Editing Victor Borge (section)

==Biography==

===Early life and career===
Victor Borge was born Børge Rosenbaum on 3 January 1909 in [[Copenhagen|Copenhagen, Denmark]], into an [[Ashkenazi Jewish]] family. His parents, Bernhard and Frederikke (née Lichtinger) Rosenbaum, were both musicians: his father a [[Viola|violist]] in the [[Royal Danish Orchestra]],<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.kglteater.dk/site/OmKunstarterne/Ensembler/Det_Kongelige_Kapel/Tidslinjen.aspx | title = Det Kongelige Teater – Kort fortalt | access-date = 3 October 2010 | language = da |trans-quote=My father played in the orchestra for more than 30 years – we couldn't recognise him, when he came home.|quote=Om Bernhard Rosenbaum, som var bratschist i Kapellet fra 1888–1919 sagde Victor Borge: "Min far spillede i Kapellet i over 30 år – vi kunne heller ikke kende ham, da han kom hjem| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110110194149/http://www.kglteater.dk/site/OmKunstarterne/Ensembler/Det_Kongelige_Kapel/Tidslinjen.aspx | archive-date = 10 January 2011 | url-status = dead | df = dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Who's Who in Entertainment 1989–1990 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=58BkAAAAMAAJ |date=1988 |publisher=Marquis Who's Who, Inc. |page=67 |isbn=978-0-8379-1850-1}}</ref> and his mother a pianist.<ref name="Krak1964">{{cite book
|author=Ove Holger Krak
|title=Kraks blaa bog: ...nulevende danske mænd og kvinders levnedsløb ...
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=juthAAAAIAAJ
|access-date=2 October 2010
|date=1 January 1964
|publisher=Krak.i
|language=da
|page=186}}</ref> Borge began piano lessons at the age of two, and it was soon apparent that he was a prodigy. He gave his first piano recital when he was eight years old, and in 1918 was awarded a full scholarship at the [[Royal Danish Academy of Music]], studying under [[Olivo Krause]]. Later on, he was taught by [[Victor Schiøler]], [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]]'s student [[Frederic Lamond (pianist)|Frederic Lamond]], and [[Ferruccio Busoni|Busoni]]'s pupil [[Egon Petri]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victor Borge |url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0096493/bio |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=IMDb}}</ref>

Borge played his first major concert in 1926 at the Danish Odd Fellow Palæet (''The Odd Fellow's Lodge building'') concert hall. After a few years as a classical concert pianist, he started his now-famous [[stand-up comedy|stand-up]] act with the signature blend of piano music and jokes. He married the American Elsie Chilton in 1933, the same year he debuted with his revue acts.<ref name="Jensen1966">{{cite book
|author=Bernhardt Jensen
|title=Som Århus morede sig: Folkelige forlystelser fra 1890'erne til 2. verdenskrig
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eOwNAQAAIAAJ
|access-date=2 October 2010
|year=1966
|publisher=Universitetsforlaget
|language=da
|page=128}}</ref> Borge started touring extensively in Europe, where he began telling anti-[[Nazism|Nazi]] jokes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Palmer |first=Jordan |date=2021-07-22 |title=Celebrating the great Jewish comedians: Victor Borge |url=https://stljewishlight.org/news/news-local/celebrating-the-great-jewish-comedians-victor-borge/ |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=St. Louis Jewish Light}}</ref>

