http://kennedy-center.org/honors/history/honoree/borge.html

he looks like a elder statesman and speaks with the charming accents of a middle european fairytale kingdom, but the whole world knows him as the great dane. victor borge's unique combination of concert pianist and sit-down comedian - an intoxicating mixture of melodies and mirth - has made him a living legend for most of the 20th century. his ability to puncture the pretensions of humanity in general, musicians in particular, whether he's lampooning stuffy conductors or grandiose concert pianists, remains undiminished, seventy years after his professional debut. as every good musician and comic knows, it's all in the timing and borge is a master. he holds the guinness book of records citation for longest-running one-man show in the history of the theater, with 849 performances on broadway of his "comedy in music," which began in 1953. for the four decades that followed there was never a theater season, when the name victor borge didn't light up a broadway marquee.

"victor borge is world-famous as the funniest pianist on earth," declared the washington post a few years ago. and he gets as many laughs at the keyboard as under it. borge has made an art of finding excuses not to play the piano--falling off the bench, swatting imaginary flies, stopping to reprimand a late-arriving audience member, suddenly remembering a joke or anecdote. "but when borge finally does perform," reports the atlanta journal and constitution, " it's the real thing: music-making of surpassing warmth and charm."

ninety years ago, he was born borge rosenbaum in copenhagen, denmark. he started playing the piano when he was only three years old. he was hailed as a prodigy and given a scholarship to the royal danish music conservatory, making his orchestral debut as a soloist with the copenhagen philharmonic when he was 10. in public recitals, he was a serious musician, but at school, in clubs, and at family gatherings he played more humor than humoresque. his incredible wit combined with his musical ability established him quickly as a one-of-a-kind artist. word got out, and by his early twenties borge was established as one of the leading film and stage personalities of scandinavia.

with the rise of the nazis to power, borge was blacklisted because of his biting barbs about hitler and the nazi party. he escaped from finland on the ss american legion in 1940, the last american passenger ship to leave northern europe before the start of world war ii. when he arrived in the united states, borge knew no english. yet that same year he started a year-long run on the "kraft music hall" radio hour with bing crosby. borge discovered a gold mine of humor in his struggle with the english language, and the immigrant's nightmare was transformed into one of the most enduring and endearing parts of the act.

in 1963 he helped to establish the thanks to scandinavia scholarship fund in gratitude for the heroic deeds of the scandinavians who, while risking their own lives, saved thousands during the holocaust. the multimillion-dollar fund has already brought more than a thousand students and scientists to the united states from scandinavian countries for study and research.

in recent years he has added opera and symphony conducting engagements to his heavy stage and television commitments. among others, the national symphony, new york philharmonic, london, philadelphia, boston, cleveland, chicago, pittsburgh, los angeles, detroit, and the royal copenhagen orchestras have taken a beating under his baton.

he has been knighted by the five nordic countries and honored by both the u.s. congress and the united nations.

reflecting on his success, borge has said: "basically there is no difference between scandinavian humor and american humor because when you play a thing upside down you don't have to have a language to do that." his art, though, is a language all understand--the conservatory-trained and the first-time concertgoer, young people and grownups, in concert halls around the world.

"if i knew what the secret was, it wouldn't be a secret," mused victor borge.

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victor borge biography victor borge was born in copenhagen, denmark januar 3, 1909, the son of bernhard and frederikke rosenbaum. he was named børge rosenbaum, and his musical talent was no surprise as his father was a musician in the royal danish chapel. he was educated at the royal danish academy of music by olivo krause, and later by victor schiøler, frederic lamond and egon petri. he had his piano debut in 1926 at "odd fellow palæet" in copenhagen and was recognized as a very talented musician. during the 1930's he became one of denmark's most popular artists. he started his career as a classical pianist, but his talent for making the audience laugh was soon obvious, and he started developing his unique blend of humour and music. he had his revue debut in 1933 and his film debut in 1937. in 1940 he was forced to leave denmark, and he travellled from petsano to new york. although he didn't speak english he soon managed to "translate" his humour, and he performed for the first time in bing crosby's radio show in 1941. in 1942 he was pronounced "the best new radio performer of the year" by the american press, and his radio and tv shows became extremely popular. he became an american citizen in 1948, and had his own show, "comedy in music", at the golden theatre, new york 1953-56. he had performed as soloist and conductor with leading orchestras from 1956, and has performed as opera conductor, eg. magic flute, cleveland orchestra, 1979 and the royal danish theatre, 1992. he established several trusts, and he received numerous honourable awards and honours. he was the patron of the danish royal academy of music children's choir. with robert sherman he was the author of my favorite intermissions (1971) and my favorite comedies in music (1981). victor borge died at home in his sleep, december 23rd, 2000. see also: tim carman's tribute from the houston sidewalk. kennedy center honours of 1999. article by marshall h. cohen.

http://www.bramson.com/borge.html  

victor borge's unique combination as musician and humorist has made him a legend in his own time. affectionately known as "the great dane," mr. borge is an ambassador of goodwill for both his native denmark and his adopted america.  in fact, he was awarded the medal of honor by the statue of liberty centennial committee at a gala ceremony at ellis island.  he has been knighted by the five scandinavian countries - denmark, finland, iceland, norway, and sweden - and honored by both the u.s. congress and the united nations.

