July 9, 2015
What A-list character actor who started out on Broadway was also one of show biz’ biggest racists? He had a rule that he never take a curtain call with a costar who was not white. Needless to say, this rubbed a lot of his colleagues the wrong way and he didn’t make many allies. Did I mention he was also gay? He didn’t come out during his long career but it was an open secret. He also carried his curtain call rule over to the bedroom.
Danny Kaye
This created a mental image of a naked, imperious Danny Kaye demanding applause & a curtain call after sex.
ReplyDeleteLEAVE DANNY ALONE!
ReplyDeleteMust have been a battle for applause supremacy if the partner was Olivier.
ReplyDeleteI have no idea who this is.
ReplyDeleteI find this hard to believe. He did so much for UNICEF, often travelling to third world countries which are predominately black.
ReplyDeleteHe's one of the most talented song and dance men ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax66QU8pvtA
ReplyDeleteHe's also an amazing comedian. This is classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LS75NtlH3gI
ReplyDeleteGilbert Gottfried interviewed George Carlin's daughter Kelly on his podcast not too long ago. She said that her father would never turn away a young fan and was very good with them. The reason for this is because George idolized Danny Kaye as a kid.
ReplyDeleteOne day, when George was still pretty young, he tried to approach Danny after an event (he may have been waiting by a stage door) and Danny blew right past him and completely blew him off. It was very hurtful to George and he never forgot it.
On another podcast of Gilbert's, they did speak with someone who knew Danny Kaye who said, yes, he used to be a rampant racist and an anti-Semite, largely because of the people around who he was raised, but something happened (I forget what) to change him around, it may have been the war. At a certaion point in his life, Danny became much more tolerant and openminded and started doing charity work for certain groups that in earlier years he would have ignored.
ReplyDeleteI also find this hard to believe. He was on the Cosby Show as a dentist.
ReplyDeleteIt's not that unusual for people to be racist and still do charity work for the "poor little children," esp. back in those days. He might have seen himself as a superior white person who could justify his racism because he helped kids. Or he could've been like some of today's celebs who do stuff like that for good publicity.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is your friend.
ReplyDeleteYou can probably watch "The Court Jester" on youtube.
My mom loved his movies. I remember her telling me it was an open secret in HW that he was gay.
I remember that. Rudy's chubby friend who would never speak wouldn't open his mouth for the dentist.
ReplyDeletePeter, the weird little kid, lol. Saw a photo of that actor as an adult. He looks just the same. :)
ReplyDeleteMadeline Kahn appeared on Broadway with him and said he was a nightmare.
ReplyDeleteHe would constantly mug and go off script to throw off other actors, afraid they would look too good.
I knew Danny was gay, but the racism thing is a surprise. Well, news, anyway - not surprising, given the era he grew up in. And late-in-life epiphanies are known to happen. I mean, he lived through the civil rights era, when all of America was confronted with the awful cost of racism, so easy for whites to ignore (that's the very definition of privilege, after all). If a whole country can start to wake up a bit and say, "oh, wow, guys, we're kinda shitty - maybe we should get on that," then it's no stretch to imagine one guy could.
ReplyDeleteHe may well have been a racist but clearly was not an anti-Semite because he was Jewish and one of his proudest moments was when he got Skokie made.
ReplyDeleteUse to watch his telethons on TV when I was little. Didn't know about him being racist. I will have to agree with Zilla1, he probably changed.
ReplyDeleteI think I read that Shirley McClain had an affair with him. I also read that he and Laurence Olivier were rumored to have an affair. Anywho, I never could stand his acting.
ReplyDeleteSo he was all about White Christmas...
ReplyDeleteMadeline Kahn was a goddess who died too young. Fuck Danny Kaye.
ReplyDeleteWasn't he the original Walter Mitty?
ReplyDeleteAttention Enty: Today was great. Now, these are blind items. Not one housewife, teen mom or tweener in the bunch (never mind Shirley Temple...not a tweener). i would rather have these "old Hollywood" blinds than what has been in this blog lately.
ReplyDeleteNo surprise to me at all about Danny being gay. To me, he was always so obviously gay, I'm surprised he fooled anyone into thinking he was actually straight. He had ZERO sexual chemistry with his female leading ladies. It was always so forced and unnatural looking for him, lol. If my girl Madeleine Kahn said he was a dick, then I believe it!
ReplyDeleteOld Hollywood is true because I'm sitting here scratching my head and wondering who any of these people even are, and I'm in my THIRTIES.
ReplyDelete+10000
ReplyDeleteHiding this reveal from my partner. "Five Pennies" is one of his most favorite films because his idol, Louis Armstrong, was in it. He always talks about this number Louis and Danny did. Definitely wish I could un-see this item myself.
ReplyDeleteHe also had affairs with several high profile women in the UK, Marina, Duchess of Kent to name just one. Seems he was Bi-sexual rather than gay.
ReplyDeleteAmen. And I'm not religious by any means. :-)
ReplyDeleteKahn was brilliant. Loved her.
ReplyDeleteThank you Enty for all of the Old Hollywood blinds. I love reading here daily.
ReplyDelete+ milllion...heck + infinity.
ReplyDeleteMadeline Kahn was fucking AMAZING!!!!!
How disgusting!!!!
ReplyDelete