Customer Reviews

Nobody's Fool

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is a dreadful book by a journalist who ought to know better. He has his theories about Danny Kaye, and he fits the evidence (some of which is mighty thin) around them, unable to disguise how irritating and contemptible he finds his subject. His main theory is that Kaye wasn't "sexually available" and was "whipped by obedience" by his wife, and was therefore gay. The claim that he wasn't "sexually available" is repeated over and over, despite the fact that Kaye is shown having numbers of girlfriends in his early years and later affairs with Eve Arden, Princess Margaret, and others -- so it's a bit strange, not to say contrary, that Gottfriend insists his sexuality is hesitant or dubious. He throws out insinuations like "He certainly knew how to make love to [an audience]. The question was whether he could make love to a person." The whole book is full of snide remarks like that, dropped in without provocation. Even a photo of Kaye looking a healthy 60 (but without his age actually being identified) is captioned "Despite his interest in medicine and health, Kaye aged prematurely. His haggard appearance reflected an assortment of operations as well as, perhaps, a lifetime of internalized emotions." Gottfried labels Kaye "nasty," "icy," "juvenile," "childish," "passive," and, again and again, "sexually ambiguous." (Gottfried's ideas of what constitutes a real man seem to be straight out of the he-man '50s, and men who can sing, dance, and improvise comedy need not apply.) His antipathy for Kaye's wife, Sylvia Fine, is even stronger. Did he write this book on assignment? It seems odd that someone would dislike the subject of his book so strongly and feel so little sympathy for any aspect of him. What perhaps troubled me the most is the many statements made without citing evidence -- "the popularity of the double-talk was beginning to bother him," as well as all the innuendoes about sexual passivity -- so that in many instances we have no way of assessing how strong his evidence is. This is a pop biography, not a serious one, as if Danny Kaye doesn't deserve to have his work or life taken seriously. It's also as if the only interesting things about him might be contradictions to his public persona -- he wasn't gregarious! he was moody! he was unhappy! he was sexually ambiguous! -- as if in disappointment that no bigger scandals are forthcoming. Danny Kaye deserves better.

A twinkly-eyed jolly Hans Christian Andersen he was not, despite what the movies led us to believe. Instead, as the first full length biography of the master of the absurd, Danny Kaye, makes clear, he was bereft of humor off stage. What he had, according to this biographer, was a penchant for the small, the petty, the spiteful, and a great gift for scene stealing.

However, none of that detracts from the actor's one-of-a-kind genius. While most of us probably missed the Broadway musical "Lady In The Dark" many treasure Kaye's televised delivery of that musical's show stopper - "Tchaikovsky," in which he recited the names of 49 Russian composers in 38 seconds. Such movies as "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "White Christmas" won him numerous fans; his television show (broadcast in the mid 60s) won him countless more.

Pagliacci typifies the tearful clown in opera; perhaps Danny Kaye does the same in filmdom. Certainly the supposition that a comedic flair springs from pain is not new.

Nobody's Fool brims with show business anecdotes, and refutes the oft heard rumors of a liaison between Kaye and Sir Laurence Olivier. The descriptions of Kaye's mean spiritedness are all the more puzzling when one remembers his tireless efforts for UNICEF.

One indisputable fact is that he was an incredibly gifted entertainer, and he entertained us royally.

This is a rather comprehensive look at Kaye's life with credible, recognizable sources (such as Alan King and some of Kaye's co-stars/directors/producers), although this book screams for input from the biggies in Kaye's life such as his daughter (apparently prohibited from speaking about her parents in their will) and some of his high-profile friends (most of whom were dead by the time this book was published). Gottfried airs out Kaye's dirty laundry pretty much, which is why we all read biographies anyways, and even if half of what he claims is true (no reason to believe it isn't as Gottfried is a respected journalist and the book has credible sources), then it is a fact that the Danny Kaye that generations laughed at for years and years was not really a reflection of who Kaye really was, and that Kaye predictably had a very dark side to him like most "zany" comedians -- Jerry Lewis, Robin Williams, Steve Martin and of course Jim Carrey come to mind.

