Danny Kaye`s death at 74 leaves a gap as individual as his profile. The sadness of it is the mirror image of the delight he gave us for 50 years. He was a superbly gifted clown who did not stop with clowning; he kept finding more gifts, adding them to his life and ours.
One can`t try to sum up Danny Kaye, only to note a few of his elements. A loose-jointed body and a tongue that could run at dizzying speed in what seemed six languages at once. A knack for creating exact and uproariously funny caricatures with an imitated dialect or a raised eyebrow or a flare of the nostrils. A genius for fluid gesture; it made him a remarkably good symphony conductor for one who couldn`t read music. A singing voice recognized all over the world, not for its quality but because you could not help liking it. A love of children that filled his life, both as an actor and as an ambassador-at-large for the United Nations Children`s Fund. A gentleness; he could make fun of anything without ever inflicting a wound.
Perhaps the quality that will be remembered above all is lovableness. That can`t be described, but can`t be forgotten.
