BORGE, VICTOR

BORGE, VICTOR (originally Borge Rosenbaum; 1909–2000), Danish-U.S. satirical comedian. Born in Copenhagen, Borge was the youngest of five sons of the musicians Frederikke and Bernhard Rosenbaum. His father played first violin with the Royal Danish Philharmonic Orchestra for 35 years and his mother, a pianist, began teaching her son to play the piano when he was three. Recognized as a child prodigy, Borge was awarded a full scholarship to the Royal Danish Academy of Music at the age of nine. He debuted professionally by the age of 13. He made his debut as a comedian at 23. During the 1930s Borge became one of Scandinavia's most popular artists, developing a unique blend of humor and music. He toured Europe extensively, and by the late 1930s had incorporated anti-Nazi humor into his act. Hitler placed him at the top of his personal list of Enemies of the Fatherland. When the Germans invaded Denmark in 1940, Borge was on a concert tour in Sweden with his American-born wife, Elsie, and they fled to Finland. Through Elsie's American citizenship, the Borges secured one of the last places aboard the last passenger ship to leave Europe before World War II, and they escaped to America. In the United States, Borge learned English by watching movies and memorizing the dialogue. He was soon featured on Bing Crosby's radio program Kraft Music Hall. Borge created the classic routine known as "phonetic punctuation," in which he inserted bizarre vocal sounds into his monologue to indicate commas, periods, and question marks. Another comedic caper was to slide off the piano bench when he first sat down to play. Affectionately referred to as the "Great Dane," Borge took his blend of classical music and comedy on the road, appearing in nightclubs, concert halls, and New York's Carnegie Hall. In 1946 he hosted NBC Radio's The Victor Borge Show and by 1948 was a frequent guest on Ed Sullivan's radio show Toast of the Town. In 1953 Borge launched his one-man Broadway show Comedy in Music, which ran until 1956. With 849 performances, the show was entered in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Longest-Running One-Man Show. Borge made his television debut on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1949 and appeared often on the highly rated variety program. He later hosted his own TV comedy-variety program, The Victor Borge Show (1951). He was a guest on many other TV shows as well, hosted by such entertainers as Dean Martin, Andy Williams, and Johnny Carson. In 1956 Borge was nominated for an Emmy for Best Specialty Act but was bested by pantomime legend marcel marceau . In a more serious vein, Borge also performed as soloist and conductor with many leading symphony orchestras. In 1998 he conducted the Royal Danish Philharmonic Orchestra in a Royal Command Performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute. Dedicated to noble causes, Borge was active in the civil rights movement. In 1963 he and Richard Netter created the Thanks To Scandinavia Scholarship Fund in recognition of the Scandinavian citizens who risked their lives to save thousands of Jews during the Holocaust. The multimillion-dollar   fund brought more than a thousand Scandinavian students and scientists to the United States to study and conduct research. Borge was awarded a Medal of Honor by the Statue of Liberty Centennial Committee; he was knighted by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden; and he was honored by the United States Congress and the United Nations. In 1991 he received the Humor Project's International Humor Treasure award, and in 2000 was the first person selected for the Kennedy Center Honors. Borge released a number of recordings and video programs, including The Best of Victor Borge, a collection of his classic routines. It sold three million copies worldwide during its first year. Borge co-wrote several books with Robert Sherman, among them My Favorite Intermissions (1971), Victor Borge's My Favorite Comedies in Music (1980), and Borge's Musical Briefs (1982). (Ruth Beloff (2nd ed.)