Kaye could have been worse -- no claims of drug/alcohol abuse, not physically abusive, etc. -- but he appears to have been a totally self-absorbed manic-depressive and possibly (POSSIBLY) a closeted homosexual. The revelations made me sad not so much because he wasn't what he portrayed on-screen, but that he appears to have not enjoyed such a rich life and did not appreciate what he did for people (and did not appreciate the people who supported him and loved him so much). I never imagined Kaye to be a zany, delightful elf in his off-hours, but I always imagined him to be a gentle, perhaps retiring, sweet man, and according to Gottfried, he was not.

I think the person I felt the worst for after reading this book was his wife, Sylvia Fine, who has a notorious reputation in Hollywood lore as an enormously unpleasant woman. Was she this way because she was really that unkind and controlling? Gottfried presents a slightly different perspective, portraying her as a very shy, somewhat homely, but enormously intelligent woman who lacked social confidence, especially when contrasted to her incredibly extroverted and charming husband. The Fine we come to know is a woman who fell madly in love with Kaye at the age of 14 and kept on worshipping and holding on to him through infidelities, isolation, abandonment and humiliation up until his deathbed.

All-in-all, the book left me feeling that Kaye and Fine's life was triumphant in many outward ways but tragic on the personal side. But Kaye was a one-of-a-kind genius and it appears that people with his level of talent always pay for it in tears. But we must also remember that Kaye was a hard-working perfectionist who gave more of himself to the world than most, and that also takes a toll. His audience who "took" so much from him -- from moviegoers, to music-hall attendees to yes, even UNICEF -- was also instrumental in making Kaye the man who he was.

The author of this book is no gentleman, neither is he a fan of Danny Kaye. It is impossible to enjoy any biography written by someone who has no respect for his subject. Danny Kaye was a huge star in Hollywood, and as such, we can reasonably expect that, in contrast to the wondrous and happy act he played, he was in private an unhappy man with problems. This book is chocked full of first-hand accounts of his often inappropriate and sometimes shocking behavior, which, though very unpleasant and disappointing to read about, isn't too hard to believe. However, the author does not content himself in letting us believe D.K. had many demons, but rather tries to convince us that Danny Kaye was himself, a demon. The dark side of Danny Kaye could have been mentioned without all the endless nasty comments by the author, who seems to give himself utterly to whatever was corrupt in the actor, magnifying his faults to such an extreme that you forget why you liked Danny Kaye to begin with. It's all very one-sided, as if no one had any positive dealings with Danny Kaye. Even the account of his death is treated with flippant, disrespectful remarks. If that wasn't bad enough, sexuality is the darling theme of this frustrating book. It felt like abuse to have it continually thrown in my face. In summary, the author dug for dirt, found it, and slung it at me. Too extreme, and quite nasty, Mr. Gottfried, and not at all appreciated by this reader. A more honest title would have been, "All The Dirt on Danny Kaye."

As a lifelong fan of danny kaye i have always been looking for a book that would give me an insight into his life, and this book did just that. I found it to be very insightful and interesting to discover the real man behind danny kaye. I would have liked a little more information and discussion regarding the making of his films and possibly an dated index of all his films. However, overall a fascinating read.

This is nothing but an assassination of Danny Kaye. From the first lines of the book, one can see the author has no use for Kaye. Every line of praise is followed by the authors snide comments. If one of his movies was considered "classic", he says "maybe for the time, but not now." He speculates on Kaye's "sexuality", although claims of Kaye's homosexuality have been thoroughly rebuffed in three separate books, including a definitive bio of Olivier.

There are glaring errors in the book - a picture of Danny and his daughter caption reads "Danny and his thirteen year-old daughter", when it's quite obvious it should have read "thirty year-old" - as the picture is from the 1970's, and the daughter is grown in the photo. He bases the claim of Kaye's daughter being unable to write about her parents on a clip from a Houston newspaper. You can purchase his will for $10 online - I may, just to complete the research!

Kaye was an intensely private man, which seems abhorrent to the author. He did not socialize with other actors/players, and probably had an altered image of himself. His wife was commanding, and it's apparent that he was insecure in his actions, constantly fearing people would turn on him. However, this does not make him evil.

