Comedian Victor Borge Dead at Age 91

G R E E N W I C H, Conn. -- Victor Borge, the daffy pianist whose whimsical approach to the classics earned him the moniker the “clown prince” of Denmark, died today. He was 91.

Borge died at home in sleep, his longtime manager, BernardGurtman, said.

Borge had just returned from Copenhagen, the city of his birth,and was excited about spending Christmas with his family, Gurtmansaid. Borge would have turned 92 on Jan. 3.

For decades, Borge delighted audiences by deflating thepomposity of classical music. He fell off his bench, played musicupside down and in weird ways, and repeatedly milked laughs fromsuch classic routines as “phonetic punctuation” in which he usedgoofy sounds to indicate commas, periods and question marks in hismonologue.

He kept up a busy career into his 80s, touring and issuingvideos, including his most popular, “The Best of Victor Borge,”which sold some 3 million copies.

“Some people reach the point where they must try desperately tohold on to something that isn’t there anymore, no matter how greatthey are,” he said in an interview in 1986. “This is where I amvery, very lucky. We all do what we can, we all have limitations.Apparently, within my limitations, there is enough to go on and onand on and on.”

Trailblazer

Borge performed 100 or more nights a year, sometimes as pianistand sometimes as conductor, usually as a clown but sometimes indead earnest. In his later years, he directed Mozart’s “MagicFlute” in Cleveland and prepared a concert version of “Carmen.”

“I could probably play every night. I have enough offers. Andsometimes it is very tempting to do that,” he said in a 1992interview. “If I decide to stay home, it’s a very expensivesleep.”

In 1999, Borge was one of five performers selected for theKennedy Center Honors.

“He’s never said a four-letter word, never had any dirt,”Gurtman said. “He’s a total professional that you meet once inyour life. He was a trailblazer like Milton Berle, he did it once,and did it live.”