Victor Borge

Victor Borge born Børge Rosenbaum was a Danish American comedian conductor and pianist affectionately known as The Clown Prince of Denmark The Unmelancholy Dane and The Great Dane He was born in Copenhagen and started out as a classic concert pianist having his first major concert in 1926 In 1933 he started his now famous stand up act with the signature blend of piano music and jokes and married American Elsie Chilton the same year Borge started touring extensively in Europe where he began telling antiNazi jokes When Germany invaded Denmark on 9 April 1940 he was touring Sweden and fled via finland to the USA with his American wife Once in the USA  he took the name Victor Borge and quickly managed to adapt his jokes to the American audience learning English by watching movies In 1941 he was hired by Bing Crosby for his Kraft Music Hall and from then on his fame just grew and grew