How a Wax Statue Was Made of Danny Kaye

Every morning a woman in London may be seen grooming "Danny Kaye," tidying his clothes and wiping his shoes; and every four months he is sent to the beauty salon for massage and manicure. Through all these operations, the face of "Danny," famous for its motions, never stirs — for this "Danny" is nothing but a wax statue in the "Tussaud" museum in London!

The English people have so fallen in love with the celebrated comic actor that he has come to occupy the second place in their hearts, after the royal family; so they immortalized him in wax in the greatest of museums. He is the first American actor to win this lofty honor and that exalted rank.

"Danny" visited the studio of the sculptor "Bernard Tussaud," and the latter began taking "Kaye's" measurements with his special instrument — only the face would not stop moving: the mouth twisting, the nose veering aside, the eyes rolling, so that "Bernard" could not keep himself from dissolving into laughter at the sight. At last, when he had finished the measuring and the photographing, "Danny" added a suggestion of his own, saying: "I don't care what you do with my face and my body, for they matter little; the point that counts is my hands — they must be right." The sculptor agreed, saying: "Yes! They shall be cast in the mold of life."

Two of the workmen began casting the body, taking the most exact measure, and were astonished at the ease they found in carrying out this work. Then at last came the turn of the clothes. "Kaye's" suits had raised a stir among people of refined taste and the experts in the arts of fashion, and he donated one of them for the statue; and before he left for Hollywood, he promised that he would attend the ceremony of the unveiling of the statue, and so everyone set to working hard, that everything might be finished before the appointed hour struck.

"Bernard" shut himself in his room, carving the head in clay, and every time he cast a glance at the photographs he laughed long at the sight of that rubber face taking a new shape each time. When he had finished carving the head, he sent it off for the wax to be poured upon it; then it was returned to him for the final "retouching." Had "Danny" seen his head in that state — white, lifeless, bald and blind — he would surely have been shocked. To hasten the covering of these infirmities, the head was sent to the laboratory, where the hair was set in, the eyebrows and eyelids were drawn, the eyes put in place, and the skin tinted — and at last the hands were joined on...

On a great night, thousands of the English public and of the visiting American celebrants crowded together, and "Danny" cut his way through the crush in his huge overcoat, his hat drooping down to his ear, a squad of police opening the way for him, to where his shrouded statue stood upon the flower-decked platform, with the cinema and television cameramen lined up to record the celebration.

"Kaye" drew near the statue and swept the veil aside amid the applause and cheering of the throng — and there he stood, gazing into the face of his own person! For a moment he remained dumbfounded, not uttering a word; then he stepped back a little and began performing some of his famous acts!

When the doors of the "Tussaud" museum opened the next morning, the crowds outside were racing to get in and cast a fleeting glance at the statue — and so it went on for six weeks!...

On the statue's breast is a pocket holding a white handkerchief, changed every day, because the seekers of a souvenir of Danny are beyond all counting — and this confirms the success won by the statue of "Danny Kaye," such as never fell to any before him!...