By E. Graydon Carter

Known variously as "the Lion," "the Great Crocodile," "the Bull," "Son of the She Elephant," "the Great Mountain" and "the Inexplicable," King Sobhuza II, 82, became the leader of Swaziland the year Warren G. Harding moved into the White House. Last week, on the 60th anniversary of the old Lion's rule--the longest of any living monarch--he was feted by countrymen and visiting dignitaries. Heralded as much for his libido as his longevity, Sobhuza is said to have more than 100 wives and is well on his way to earning another moniker: "Father of His Country." The old Lion has reportedly sired no fewer than 500 children.

Maybe it was his role in the 1947 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty that first set his mind to wondering. Danny Kaye was always an armchair maestro, but when he was invited to guest-conduct for the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1954, the idle dream and the classical passion harmonized nicely. Kaye, 68, has since trotted out his tux for guest appearances with symphony orchestras from San Francisco to Stockholm. For PBS's Sept. 23 Live from Lincoln Center performance of the New York Philharmonic, the baton will be passed by Musical Director Zubin Mehta, 45. Kaye does not read music, but, says he: "I know the scores by heart. I know the nuances I want. I just relay my instructions to the orchestra with expressions instead of my hands."

Surrounded by youthful cast members from the film Annie, including Newcomer Aileen Quinn, 10, Veteran Director John Huston, 75, seemed as pleased as Daddy Warbucks during a Dow Jones upswing. The screen version of the Broadway hit was his first attempt at anything musical since guiding his father, Actor Walter Huston, through a jig in the 1948 classic Treasure of Sierra Madre. "And that," John admits, "was his own choreography." The Annie youngsters were just as professional. Says Huston: "If you understand kids, they never disappoint you."

In red evening outfits that could turn First Lady Nancy Reagan into a blue-jeans and turtleneck kind of girl, Bob Hope, 78, Bruce Jenner, 31, and former Football Great Merlin Olsen, 40, dragged out a parody version of Johnny Paycheck's Take This Job and Shove It. The trio were done up as the Mandrake Sisters (read Mandrel! Sisters) for Bob Hope's All-Star Comedy Look at the New Season--It's Still Free and Well Worth It, to be aired on NBC later this month. Though the three woeful crooners belted out the number in a style that will surely have audiences panting for less, Hope was quite taken with Olsen's falsetto solo. "I was afraid to sing so high," says the comedian. "But he's big enough to get away with it."

His mordant wit and wry delivery, combined with the sober style of Chet Huntley, worked a kind of magic from 1956 to 1970, when NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report was America's dominant evening news broadcast. Last week David Brinkley, 61, surprised the world with news of his own, announcing that he was retiring from the broadcast organization that had been his home for 38 years. No reason was given for the abrupt departure, but he had been less than pleased with the lack of network support for his prime-time news program NBC Magazine with David Brinkley, which had been shoehorned into a lethal Friday-evening time slot opposite CBS's Dallas. Besides, he wants to complete a book on Washington. Good night, David.

--By E. Graydon Carter

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