Danny Kaye born David Daniel Kaminsky January 18 1911 March 3 1987 was a celebrated American actor singer dancer and comedian His best known performances featured physical comedy idiosyncratic pantomimes and rapidfire nonsense songs Kaye starred in 17 movies notably The Kid from Brooklyn 1946 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 1947 The Inspector General 1949 Hans Christian Andersen 1952 White Christmas 1954 and perhaps his most accomplished performance The Court Jester 1956 His films were extremely popular especially his bravura performances of patter songs and childrens favorites such as The Inch Worm and The Ugly Duckling He was the first ambassadoratlarge of UNICEF and received the French Legion of Honor in 1986 for his many years of work with the organization