Uncommonly early 8x10-inch black and white portrait, warmly signed and inscribed in black fountain pen to a restaurant owner, who subsequently displayed it on his eatery's wall, around 1944: "To Villanova-- / I'm just checking about that 'Lobster Diabole' - Mmmmm - Danny Kaye." In good condition for its age, with minor chips to the upper left-hand corner of the border and the right side, from having been removed from its original frame. Song and dance man Danny Kaye was something of a comedic genius, delighting audiences with his tongue-twisting tunes and monologues in a wide variety of dialects.  Samuel Goldwyn had been trying to sign him to a movie contract for years before he finally agreed, and he was featured in a series of Technicolor musicals, including Up in Arms (1944).  He went on the charming work in Wonder Man (1945), The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), A Song Is Born (1948), The Inspector General (1949), Hans Christian Andersen (1952), White Christmas (1954), and The Court Jester (1955).

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