Clown prince had a huge heart

Press, 5 March 1987, Page 10

Clown prince had a huge heart

NZPA-ReuterLos Angeles

Danny Kaye, star of stage, screen and television for more than 40 years, will be remembered most for his more than 35 years of unpaid work as roving ambassador for the United Nations Children Fund, says his wife, Sylvia.

“Unicef is a living legacy for him because of the many children who are alive today because of his efforts,” she said.

Kaye, aged 74, died early yesterday of heart failure brought on by intestinal bleeding and hepatitis.

UniceFs executive director, James Grant, said: “All over the world smiles are a little less bright and a little less wide today, saddened by the loss of a man who made the whole world smile.

“He brought joy to the lives of millions of children.”

Born David Daniel Kaminsky in New York on January 18, 1913, the red-haired Kaye was one of the world’s last international clowns, a unique force who had more dimensions to his life than all but the most energetic people. A private pilot certified to fly jumbo jets, he also conducted many of the world’s best symphony orchestras. He was a gourmet chef,

specialising in Chinese cuisine; once played to a five handicap in golf; and was a fanatic sports fan who owned part of a professional baseball team.

Kaye was the son of an immigrant Ukrainian tailor. He worked in drug-stores, as an insurance adjuster and as a “Bortsch Belt” comic on the circuit of Jewish resorts and camps in New York’s Catskill Mountains.

Kaye married Sylvia Fine in January, 1940. She composed lyrics and music for him and it was after he sang one of her songs, “Stanislavsky,” at a New York nightclub that his climb to fame began.

He got his first big break in 1940 with his

Broadway debut in “Lady in the Dark.” He stopped the show each night by naming 54 Russian composers — real and imagined — in 38 seconds in a song named “Tchaikovsky?’ Kaye went on to star in 17 films, including “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” “Up In Arms,” “A Song is Born,” “White Christmas,” “The Inspector General,” “Court Jester” and “Hans Christian Andersen.” He won an honorary Academy Award in 1954 and two Emmy Awards for his television work.

His career was sharply curtailed by heart bypass surgery in February, 1983, and a hipreplacement operation the following year.

With a face that seemed to be made of rubber, eyes that could light up a theatre, and a unique style of fast-talk-ing comedy, Kaye captured the hearts of generations of young and old alike throughout the world.

In his later years he devoted most of his time to his work for Unicef, tirelessly travelling the world to give performances and raise funds.

Kaye said of the underprivileged children who became the main recipients of his laugh-ter-making gifts: “They are like growing flowers and it’s good to go back and see how the flowers have grown.”