Actor, singer, dancer and comedian Danny Kaye of Beverly Hills, Calif., died Tuesday morning in Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles from hepatitis and intestinal bleeding. He was 74 years old.
Born David Daniel Kaminsky in Brooklyn, N.Y., to Ukrainian Jewish immigrant parents, the redhead started his entertainment career as a comedian in the “Borscht Belt” hotels in the Catskills.
He starred in dozens of films, among them the classics “Hans Christian Andersen,” “White Christmas,” “The Inspector General” and “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.”
His TV series “The Danny Kaye Show” earned him an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award. He also won an Emmy for a children’s special in 1975. His final TV appearance was in 1981 in CBS-TV’s “Skokie” as a Holocaust survivor protesting the scheduled Nazi march in Skokie, I11.
In addition, the versatile artist appeared on Broadway and conducted some of the world’s best known symphony orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic.
Kaye also was the long-time official ambassador-at-large for UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund. He adored performing for children around the world.
He visited Israel numerous times and often entertained Israeli soldiers.
He was released last week after a three-week hospitalization, and was readmitted Sunday.
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