Throughout his decades-long career in comedy, George Carlin was very open about the influence that Danny Kaye had on him as a performer. When Carlin was a young boy, he would watch comedians like Kaye, Bob Hope, and Red Skelton in the movies, and think to himself, “I can do that, I wanna do that.”
Carlin was especially impressed with Kaye’s knack for singing verbally complex songs, and would even write to MGM in order to get the lyrics to them. Though Carlin never had anywhere near the success Kaye did as an actor, it would be hard to argue that aspects of Kaye’s work didn’t make their way into Carlin’s stand-up routines.
But despite Carlin giving Kaye his just due time and time again, he never forgot a negative encounter he had with Kaye in his earlier pre-fame days. You see, as a kid, Carlin collected autographs; during a 2001 interview with Vanity Fair, he cited an autograph he got from jazz musician Charlie Parker when he was 15 as one of his most prized possessions.
One signature he never ended up adding to his collection back then was Danny Kaye’s, but not for lack of trying. Knowing Kaye would be performing at Radio City Music Hall on a cold, rainy day, young Carlin headed over to try to catch his idol on his way out of the venue.
George Carlin Idolized Danny Kaye, Until One Cold Day Outside Radio City
Carlin waited for Kaye in the freezing cold for more than an hour, checking in with the doorman periodically to make sure that he hadn’t missed him. “Is he out? What time’s he come back? There’s a show at 6?” Carlin would ask.
Finally, after toughing it out for all that time, Kaye came walking through the backstage entrance and strolled right past Carlin, who, by the way, was the only person out there. Carlin’s repeated pleas for an autograph fell on deaf ears, as Kaye couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge his presence.
“And then later I see him with these UNICEF kids, with 30 of them sitting on his lap, and I knew he was full of s—t,” Carlin recalled in 2001. For context, Kaye became the first-ever Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 1954 and held the position for 33 years, until his death in 1987. On the agency’s official website, Kaye is quoted as saying, “UNICEF’s work is a tribute to mankind and to the superior will of man. I feel that the most rewarding thing I have ever done in my life is to be associated with UNICEF.”
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