in the more than fifty years he has lived in the united states, victor borge has performed on radio, in films, on television, in huge sports arenas, in opera houses, and at the white house.  on broadway, he made theatrical history with his comedy in music which according to guiness still holds the record for the longest running one-man show, 849 performances.  he also received the shubert foundation award for the most outstanding individual contribution of that season.

victor borge celebrated the 70th anniversary of his first concert performance last year.  a gala commemorative event took place at the royal theatre in copenhagen, denmark.  among the accolades was a greeting from president clinton who commended mr. borge for �enchanting audiences around the globe . . . whether performing for royalty, presidents or entertaining children, you
have spent a lifetime sharing laughter with the young and the young at heart.�  while victor borge's comedic reputation has been built on his not playing the piano, he possess a magnificent gift that amazes audiences when he does play.

as a matter of fact, the noted music critic jacob siskind recently wrote "borge is such a cut-up, you don't expect him to play with that incredible sensitivity that is his . . . the tone is pure gold."  in musical america the distinguished violinist and conductor henri temianka expounded on the art of victor borge: "there is more to borge's piano playing than he allows us to hear.  but, in those fleeting moments we recognize an elegance of touch, a limpidity, a grace, a transparency, a talent that sets apart the few from the
many."  for those fans who have urged him to play something "... all the way through", mr. borge has recently recorded an audio cassette and compact disc entitled, the two sides of victor borge, one side devoted to his classic comedy, the other to his piano interpretations.  also a home videotape which has now gone over 20 times platinum for sales of 2,600,000 copies entitled the
best of victor borge is available through mail order by calling 1-800-66 music.

each season maestro borge performs with and leads a number of the world's foremost orchestras including at times the new york philharmonic, cleveland, philadelphia, san francisco, chicago, london philharmonic, the royal danish, and others.  he recently appeared with the los angeles philharmonic at the hollywood bowl to commemorate the bowl�s 75th anniversary season.  some
orchestras have actually had their seasons rescued by the inclusion of a victor borge appearance in their programs or by special benefit performances.

for the 1998-99 season, mr. borge continues to perform with orchestras and in his one-man show throughout the world including a special birthday celebration at carnegie hall in 1999.  as a prelude to his 90th birthday season, his autobiography was recently released to great acclaim in the scandinavian countries.  his native denmark will also mark the occasion with a series of events in november 1998.

borge has written two books with robert sherman - my favorite intermissions and my favorite comedies in music.  he made his operatic acting "debut" by performing as both prince orlovsky and the jailer frosch in sarah caldwell's boston opera company production of die fledermaus with beverly sills.  he conducted five s.r.o. performances of mozart's the magic flute for the
cleveland opera - borge has also presented his own concert adaptation of bizet's carmen, which he narrated and conducted to critical acclaim.

in his native denmark, borge recently lifted his baton to conduct the magic flute with the royal danish philharmonic orchestra, in which his father played for thirty-five years.  according to an associated press report, he remembered walking up to the podium, bowing to the queen and the audience and wishing that the moment could last forever because for as long as he could remember,
he wanted to do just that.  upon his return to the u.s.,  he conducted the washington symphony orchestra in two performances of his special adaptation of mozart�s the magic flute.

his numerous television appearances include several recent events on pbs.  one is with the chicago symphony orchestra hosted by itzhak perlman, featuring borge as the special guest star performing his famous "borgeism" on mozart and a duet with perlman.  also running on pbs is the tanglewood special "bernstein" which features borge in an hilarious performance with the boston
symphony orchestra.  "victor borge: then & now," a program taped in detroit, was featured as the pbs fundraiser special.  it combines new, live concert footage and early television and movie clips from borge's more than sixty years in the entertainment industry and was so well received, pbs asked for a sequel, "victor borge:  then & now ii" .   a third program aptly titled,
"victor borge:  then and now iii" is currently airing on various pbs stations during the current season.  "victor borge tells hans christian andersen stories," is a project created especially for children and has been released for the home video market.

born in copenhagen to a musical family, borge's mother introduced him to the piano when he was three years old. he was hailed as a prodigy and given a scholarship to the royal danish music conservatory. while still in his teens, he was awarded scholarships to study with frederic lamond and egon petri in berlin and vienna.  yet borge's incredible sense of humor combined with his musical ability established him already in his early twenties as one of the leading film and stage personalities in scandinavia.

humorist borge was noted for his biting satire, and when the nazis invaded his homeland, his barbs about hitler earned him position number 1 on the nazi blacklist.  from finland he escaped on the s. s. american legion, the last american passenger ship to leave northern europe before the war.

borge has established scholarships at universities and colleges, and with the eminent new york lawyer richard netter created in 1963 the thanks to scandinavia scholarship fund in gratitude for the heroic deeds of the scandinavians who, while risking their own, saved the lives of thousands of the persecuted and doomed during the holocaust. the multi-million dollar fund has already brought more than a thousand students and scientists to america from the scandinavian countries for studies and research.  in memory of his parents, he has established a special music scholarship; one of the highest study grants in his native country, it is awarded each summer at a gala ceremony in the concert hall of the famous tivoli gardens.  he has given innumerable benefits to help worthy causes.

mr. borge spends his treasured free time with his wife, sanna, their five children and nine grandchildren.  an expert skipper, borge says, "with me the three b's are bach, beethoven and boats".

deeply devoted to his native country, he is no less grateful for being a citizen in the one he adopted.  "the smile," he says, "is the shortest distance between people".  thanks to victor borge millions of people have been brought together.

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