When the German armed forces occupied Denmark on 9 April 1940, during [[World War II]], Borge was playing a concert in [[Sweden during World War II|neutral Sweden]] and decided to go to Finland.<ref name="Sears1986">{{cite book
|author=Richard S. Sears
|title=V-discs: first supplement
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ZJHAAAAMAAJ
|access-date=2 October 2010
|date=3 December 1986
|publisher=Greenwood Press
|isbn=978-0-313-25421-5
|page=23}}</ref> He traveled to America on the United States Army transport {{SS|American Legion|1919|2}}, the last neutral ship to make it out of [[Pechenga (urban-type settlement), Murmansk Oblast|Petsamo]], Finland,<ref>{{cite book
|title=Information
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lWgvAAAAMAAJ
|access-date=2 October 2010
|year=1977
|publisher=R.Levin
|language=da
|page=26}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Charles |first=Roland W. |title=Troopships of World War II |year=1947 |location=Washington |publisher=The Army Transportation Association |lccn=47004779 |page=7 |url=http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/wwii_Troopships.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123952/http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/wwii_Troopships.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 April 2015 |access-date=9 August 2015}}</ref> and arrived 28 August 1940, with only $20 (about ${{Inflation|US|20|1940}} today), with $3 going to the customs fee. Disguised as a sailor, Borge returned to Denmark once during the occupation to visit his dying mother.<ref>{{cite book
|author=National Geographic Society (US)
|title=The National geographic
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RflKAAAAYAAJ
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=1 July 1998
|publisher=National Geographic Society
|page=59}}</ref>

===Move to America===
Even though Borge did not speak a word of English upon arrival, he quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience, learning English by watching movies. He took the name of Victor Borge and, in 1941, he started on [[Rudy Vallee]]'s radio show.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Billboard
|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_awoEAAAAMBAJ_2
|access-date=2 October 2010
|date=19 December 1953
|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_awoEAAAAMBAJ_2/page/n18 21]
|issn=0006-2510 }}</ref> He was hired soon after by [[Bing Crosby]] for his ''[[Kraft Music Hall]]'' programme.<ref name="Cullen2007">{{cite book
|author=Frank Cullen
|title=Vaudeville, old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performers in America
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&pg=PA132
|access-date=2 October 2010
|date=2007
|publisher=Psychology Press
|isbn=978-0-415-93853-2
|page=132}}</ref>

Borge quickly rose to fame, winning Best New Radio Performer of the Year in 1942 and earning favorable reviews for his performances at New York City's [[Roxy Theatre (New York City)|Roxy Theater]] and [[Capitol Theatre (New York City)|Capitol Theatre]] in 1943.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT14 The Billboard. 1 May 1943 p. 15 "Roxy, New York" Victor Borge on Google Books]</ref> Soon after the award, he was offered film roles with stars such as [[Frank Sinatra]] (in ''[[Higher and Higher (film)|Higher and Higher]]''). While hosting ''[[The Victor Borge Show]]'' on [[NBC]] beginning in 1946,<ref>{{cite book
|author=Grolier Incorporated
|title=The Encyclopedia Americana
|year=1970
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dEVKwVGO4e0C
|access-date=2 October 2011
|publisher=Grolier
|isbn=978-0-7172-0122-8
|page=272}}</ref> he developed many of his trademarks, including repeatedly announcing his intent to play a piece but getting "distracted" by something or other, making comments about the audience, or discussing the usefulness of [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]]'s "[[Minute Waltz]]" as an egg timer.<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Borge
|first=Victor
|title=Popular Mechanics
|journal=Popular Mechanics Magazine
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA107
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=March 1985
|publisher=Hearst Magazines
|page=107
|issn=0032-4558 }}</ref> He would also start out with some well-known classical piece like [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]]'s "[[Moonlight Sonata]]" and suddenly move into a pop or jazz tune, such as [[Cole Porter]]'s "[[Night and Day (song)|Night and Day]]" or "[[Happy Birthday to You]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Victor Borge {{!}} American comedian and musician {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Victor-Borge |access-date=2022-11-05 |website=Britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

===Style===
One of Borge's other famous routines was "Phonetic Punctuation," in which he read a passage from a book and added exaggerated sound effects to stand for most of the main [[punctuation]] marks, such as periods, commas, and exclamation marks.<ref>{{cite book
|title=Billboard
|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_cBoEAAAAMBAJ
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=29 April 1944
|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_cBoEAAAAMBAJ/page/n24 25]
|issn=0006-2510
|quote=Victor Borge and his dead-pan interpretations of phonetic punctuation and gags clicked soundly with the pew-sitters.}}</ref> Another is his "Inflationary Language", in which he added one to every number or [[homophone]] of a number in the words he spoke. For example: "once upon a time" becomes "twice upon a time", "wonderful" becomes "twoderful", "forehead" becomes "fivehead", "anyone for tennis" becomes "anytwo five elevennis", "I ate a tenderloin with my fork, and so on and so forth" becomes "I nined an elevenderloin with my fivek, and so on and so fifth".<ref name="Cullen2007" />

