Theatre Register

Stubby Kaye

Shows · Stubby Kaye

Actor 1918–1997 On stage 19501985

Bernard Shalom Kotzin (November 11, 1918 – December 14, 1997), known professionally as Stubby Kaye, was an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian and singer, known for his appearances on Broadway and in film musicals. Kaye originated the roles of Nicely-Nicely Johnson in Guys and Dolls and Marryin' Sam in Li'l Abner, introducing two show-stopping numbers of the era: "Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat" and "Jubilation T. Cornpone". He reprised these roles in the movie versions of the shows. Other well-known roles include Herman in Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity, Sam the Shade in Cat Ballou, and Marvin Acme in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

On stage 6 productions, 35 years

1950 Guys and Dolls 46th Street Theatre · Original · directed by George S. Kaufman 1,200 perf.
1956 Li’l Abner St. James Theatre · Original · directed by Michael Kidd 693 perf.
1961 Everybody Loves Opal Longacre Theatre · Original · directed by Cyril Ritchard 21 perf.
1974 Good News! St James Theatre · Revival · directed by Donald Saddler 16 perf.
1975 The Ritz Longacre Theatre · Original · directed by Robert Drivas 400 perf.
1985 Grind Mark Hellinger · Original · directed by Harold Prince 71 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once4 names

Ralph Linn 2 productions
Merritt Thompson 2 productions
Bern Hoffman 2 productions
Al Nesor 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 4 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on2 works

Li’l Abner
Sweet Charity

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Guys and Dolls , Crap game in the sewer in act II. Robert Alda throwing the dice, Stubby Kaye kneeling to the left, Sam Levene to the right (1950). Museum of the City of New York. Theater Collection.ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • Original cast (1950) : Robert Alda, Vivian Blaine, Sam Levene, Isabel Bigley, Pat Rooney Sr., Stubby Kaye, Irving Actman (conductor). Decca 8036; reissue MCA 2034. Missing: “Havana” and “Crapshooter” dances.ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • FILM (Samuel Goldwyn [released by MGM] 1955) : Cast: Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, and Stubby Kaye. Screenplay by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Produced by Samuel Goldwyn. Choreography by Michael Kidd: Deleted songs: “A Bushel and a Peck,” “More I Cannot Wish You,” “I’ve Never Been in Love Before,” and “Marry the Man…ebooks/Block, Geoffrey/Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block.txt
  • Cast : Stubby Kaye (Nicely-Nicely Johnson), Johnny Silver (Benny Southstreet), Douglas Deane (Rusty Charlie), Isabel Bigley (Sarah Brown), Pat Rooney Sr. (Arvide Abernathy), Margery Oldroyd (Mission Band Member), Paul Migan (Mission Band Member), Christine Matsios (Mission Band Member), Tom Pedi (Harry the Horse), Paul Reed (Lieutenant Br…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act One: “Opening” (aka “Runyonland”) (Ensemble); “Fugue for Tinhorns” (Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver, Douglas Deane); “Follow the Fold” (Isabel Bigley, Pat Rooney Sr., Paul Migan, Margery Oldroyd, Christine Matsios); “The Oldest Established” (Sam Levene, Stubby Kaye, Johnny Silver, Ensemble); “I’ll Know” (Isabel Bigley, Robert Alda); “A Bus…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt
  • Act One: “A Typical Day (in Dogpatch, U.S.A.)” (Dogpatchers); “If I Had My Druthers” (Peter Palmer, Marc Breaux, Ralph Linn, Jack Matthew, Robert McClure, George Reeder); “If I Had My Druthers” (reprise) (Edith Adams); “Jubilation T. Cornpone” (Stubby Kaye, Dogpatchers); “Rag Offen the Bush” (Dogpatchers); “Namely You” (Edith Adams, Peter…ebooks/Dietz, Dan/Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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