Daniel “Dano” Kinske
A native Washingtonian who enjoys knowing he was born at Georgetown University Hospital in 1974—just feet from the infamous steps used in The Exorcist, which had been released the day after Christmas in 1973. Grew up in Virginia and Michigan and left Michigan in 1992 at age 17 to join the Navy and see the sea (retiring in 2012.)
While on active-duty in 2002, Daniel teamed up with former The Wizard of Oz (MGM, 1939) actor, Meinhardt Raabe, who played the Munchkin Coroner in the film. They commissioned and visited Al Hirschfeld on August 17, 2002 for Mr. Raabe’s sitting. Al Hirschfeld had created at least five posters (three variants of art) and three more drawings in the lavish Campaign Book; however drawing Mr. Raabe for the cover of their: Memories of a Munchkin: An Illustrated Walk Down the Yellow Brick Road (Watson-Guptill, 2005), was the first time Hirschfeld had drawn a Munchkin from the film.
In 2007, he worked with Carla Laemmle to create a small book to coincide with her centenary in 2009. Ray Bradbury provided the introduction and Jack Davis was commissioned for the majority of illustrations. The book was called Growing Up With Monsters: My Times at Universal Studios in Rhymes (Bearmanor Media, 2009.)
Daniel commissioned Al Hirschfeld in late 2002 to draw all four Marx Brothers—Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and Zeppo—along with himself in the background in a sailors cracker-jack uniform (working blues) for a personal commission that was to pay homage to Bill’s beloved and beautiful mother, Susan, who passed away during the process and her name was to be added—along with the ubiquitous NINA signature along with a splash of ruddy-orange hair color for Harpo, to match his initial stage/fright wig color.
Hirschfeld passed away the weekend of the sitting and Daniel went to Hirschfeld’s then 122 East 95th Street home for his own sitting, only to be greeted by his third wife who said he was sick in bed. She took reference photos of Daniel and planned to reschedule. Daniel gave her a framed detached cover to Harlem as seen by Hirschfeld book and departed New York City the next day—January 20th, 2003—Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (and lightly snowing) the same day Al died.
Though the drawing never made it past the pencil stage, Bill Marx appreciated the sentiments and Bill and Daniel not only became friends, but collaborators on helping scan images for his Son of Harpo Speaks! book and finally with this book and story told in mostly images—with a prefix title inspiration by the famed designer and nonagenarian, Erté, they now present: Art Ducko: An Illustrated History of the Marx Brothers.