1975
THE MOMENT
Danny Kaye Danny Kaye might not be a household name now, but at the peak of his fame in the 1940s and ’50s, he was adored the world over. Kaye, born in Brooklyn in 1911, was more than just a triple threat – he was a singer, actor, comedian, TV show host, radio star, chef, pilot and humanitarian. Among his many accolades, he won two Oscars (one honorary; the other, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award) and was given three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He devoted much of his later life to charity work, including conducting orchestras across the globe in aid of musicians’ pension funds – it’s estimated he raised more than $US5 million for the cause. After a chance run-in with Australian musicians at Hong Kong’s Mandarin Hotel in 1974, Kaye was eventually invited to conduct the MSO in a Gala Evening at Melbourne Town Hall on 2 August, 1975. The Orchestra’s then Chief Conductor, Hiroyuki Iwaki, a long-time fan of Kaye, handed over the baton to the marvellously unpredictable and uniquely talented American and took a seat in the orchestra playing the timpani.
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