Danny Kaye

Danny Kaye is interred in the Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York. Not content with achieving success in one creative field, Madsen is also a published poet, with several books out including Burning in Paradise, a blessing of the hounds, 46 down, a book of dreams & other ramblings. He received two Academy awards, an honorary award in 1955 and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 1982. His big screen appearances continue as well including a recurring role as "Damian Falco" in the James Bond franchise and "Budd" in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill. He also starred in "The Paladin of the Lost Hour", an episode of the 1980s revival of The Twilight Zone. Chapel" in the short lived series, Vengeance Unlimited and most recently as "Don Everest" in Tilt. Kaye made his film debut in a very rare short comedy called Money On Your Life.. Madsen has also appeared regular in TV projects - most notably in the role of "Mr.

Kaye starred in two biopics, Hans Christian Andersen about the Danish story-teller, and The Five Pennies (1959), about jazz pioneer Red Nichols. Appearances in Wyatt Earp, Mulholland Falls, Species were all well-received and popular but it was his performance as "Sonny Black" in Donnie Brasco with Al Pacino and Johnny Depp brought the most critical acclaim so far for the intense, gravely-voiced actor. Joan Plowright, widow of the actor Laurence Olivier, claimed that Olivier had a long homosexual relationship with Kaye while Olivier was still married to his second wife, Vivien Leigh. The following year, Madsen caught the public's attention again but this time as "Glen Greenwood" in Free Willy. Starred in several movies with actress Virginia Mayo in the 1940's. In one of the most often discussed and well known movie scenes of all time, Madsen tied up a cop, danced around him to a radio playing, "Stuck In the Middle With You", cutting him with a knife (including one swipe that took off the officer's ear) and dousing him with gasoline. Before he died in 1987 he also showed he could conduct an orchestra during a comical, but technically sound series of concerts organised for Unicef fundraising. Blond" that Madsen achieved his breakthrough role.

He showed quite a different and serious side as Ambassador for UNICEF, and in one of his few dramatic roles in the memorable TV-movie Skokie, in which he played a Holocaust survivor. But it was in Reservoir Dogs as the knife-wielding, sadistic ex-con and jewel thief, "Mr. In many of his movies as well as on stage he proved to be an able actor, singer, dancer and comedian, often having his comedic talents showcased by special material written by his wife, Sylvia Fine Kaye. After a series of minor film roles, he caught the public's and critics' attention as "Vince Miller", a deranged killer in Kill Me Again and then with his portrayal of Susan Sarandon's tough but touching boyfriend "Jimmy" in Thelma & Louise. He starred in many films such as Hans Christian Andersen (1942), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), The Inspector General (1949), White Christmas (1954), Knock on Wood (1954), and The Court Jester (1956). Soon after, he was cast in a small role in the movie War Games and he moved to Los Angeles. In 1941 he appeared in the Broadway show, "Lady in the Dark" and performed the famous number "Tchaikovsky," in which he sung the names of a whole string of Russian composers at breakneck speed seemingly without taking a breath. Madsen's acting career started at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, where he served as an apprentice actor under John Malkovich.

Born in Brooklyn as red-haired David Daniel Kaminski, Kaye became one of the world's best-known comedians. Michael Madsen (born September 25, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor, the brother of actress Virginia Madsen. Danny Kaye (January 18, 1911–March 3, 1987) was an American actor and comedian.