Stubby Kaye gave musical comedy a warm tenor, a comedian's timing and an unusually welcoming presence. His reputation rests on a few parts, but Guys and Dolls gives us ample reason to keep watching him.
Fi1m perspective
Stubby Kaye gets hold of 'Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat' in Guys and Dolls (1955) and makes the singing sound like fun. His Nicely-Nicely Johnson has the assurance of a performer who can land a joke without breaking the rhythm. The warm tenor helps, but the comic timing gives the number its lift. We grinned at the good humour of his delivery, which makes a big musical number feel welcoming.
The part came from Broadway, where he first played Nicely-Nicely in 1950, after a decade touring as a singing comedian. Joseph L. Mankiewicz's film retains him from the original cast, and the performance still has the directness of a stage comedian. We like the film without mistaking its talkativeness for charm; some of the singing is uneven, and the pace needs indulgence. Kaye's contribution makes that indulgence easier to grant. He knows how much a supporting player can do within a number, and does not need the whole film arranged around him.
That knack carried into Marryin' Sam in Li'l Abner, another Broadway part he took to the screen in 1959. By Cat Ballou (1965), he and Nat King Cole were providing musical commentary as banjo-playing minstrels. Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity (1969) gave him Herman and 'I Love to Cry at Weddings'. There is a limit to the variety here, and his reputation still rests chiefly on the musical roles of the 1950s.
Robert Zemeckis's Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) gives him a different sort of ensemble as Marvin Acme, the owner of Toontown. It was his final featured film role, and a fitting place for a performer used to broad comedy. We recommend the film warmly for the conviction with which its human and cartoon cast occupy the same world, though the busy mystery can distract from the jokes. For Kaye himself, start with Guys and Dolls and allow a little patience for the stretches between songs.
Biography
Stubby Kaye, born Bernard Shalom Kotzin, was an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian and singer. He was born on 11 November 1918 in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, New York, and died on 14 December 1997 in Rancho Mirage, California.
Kaye began performing after winning a radio talent contest in 1939 and toured in vaudeville, including USO shows during the Second World War. He originated the role of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in the 1950 Broadway musical Guys and Dolls and reprised it in the 1955 film, and played Marryin' Sam in the stage and screen versions of Li'l Abner (1956 and 1959).
His other film roles include Sam the Shade in Cat Ballou (1965), Herman in Sweet Charity (1969) and Marvin Acme in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). He also appeared as Weismuller in the 1987 Doctor Who serial Delta and the Bannermen.