[[File:Victor Borge in concert 1957.JPG|thumb|Borge performing before an audience in 1957]]
Borge used physical and visual elements in his live and televised performances. He would play a strange-sounding piano tune from sheet music, looking increasingly confused; turning the sheet upside down or sideways, he would then play the actual tune, flashing a joyful smile of accomplishment to the audience (he had, at first, been literally playing the tune upside down or sideways). 

When his energetic playing of another song would cause him to fall off the piano bench, he would open the seat lid, take out the two ends of an automotive seat belt, and buckle himself onto the bench, "for safety". Conducting an orchestra, he might stop and order a violinist who had played a sour note to get off the stage, then resume the performance and have the other members of the section move up to fill the empty seat while they were still playing: from off stage would come the sound of a gunshot.<ref>{{YouTube|title=Victor Borge – Dance of the Comedians (1996)|id=FS0q5Srx30g}}</ref>

His musical sidekick in the 1960s, [[Leonid Hambro]], was also a well-known concert pianist.<ref>''88 notes pour piano solo'', [[Jean-Pierre Thiollet]], Neva Editions, 2015, p.296. {{ISBN|978-2-35055-192-0}}</ref> In 1968, classical pianist [[Şahan Arzruni]] joined him as his straight man, performing together on one piano a version of [[Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2|Liszt's Second Hungarian Rhapsody]], considered a musical-comedic classic.<ref>{{YouTube|Aajtw30-YG0|Victor Borge – Hungarian Rhapsody #2.}}</ref> Borge performed a version of the routine with [[Rowlf the Dog]] on Season 4 of [[The Muppet Show]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0653217/?ref_=ttep_ep5 | title = Episode 4.05 "Victor Borge" | website = [[IMDb]] | access-date =18 June 2021 |date=9 November 1979 }}</ref>

He also enjoyed interacting with the audience. Seeing an interested person in the front row, he would ask them, "Do you like good music?" or "Do you care for piano music?" After an affirmative answer, Borge would take a piece of sheet music from his piano and say, "Here is some", and hand it over. After the audience's laughter died down, he would say, "That'll be $1.95" (or whatever the current price might be). He would then ask whether the audience member could read music; if the member said yes, he would ask a higher price. If he got no response from the audience after a joke, he would often add "… when this ovation has died down, of course." The delayed punchline to handing the person the sheet music would come when he would reach the end of a number and begin playing the penultimate notes over and over, with a puzzled look. He would then go back to the person in the audience, retrieve the sheet music, tear off a piece of it, stick it on the piano, and play the last couple of notes from it.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}

Making fun of modern theater, he would sometimes begin a performance by asking if there were any children in the audience. There always were, of course. He would sternly order them out, then say, "We do have some children in here; that means I can't do the second half in the nude. I'll wear the tie (pause). The long one (pause). The very long one, yes."<ref>{{YouTube|Lx4n9P4bLEo|Victor Borge – Funny Jokes -Part 1<!-- Bot-generated title -->}}</ref>

In his stage shows in later years, he would include a segment with opera singer Marylyn Mulvey.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.playbill.com/playbillpagegallery/inside-playbill?asset=00000150-ac81-d16d-a550-ecbf0a870001&type=InsidePlaybill&slide=1|title= Inside the Playbill: Marylyn Mulvey |author=<!--Not stated--> |access-date= 20 October 2020}}</ref> She would try to sing an aria, and he would react and interrupt, with such antics as falling off the bench in "surprise" when she hit a high note. He would also remind her repeatedly not to rest her hand on the piano, telling her that if she got used to it, "and one day a piano was not there – ''Fffftttt!''" After the routine, the spotlight would rest on Mulvey, and she would sing a serious number with Borge accompanying in the background.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Henty|first=Hanako|date=April 28, 2016|title=A Fine Line Between Art and Entertainment: Music and Humor in the Performances of Victor Borge|url=https://scholarship.miami.edu|website=[[University of Miami]]}}</ref>

