Stubby Kaye

Stubby Kaye, born Bernard Shalom Kotzin on November 11, 1918, in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, was an American actor, comedian, singer, and vaudevillian whose Broadway career spanned from 1950 to 1985. The son of David Kotzin, a dress salesman, and Harriet Freundlish, both of Jewish-American heritage with roots in Russia and Austria-Hungary, Kaye grew up in the Far Rockaway section of Queens and later in the Bronx. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School, where he participated in student productions, graduating in 1937. He kept his birth name secret throughout his professional life.

Kaye's path to the stage began in radio competition. In 1939, he won the Major Bowes Amateur Hour contest, with the prize including a vaudeville tour on which he was sometimes billed as an "Extra Padded Attraction." During World War II, he joined the USO, touring battle fronts and making his London debut performing alongside Bob Hope. After the war, he continued in vaudeville and served as master of ceremonies for the swing orchestras of Freddy Martin and Charlie Barnet.

His Broadway debut came in 1950 when he originated the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls, introducing both "Fugue for Tinhorns" and the show-stopping "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat." He reprised the role in the 1955 film version. Six years later, he created the role of Marryin' Sam in the 1956 Broadway musical Li'l Abner, introducing "Jubilation T. Cornpone." Brooks Atkinson, reviewing the production in the New York Times, wrote that Kaye sang it "with that vaudeville rhythm and those vaudeville blandishments that turn song numbers into triumphant occasions." In 1957, the Outer Critics Circle named him best actor in a musical for the role. He again reprised the part in the 1959 film adaptation.

His next Broadway production, Everybody Loves Opal, starring Eileen Heckart, closed after 21 performances in 1961. Later stage work included the 1974 Broadway revival of Good News and the 1975 production of The Ritz, in which he replaced Jack Weston. He also appeared in Man of Magic in London, which starred Stuart Damon as Harry Houdini. His final Broadway show was Grind in 1985, in which he co-starred with Ben Vereen.

Beyond Broadway, Kaye built a substantial film career. In 1956, he appeared alongside June Allyson and Jack Lemmon in You Can't Run Away from It, a musical remake of It Happened One Night. He played the title character in Michael Winner's British film The Cool Mikado in 1962, based on Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. In the 1965 western comedy Cat Ballou, starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin, Kaye and Nat King Cole portrayed banjo-playing minstrels who performed the film's title song. He played Herman in the 1969 Universal musical film Sweet Charity, directed by Bob Fosse and starring Shirley MacLaine, singing "I Love to Cry at Weddings" in the production. His final featured film role came in Robert Zemeckis's Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1988, in which he played Marvin Acme.

Television occupied a significant portion of his career as well. He guest-starred on NBC's The Martha Raye Show in the mid-1950s and appeared on The Gisele MacKenzie Show in 1958 and ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom around the same period. During the 1959–60 season, he co-starred in the NBC sitcom Love and Marriage, and in the following season he appeared as Marty, the agent of an aspiring actress, in the CBS sitcom My Sister Eileen, which starred Shirley Bonne, Elaine Stritch, Jack Weston, Raymond Bailey, and Rose Marie. He hosted the children's talent program Stubby's Silver Star Show and was a regular on Stump the Stars during the 1962–63 season. From September 1964 through December 1965, he hosted the Saturday-morning children's game show Shenanigans on ABC, produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, earning the on-air title "the Mayor of Shenanigans" and performing the program's theme song. He made a guest appearance in the British series Doctor Who in the 1987 serial "Delta and the Bannermen." His other television appearances included The Red Skelton Hour, Burke's Law, The Monkees, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, Adam-12, and Love, American Style.

Kaye married Angela Bracewell in England in 1966. He died of lung cancer on December 14, 1997, at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, at the age of 79, survived by his wife.