
She began teaching musical comedy at the University of Southern California in 1971 and at Yale in 1975. The New York Times reported, "In the 1970s, embarked on a separate career as a television producer and teacher. She began working in television production with her husband's 1960s television shows. Fine received a Peabody Award in 1980, and during her career she was also nominated for two Oscars and two Emmys. She was an associate producer of some of the films. Those for the film The Court Jester were co-written with Sammy Cahn. She took a direct role in managing her husband's career and wrote many of his songs for him, both in film and recordings. She made the trip to Fort Lauderdale where they were married on January 3, 1940. He proposed on the telephone while working in Florida Fine was in New York. Fine had fired his future son-in-law for doing woodworking with his dental drills.

They were both born in Brooklyn, and Kaye had once worked for Fine's father, watching his office while the dentist went to lunch. Although the pair had never met before, they discovered some things in common. Fine wrote the lyrics and music for the show. She was working as an audition pianist when she met Danny Kaye both were working on a short-lived Broadway show, The Straw Hat Revue.

She attended Thomas Jefferson High School and studied music at Brooklyn College, where she wrote the music for the school's alma mater, with lyrics from the poet Robert Friend. Sylvia Fine was born in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of three children of a Jewish dentist, and raised in East New York.

She won an Emmy award in 1976 for children's special. Fine was a Peabody Award-winner and was nominated for two Academy Awards and two Emmys during her career. Many of her compositions and productions were performed by her husband, comedian Danny Kaye. Sylvia Fine Kaye (August 29, 1913 – October 28, 1991) was an American lyricist, composer, and producer.
