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AL JOLSON
Al Jolson was known in the industry as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," for well over 40 years. During that time such performers as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and many others spoke of Jolson in this way. After his death his influence continued unabated with such performers as Elvis Presley, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Jackie Wilson and Jerry Lee Lewis, all mentioning Jolson as an inspiration. Al Jolson was born Asa Yoelson in Lithuania to Cantor Moishe Yoelson who emigrated alone to Washington DC. to establish himself. After four years he called for his family. Nine months later his wife, Naomi, died (apparently in childbirth) which devastated the 8 year old Asa. Young Al would soon find his outlet in the theater. Soon he was singing with his older brother, Harry, for Senators and soldiers. He entertained the troops that were headed for the Spanish-American War.
Jolson's career in vaudeville started with his brother in New York, but never really got off the ground. Different partners allowed Jolson to experiment but is was as a single in San Francisco that Jolson finally hit it big. He was signed eventually by Lew Dockstaders' Minstrels. It is important to note that, although performing in blackface, Docstader's was not a minstrel show in the traditional sense of the "Tambo and Bones" variety of the previous century. It was a sophisticated, topical, Broadway style revue. The myth lingers to this day that Jolson was a minstrel. It is not so.
Jolson's stay in vaudeville was relatively short as his talent, recognized by the Shubert Brothers, was signed by them to appear in the opening show of their new Winter Garden Theater on Broadway in April of 1912. Thus began the greatest career in the illustrious history of Broadway. Not a headliner initially, Jolson soon became "King of the Winter Garden," with shows specifically written for him. Winter Garden and Jolson became synonymous. This lasted for close to 20 years. During that time Jolson received reviews that have yet to be matched. Audiences shouted, pleaded, and often would not allow the show to proceed, such was the power of Jolson's presence. At one performance in Boston, the usual staid and conservative audience stopped the show for 45 minutes! He was said to have had an "electric" personality, along with the ability to make each member of the audience believe that he was singing only to them.
In 1927 Jolson starred in The Jazz Singer (1927) and the rest is film history. His appearance in that film, now at best a museum piece, electrified audiences and caused a sensation. Jolson was bigger than ever and the lure of Hollywood beckoned.
Jolson on film was a pale ghost of the stage Jolson. His screen appearances, with some exceptions, are stiff and wooden. Though he continued into the 1930s to star on radio, he was no longer quite the star he had been.
During WW II Jolson entertained troops in Africa and Sicily but was cut short by a bout of malaria and pneumonia. Always a favorite audience, he continued to entertain in the States when he met his fourth wife, Erle Galbraith, an x-ray technician.
His stardom somewhat fading, Columbia Pictures, inspired by the success of "Yankee Doodle Dandy," decided a Jolson biography might work as well. In 1946 Columbia released The Jolson Story (1946), starring Larry Parks miming to Jolson's vocals. It was the surprise smash hit of the season, the highest grossing film of the year. Parks received an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actor. Jolson was now as big, or bigger, than ever. So successful was the film that Columbia decided to make a sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949), which remains the only biography sequel in film history. It was also quite successful at the box office. So big had Jolson's star risen that in 1948, when Crosby, Sinatra, and Como were at their peak, Jolson was voted "The Most Popular Male Vocalist" by a Variety poll.
In 1950 and against doctor’s orders, Jolson went to Korea to entertain his favorite audience, American troops. While there his health declined and shortly after his return to the U.S. he suffered a massive heart attack and died.
Jolson's legacy has suffered enormously since the 1960s. Few under the age of 50 even know his name and those who do were taught that he was a "white man who made millions making fun of black people." In an age of political correctness, blackface is seen as a racial slur and so all who ever employed it bigots. This is, of course, specious reasoning. In fact, blackface had long lost its pejorative racial implications by the turn of the century and became a convention of theater. Many stars, including Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Eddie Cantor, George Burns, and many black stars of the time, used blackface. There was no bigotry attached to it. And so, the man who was the king of Broadway for nearly 40 years, is now largely forgotten or misunderstood, and there is no plaque or statue or even sign anywhere on Broadway to honor him..
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