Kaye was first generation born Bernard Sholom Kotzin in 1918, at West 114th Street in the
Morningside Heights section of
Manhattan. He kept his original name secret throughout his career. His parents were
Jewish-Americans originally from
Russia and
Austria-Hungary. His father, David Kotzin, was a dress salesman, and the former Harriet "Hattie" Freundlish was his mother. He was raised in the
Far Rockaway section of
Queens and later in
The Bronx, where he acted in student productions at
DeWitt Clinton High School, and where he graduated in 1937. In 1939, he won the
Major Bowes Amateur Hour contest on radio where the prize included touring in
vaudeville, As Nicely-Nicely Johnson in
Guys and Dolls, first on
Broadway (1950) and then in the film version (1955), Kaye introduced "
Fugue for Tinhorns" ("I got the horse right here, his name is Paul Revere...") and "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat". He created the role of Marryin' Sam in ''Li'l Abner'' on Broadway (1956), introducing the song "Jubilation T. Cornpone". In his
New York Times review,
Brooks Atkinson said Kaye sang "it with that vaudeville rhythm and those vaudeville blandishments that turn song numbers into triumphant occasions." He also played the role in the film (1959). In 1956, he co-starred with
June Allyson and
Jack Lemmon in the film''
You Can't Run Away from It, a musical remake of It Happened One Night''. Kaye and
Nat King Cole portrayed banjo-playing minstrels who sang the title song in the western/comedy
Cat Ballou (1965), starring
Jane Fonda and
Lee Marvin. His final Broadway show was
Grind, co-starring
Ben Vereen, in 1985. He was survived by his wife, Angela Bracewell, whom he married in England in 1966. ==Partial filmography==