Danny Kaye was Polish/American.

I once met a real Basil character that ran an Hotel in Bath. I came in around 10:30pm after going out for a meal (hotel had no evening food) and rang the bell for a 'night service' drink. The owner came down in, I kid you not, a nightshirt! He tutted about having been disturbed, gave me the keys to the bar and told me to let him know what I had gone through in the morning. It was amazing how convincing I was when I said I just had one can of beer...

:D