===Later career===
[[File:Victor-Borge.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Borge in 1990]]
Borge appeared on ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show|Toast of the Town]]'' hosted by [[Ed Sullivan]] several times during 1948. He became a [[naturalization|naturalized citizen]] of the United States the same year. He started the ''[[Comedy in Music]] '' show at [[John Golden Theatre]] in [[New York City]] on 2 October 1953. ''Comedy in Music'' became the longest running one-man show in the history of theater with 849 performances when it closed on 21 January 1956, a feat which placed it in the ''[[Guinness World Records|Guinness Book of World Records]]''.<ref name="Young1998">{{cite book
|last=Young
|first=Mark
|title=The Guinness Book of World Records 1998
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSyswNFqTycC
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=2 March 1998
|publisher=Bantam Books
|isbn=978-0-553-57895-9
|page=439
|quote=The longest run of one-man shows is 849, by Victor Borge (Denmark) in his Comedy in Music from October&nbsp;2, 1953 through 21 January 1956 at the Golden Theater, Broadway, New York City.}}</ref>

Continuing his success with tours and shows, Borge played with and conducted orchestras including the [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]],<ref>{{cite book
|author=Elliott Robert Barkan
|title=Making it in America: a sourcebook on eminent ethnic Americans
|url=https://archive.org/details/makingitinameric00bark
|url-access=registration
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=May 2001
|publisher=ABC-CLIO
|isbn=978-1-57607-098-7
|page=[https://archive.org/details/makingitinameric00bark/page/47 47]}}</ref> the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra|New York Philharmonic]]<ref>{{cite journal
|author=New York Media, LLC
|title=New York Magazine
|website=Newyorkmetro.com
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNECAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=27 January 1978
|publisher=New York Media, LLC
|page=54
|issn=0028-7369}}</ref> and [[London Philharmonic Orchestra|London Philharmonic]].<ref>{{cite book
|author=H.W. Wilson Company
|title=Current biography yearbook
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a4cYAAAAIAAJ
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=1 January 1993
|publisher=H.W. Wilson
|page=82}}</ref>  He appeared with the Cleveland Opera Company in Mozart's ''The Magic Flute'' in 1979 and at London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden in Bizet's ''Carmen'' in 1986.<ref name="HDD">{{cite book|author-last=Thomas |author-first=Alastair H. |title=Historical Dictionary of Denmark |date=26 July 2016 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aPq6DAAAQBAJ |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aPq6DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74 74] |isbn=978-1-4422-6465-6}}</ref> Always modest, he felt honored when he was invited to conduct the [[Royal Danish Orchestra]] at the [[Royal Danish Theatre]] in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1992.<ref name="HDD"/> 

His later television appearances included his "Phonetic Punctuation" routine on ''[[The Electric Company]]'' in a filmed sketch.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf_TDuhk3No |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/Qf_TDuhk3No| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Victor Borge – Phonetic Punctuation|last=Charles Bradley II|date=3 August 2013|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> He would also use this sketch on ''[[The Electric Company]]'''s subsequent LP record, during its "Punctuation" song.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIsxPSgnrfA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/nIsxPSgnrfA| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=The Electric Company 1974 TV Soundtrack LP Record FULL ALBUM|website=[[YouTube]] |date=16 April 2015 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> In addition, he appeared several times on ''[[Sesame Street]]'',<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkE38Y7m1tM | title = YouTube – Victor Borge on Sesame Street | website = [[YouTube]] | date = 18 December 2006 | access-date =2 October 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl1YkUWs7BE| title = Victor Borge Meets Oscar The Grouch (''Sesame Street''), YouTube| website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkE38Y7m1tM| title = Victor Borge on ''Sesame Street'', YouTube| website = [[YouTube]]| date = 18 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNDotER9XEs |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/PNDotER9XEs| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Sesame Street: Practicing With Victor Borge|last=Sesame Street|date=1 March 2011|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and he was a guest star during the [[List of The Muppet Show episodes#Series 4 (1979–1980)|fourth season]] of ''[[The Muppet Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5iCVytIbmk | title = YouTube – Victor Borge on the Muppet show | website = [[YouTube]] | access-date =2 October 2010 | date = 22 May 1979}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XShTTI7yYI| title = Victor Borge on ''The Muppet Show'', YouTube| website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJgUz_RwRcw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/hJgUz_RwRcw| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=Victor Borge & The Muppets Orchestra – Tchaikovsky's 1st Piano Concerto|website=[[YouTube]] |date=4 October 2009 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Victor Borge continued to tour until his last days, performing up to 60 times per year when he was 90 years old. <ref>{{cite news|last=Holden|first=Stephen|author-link=Stephen Holden|title=Victor Borge, pianist who combined comedy and classical music, dies at 91 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/25/arts/victor-borge-pianist-who-combined-comedy-and-classical-music-dies-at-91.html|access-date=25 July 2023|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=25 December 2000}}</ref> His microphone of choice since circa 1982 was the Shure SM59.

