Little white duck danny kaye biography

– The Early Years –

David Daniel Kominsky--"Duvidl," as he was called during childhood by his parents--was born on January 18, 1911 in Brooklyn, New York (See the FAQs for more info on Danny's birth date) and grew up in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

(The Danny Kaye Story pg 24-25) His parents, Jakob and Clara Kominsky, emigrated from the Ukraine with his two older brothers, Mac and Larry. None of them spoke a word of English when they arrived in the States.

Little white duck danny kaye biography personal life

(The Danny Kaye Story pg 27) As a child, Danny--as he would later choose to be called--along with his family, spoke Yiddish at home and had preserved all the Russian-Jewish customs. It wasn't until September 1919 that Danny had his "first totally American contact" as he enrolled in school.

(The Danny Kaye Story pg 32)

Before Danny's mother passed away in 1927 when he was only fourteen, she was heavily involved in Danny's life. Kurt Singer describes it like this: "[...] his mother