The secret life of Danny Kaye by Freedland, Michael

ISBN: 0312701632

Author: Freedland, Michael

Condition: new

Born in Brooklyn as David Daniel Kaminsky, Danny Kaye was the son of Ukrainian immigrants who came to America looking for the goldena medina -- the golden land. They had high hopes for their son, a gangly young boy with an outlandish shock of bright red hair. The redhead wanted to go into entertainment, but it would not be until Danny survived ingnominious stints as a soda jerk and a dental assistant that he would get his chance. In his twenties, Kaye hit the borscht belt circuit in the Catskills as part of the vaudeville team of Red and Black. An outstanding mimic gifted with a marvelous sense of nonsense, Kaye enthralled his audiences with hysterical dialogues and inspired renditions of "Minnie the Moocher". He soon graduated from this small circuit to the stage in Let's Face It, and before long he came to the attention of Hollywood's moviemakers. He starred in such unforgettable films as The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Hans Christian Andersen. In 1950 Danny Kaye was proclaimed to be the world's greatest entertainer. Even three decades later, the genius of Kaye was still recognized. When he took part in the Royal Command Performance there was no question he would get top billing -- in a cast that included Sammy Davis Jr. and Larry Hagman. But did Danny Kaye ever reach his full potential? In this fascinating biography Michael Freedland argues that like a real-life Walter Mitty, Kaye never pushed himself to the limits of his talents. Freedland delineates the pains, frustrations, and eccentricities that kept Danny Kaye, as great an entertainer as he was, from being as great as he could have been.