===Other endeavors===
Borge made several appearances on the TV show ''[[What's My Line?]]'', both as a celebrity panelist and as a contestant with the occupation "poultry farmer". (The latter was not a comedy routine: as a business venture, Borge raised and popularized [[Cornish game hen|Rock Cornish game hens]], starting in the 1950s.)<ref>{{YouTube|i-Ps0H6Fwro|Victor Borge – ''What's My Line'' 11 October 1959}}</ref>

{{external media|float=left|width=190px |audio1 = You may hear Victor Borge performing with [[Robert Sherman (music critic)|Robert Sherman]] on [[WQXR-FM]]'s "Great Artist's Series" in 1984 & 1977 <br />[https://www.wqxr.org/series/great-artists/about/ Here on WQXR.org]}}

Borge helped start several trust funds, including the Thanks to Scandinavia Fund,<ref name="NYTimesObit">{{cite news | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/26/classified/paid-notice-deaths-borge-victor.html| title = Paid Notice – Deaths: Borge, Victor| access-date =2 October 2010 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=26 December 2000}}</ref> which was started in dedication to those who helped the Jews escape the German persecution during the war.<ref name="NYTimesObit" />

Aside from his musical work, Borge wrote three books: ''My Favorite Intermissions''<ref name="BorgeSherman1971">{{cite book
|last1=Borge
|first1=Victor
|last2=Sherman
|first2=Robert
|title=My favorite intermissions
|url=https://archive.org/details/myfavoriteinterm00borg
|url-access=registration
|access-date=3 October 2010
|date=August 1971
|publisher=Doubleday}}
</ref> and ''My Favorite Comedies in Music''<ref name="BorgeSherman1980">{{cite book
|last1=Borge
|first1=Victor
|last2=Sherman
|first2=Robert
|title=Victor Borge's My favorite comedies in music
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R7rBAAAACAAJ
|access-date=3 October 2010
|year=1980
|publisher=Dorset Press
|isbn=978-0-88029-807-0}}</ref> (both with [[Robert Sherman (music critic)|Robert Sherman]]), and the autobiography ''Smilet er den korteste afstand'' ("The Smile is the Shortest Distance") with Niels-Jørgen Kaiser.<ref name="BorgeKaiser2001">{{cite book
|last1=Borge
|first1=Victor
|last2=Kaiser
|first2=Niels-Jørgen
|title=Smilet er den korteste afstand -: erindringer
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RYlWAAAACAAJ
|access-date=3 October 2010
|year=2001
|publisher=Gyldendal
|language=da
|isbn=978-87-00-75182-8}}</ref>

In 1979 Borge founded the [[American Piano Awards]] (then called the Beethoven Foundation) with Julius Bloom and Anthony P. Habig. American Piano Awards now produces two major biennial piano competitions: the Classical Fellowship Awards and the Jazz Fellowship Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://pianoawards.org/about/ |access-date=30 November 2014 |publisher=American Piano Awards}}</ref>