do anything about it.

While he was world-famous for his comic acting ability, his last film appearance, Skokie (1981), in which he portrayed a Holocaust survivor protesting a planned march by Neo-Nazis, was one of only four dramatic film roles he played. Another was the role of the Ragpicker in the 1969 film La Loca de Chaillot (1969), starring Katharine Hepburn. The others were Me and the Colonel (1958) and Las cinco monedas (1959).

The stage musical "The Kid from Brooklyn," which chronicled Kaye's life, implied a tempestuous affair with his radio co-star Eve Arden.

In 1942 was hospitalized for nervous exhaustion.

In 1953 received a Special Tony Award for heading a variety bill at the Palace Theater.

He was a liberal Democrat who opposed the Hollywood blacklist.

His film debut in which he was virtually the whole film was in Up in Arms in 1944 with a tongue twisting song written by his wife, Sylvia.

He was a heavy cigarette smoker, although he tried to switch to a pipe after the Surgeon General's report was published in 1964.

Herbert Bonis was his manager for 35 years.

While appearing in the musical "Two By Two" (1970-1971), he tore ligaments and played the role of Noah in a wheelchair since he did not use understudies.

Amongst his unusual talents are qualifying as a jet pilot and conducting every major orchestra in America up to 1986.

Mentioned in "Hail, Caesar!" (2016).

Interred at Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, Westchester County, New York. Valhalla Plot, Section 19, Lot 1.

Shirley MacLaine claims she had a fling with him, in her 2011 memoir "I'm Over That And Other Confessions.".

In 1990 Sylvia Fine made the first donation of materials for "The Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine Collection" to the Library of Congress. The collection includes recordings, photos, scripts, Musical Comedy Library materials, awards and memorabilia. Some of this collection is available online via the Library of Congress website.

Producer Samuel Goldwyn's wife Francis Howard would often travel to New York City scouting Broadway productions, looking for talent in both the production's acting areas and the creative teams involved. On her 1941 trip to see the Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin-Moss Hart musical "Lady in The Dark" --she discovered Kaye. Returning to Hollywood, she insisted that her husband put Kaye under contract. After he arrived in Hollywood, several screen tests were made to determine the best possible path for his future at Samuel Goldwyn Productions. The major problem with his physical look, besides his nose, was his natural dark-brown hair. Francis, upon seeing his screen tests, told her husband, "Change his hair color" and to "turn Danny into a red headed strawberry blond!" Goldwyn's studio press agent always insisted Kaye's strawberry-blond hair was his natural hair color for, publicity purposes.

Upto mid 1986 he had raised over 5 million dollars through his charity concerts for UNICEF.

He gave up film making after The Man From the Diners Club in 1963.

He was awarded the Legion of Honor, France's highest civilian accolade, for his work on behalf of UNICEF.

Was considered by producer Hal B. Wallis for the lead role in Novio del espacio (1960) at the same time with Alec Guinness and Jerry Lewis, the last one eventually getting the role.

Originally considered for the leading role in It Should Happen to You (1954).

His wife, Sylvia, wrote many of his songs and special material.

Biography in "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives," Volume Two, 1986-1990, pp. 472-475. New York: Scribner, 1999.

Godfather of Mary Louise Weller.