Funny man of the piano, Victor Borge has enjoyed a seven-decade-long international career as a witty pianist-raconteur and popular radio, film, and television personality. His spontaneous comic talents, slapstick comedy routines, and satirical spoofs of classical music mannerisms made him one of the most popular and highest paid entertainers during the early 1940s. His 1950s Broadway show still holds a place in The Guiness Book of World Records as the longest running one-man show in theater history. Borge's ability to make light-hearted fun out of "serious" concert music has endeared him to audiences who might otherwise feel intimidated or bored by the traditional decorum of classical music repertoire and presentation.

BØrge Rosenbaum (his name before emigrating to the United States) was born on January 3, 1909, in Copenhagen, Denmark. His mother was a pianist, and his father was a violinist with the Royal Danish Philharmonic...