Danny Kaye - miserable, mean guy; Thomas, major lecher. No woman wanted to deal with him when he was a guest on the Tonight Show years ago. All of these guys are low class. When I went to the Tony Awards several years ago, Bill Maher was there with a hooker.
The kind of mind that could make up good jokes can also engineer some pretty mean digs. The function is similar, the purpose quite different.
wow....what a shame. never knew that about Danny Thomas at all. His wife must have been a martyr. I know i have heard stories about Danny Kaye w/Lawrence Olivier (you must have heard those rumors too), but nothing other than that. For all their talent, they have deep character flaws, apparently. I don’t know if it is the money/power/ego trip when they become stars or if they were just that way from the beginning. You hear the same kinds of things about famous writers/artists...many, while obviously talented, aren’t people you’d want to be friends with or invite to dinner. I have heard that Lillian Helman could be a real handful.
I know you’ve been in the theatre...we’ve emailed in the past. I bet you have some interesting stories up your sleeve!