Sylvia Fine
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Sylvia Fine (1913, Brooklyn, New York – October 28, 1991, New York City) was an American lyricist and wife of the comedian Danny Kaye.
She was an audition pianist when she remet a young Danny Kaye, whom she had not seen since they were at school together, nine years previously. After a whirlwind romance, they were married in 1940.
She took a direct role in managing her husband's career and wrote many of his songs for him, both in film and recordings. Those for the film The Court Jester were co-written with Sammy Cahn. Fine received a Peabody Award in 1980, and during her career she was also nominated for two Oscars and two Emmys.
Fine and Kaye had a daughter, Dena, who was born in 1946, and they remained married until his death in 1987.
[edit] Selected list of Sylvia Fine songs
- "Anatole of Paris" from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
- "The Inspector General" from The Inspector General (1949)
- "The Moon Is Blue" (Herschel Burke Gilbert, Sylvia Fine) from The Moon Is Blue (1953) - Oscar nominee, Best Original Song
- "Knock on Wood" from Knock on Wood (1954)
- "(You'll Never) Outfox the Fox" (Sammy Cahn, Sylvia Fine) from The Court Jester (1956)
- "The Five Pennies" from The Five Pennies (1959) - Oscar nominee, Best Original Song
- "Lullaby in Ragtime," also from Five Pennies, a sumptuous song that fulfills both its title words, and which Barbara Cook turned into a standard
[edit] Death
Sylvia Fine Kaye died of emphysema at the age of 78 in New York City in 1991.
