Danny proved the versatility of his talent and earned rave reviews for his impassioned portrayal of a Holocaust survivor in the 1981 television movie "Skokie."
This, his last starring feature-length role, was based on the attempted 1977 march by a neo-Nazi group in the Chicago suburb of Skokie. Danny played Max Feldman, a Holocaust survivor, who had told his children very little about his past. The character was based on a composite of several people. There was no real Max Feldman. All his life Danny played the comic, the songster, or tummler and in this, his last film, he showed his true dramatic range as an actor. The character Max starts as a quiet man, not one to get involved but later develops into an outspoken opponent of the Nazi march.
For this role and all of humanitarian and UNICEF work, he was given the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award during the 1981 Academy Awards.

Of his many charitable performances, his work for symphony musicians' pension funds was the most popular. A talented musician, Danny appeared from time to time as a mock guest conductor with the New York Philharmonic and other symphony orchestras.
He first took up the baton at the invitation of Eugene Ormandy, the conductor of the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, at a time when Kaye was playing in a stage show in a Philadelphia theater a block away. When performing these benefit concerts, he was known to conduct "The Flight of the Bumble Bee" with a flyswatter but his conducting was well praised, with Zubin Mehta stating that Danny "has a very efficient conducting style." "Live from Lincoln Center: An Evening with Danny Kaye and the New York Philharmonic," broadcast on PBS, (which you can still find on VHS, but it has not shown up in any of my research on DVD), for which Danny won a Peabody Award.
Unfortunately, health problems intervened and Danny's conducting tour was over. He, as guest conductor for various symphonies, had raised more than $10 million.

Danny underwent quadruple bypass heart surgery in 1983, long before blood suppliers had a way to screen out blood contaminated with hepatitis C. This "bad blood" would not catch up to him for a few more years. Additionally, in 1984, Danny underwent hip replacement surgery.
Eventhough in semi-retirement due to his waning health, his lifetime of achievements continued to be recognized. In 1984, Danny received Kennedy Center honors. The Rose Parade's theme that year was in salute to volunteers and Danny was selected to be Grand Marshal of the parade.

Though sometimes frail due to his ailments, Danny had a rough time with his final come back. Suffering from the blood problems causing constant pain put him in poor spirits when working. Of course some folks just either didn't understand his condition or didn't care. One of these so-called "professionals" was dime store pulp science fiction writer Harlan Ellison.
Ellison's story "The Paladin of the Lost Hour," somehow managed to become a 1985 Twilight Zone script (he was a creative consultant. . .go figure how that happened). The incredible dynamic created between Danny and co-star Glynn Turman, was as awkwardly perfect as the roles could get. If you get the chance to catch this episode, you'll understand that these two characters are complete strangers and the lack of chemistry between them gives that awkwardness a life of its own. One can almost see the tension between the characters.
The premise of the episode was this, Danny played an old man nearing death, who posessed a pocketwatch that held a missing hour of time in check, lost during the alteration of the Christian calender. The old man befriends a troubled Vietnam veteran, who eventually elects to carry on his guardianship of the watch in exchange for a minute of the past.
The story was the same cookie-cutter story that people come to expect from pulp science fiction. . . a guy stumbles upon an old man who hands over the mantle of some crusade that the guy doesn't want but realizes he's been trained for it his whole life. Although these stories aren't very good literature, they translate to television "sit-sci-fi" easilly.
Uninformed critics of the episode apparently don't understand how the characters SHOULD be. . . not how they were written. Danny was breathtaking in this, the last dramatic role he'd ever play.
With Danny selling the part and making the episode so spell-binding, Ellison later reaped the rewards by winning an Outstanding Teleplay Award from The Writers Guild of America. (This despite complaining that Danny Kaye was "selfish" during shooting).

Danny, with a strong urge to make one last effort, came out of retirement again to make a rare guest appearance on an episode of "The Cosby Show" in February 1986, which was to become his very last role. It was a hysterical episode showing all the loving character Danny could create for children. The show concerned "a frightened Peter (Peter Costa) hides at the Huxtable house in the hopes of avoiding a trip to the dentist. The family tries to reassure him by vouching for the dentist, Dr. Burns (Danny Kaye). Rudy offers to accompany him to his appointment to help put him at ease. Dr. Burns still has a difficult time getting Peter to submit to the examination, but manages to get him to cooperate through a series of jokes and tricks."
For his work in this episode, Danny Kaye was nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Guest Performer in a Comedy.
Also in 1986, Kaye was awarded the Legion of Honor, France's highest award, by President Francois Mitterand.

In February of 1987, Danny had started to succumb to his ailments. He was eventually all but bed-ridden and on March 3, 1987, the world lost its original caring funny-man. Danny Kaye died at the age of 74 in Los Angeles, California. His fatal heart attack was brought on by hepatitis and internal bleeding. This was the consequence of the transfusion of contaminated blood during quadruple bypass heart surgery back in 1983. A great man had passed but not many newspapers in the US or the world carried the news on the front page. Although his star had faded, his ability to make people smile, from royalty to the poorest child, never would.

That evening, President Reagan made this statement: "A comedian, actor, singer, and conductor, Danny Kaye delighted millions the world over with his special talent for making us laugh. His numerous credits on Broadway, on the screen, and on television were all characterized by his devotion to his craft. Even though he was just acting, his genuine love for people came through. Children, especially, felt his warmth and humanity, and he enjoyed a special bond with his young audiences. Danny Kaye could light up a room just by smiling. He shared his talent with the world, and by so doing, made it a better place. He will be missed, and Nancy joins me in extending our deep sympathy to his family."

Interred at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York, he was survived by both his wife Sylvia and daughter Dena.

So what did Danny's dash represent? That without a formal education, his intelligent humor created a style all his own that made him one of the most beloved entertainers of his time. That his deep and continued commitment to the betterment of mankind was an inspiration to us all. Lastly, that he lived up to his childhood dream of growing up to be a doctor when he admitted early in his career that "laughter is always the best medicine."

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