Horribly unbalanced, the few kind words the author allows are outweighed by the constant speculations of the author. It's sad that he was able to publish this one-sided view.

This is probably one of the best movie-star biographies I know. And I've read a lot of them.
What makes "Nobody's Fool" so different is the fact that the author manages not to get all sappy and emotional just because he is a fan of his subject. And Gottfried certainly is a fan of Danny Kaye, this is evident in his admiration for Kaye's work on stage and screen and especially in the little scenes where he describes that Kaye could be a very helpful and caring person if someone really needed him. But that admiration doesn't make Gottfried blind for Kaye's faults - and he had a lot of them. He describes Kaye as a brilliant man on stage but very private and emotionally restraint off stage. He had a mean streak a mile wide when in a foul mood and the older he got the worse his off stage (and sometimes even his on stage) behaviour got. Gottfried tries to explain this development and character traits with Kaye's tendency to get depressive as well as with his need to be the center of attention when performing - a need that is at the core of the success of every great star.
The book doesn't focus on Kaye's individual movies or performances (but there are nevertheless many examples from his movies and shows as well as some nice photos). Instead, Gottfried tries to show the reader how the "Danny Kaye" act and persona developed over the years and which elements where characteristic of the act and how they worked. He describes in a very interesting way how Kaye worked and how he (and his wife Silvia Fine, among others) discovered what worked with an audience and which routines showcased his many talents best.
"Nobody's Fool" doesn't idealize Danny Kaye. It shows an extremely talented man who wasn't a very nice person. But what Gottfried manages to convey is the fact that Kaye was one of the greatest entertainers of his time and why. In my opinion Kaye's talent and brilliance are summed up best by Gottfried when he describes Danny Kaye as absolutely unique.

I've always liked Danny Kaye as a film comic and TV personality but not until I read "Nobody's Fool" did I realize that this was a man whose intellect bordered on genius. After a very succesful career in films and television,Danny Kaye took up a number of hobbies and pursued them to the nth degree. He was interested in flying and so he got his pilot's license, then his jet pilot's license, then his multi-engine license and wound up piloting one of the first DC-10's across the Atlantic. He next developed an interest in surgery, talked to and learned from every surgeon he came across and became so adept that he was allowed to assist in an open-heart operation. He next took up cookery and became such a great chef, any restaurant would have eagerly hired him. Yet, with all that, when given the starring role in the Broadway version of Noah's Ark, he walked on stage, completely lost his nerve and could not continue the performance. Read this book and you will get an incredible insight into the life of a man whom most of us regarded as just a clever comic not knowing we were watching a funny man with a mind that was nothing short of brilliant.

I can only assume that this book was written on assignment, because I find it hard to believe that anyone would wilfully choose to write a biography about someone they dislike as much as Gottfried dislikes Danny Kaye. Every page is peppered with snide remarks and belittling comments. I was very surprised by the overexplicit display of antipathy towards Kaye and his wife Sylvia Fine, not to mention the amount of unsubstantiated theories and conclusions that this book holds.

I hope that some day someone will write the kind of book that an entertainer of Danny Kaye's magnitude deserves. Until then, stay clear of this one.

The first time I shopped for this book the reviews put me off. It sounded like a hatchet job rather than a legitimate biography. Several years later I still wanted to read a bio of Danny Kaye (who I adored as a kid) so I bought it despite those reviews. Now that I've read it, I have to say those reviewers don't know what they're talking about. The only thing I can think of is that they were expecting one of those gushing celebrity bios approved by the celebrities themselves. This is a fairly standard, somewhat scholarly biography of a celebrity. The author clearly respects Kaye's talent and genius; at the same time, he covers those parts of his personality that the public seldom got to see and though much of it is less than glowing, it's presented in a sympathetic manner. He also covers Kaye's alleged homosexuality and affair with Lawrence Olivier. He concludes that it was mostly rumor and innuendo with virtually no real evidence to support it. If those reviewers think that this author was mean to Kaye, maybe they should consider the words of Tony Curtis who said in his "American Prince" memoir, "To my way of thiking, Danny was a very mean and bitter man, and most everybody seemed to agree with me."

Whatever Kaye was or wasn't, this book does a very balanced job of presenting his story.