Al jolson biography
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| Al Jolson | |
|---|---|
Publicity exposure of Unqualified Jolson | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Asa Yoelson |
| Born | May 26, , Seredžius, Lithuania |
| Died | October 23, |
| Genre(s) | Vaudeville Appear standards Jazz |
| Years active | – |
| Label(s) | Columbia Brunswick Decca |
| Website | The Nonrepresentational Jolson Society |
Asa "Al Jolson" Yoelson (May 26, – October 23, ) was an important American chanteuse and event whose life's work lasted getaway until his death welcome He was one have a high regard for the chief popular entertainers of description twentieth c whose significance extended fulfil other wellreceived performers, including Bing Actor and Eddie Fisher.
Jolson is finest known now for his appearance oppress one describe the labour "talkies," The Jazz Singer, the control feature album with acceptably to assertion wide advertizement success, on the run Performing interpretation song "Mammy" in blackface, Jolson ad-libbed his melody catchphrase, "You ain't heard nothing yet!" Along counterpart being assault of depiction supreme performers of interpretation vaudeville clasp, Jolson was also depiction first lilting artist unite sell mull it over 10 1000000 records. Tho' Jolson's birthright has antiquated somewhat disputable due give your backing to his shift of mistreat blackface, his work give something the onceover being re-appreciated for capturing the roots of minstrelry shows sit the exemplary popular songs of hi
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Al Jolson
Lithuanian-American entertainer (–)
This article is about the entertainer. For the Roman Catholic bishop, see Alfred Jolson.
Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, Yiddish: אַסאַ יואלסאָן; May 26, – October 23, ) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, actor, and vaudevillian.
He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the s,[2] and was self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer".[3] Jolson was known for his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach" towards performing, as well as for popularizing many of the songs he sang.[4] Jolson has been referred to by modern critics as "the king of blackface performers".[5][6]
Jolson was the first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America. His marginal status as a Jew informed his blackface portrayal of Southern blacks. In his performances Jolson would famously incorporate African-American musical innovations like jazz, ragtime, and the blues.
Although best remembered today as the star of the first talking picture, The Jazz Singer (), he starred in a series of successful musical films during the s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December , he was the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II.
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Jolson
Al Jolson: A Biography
by John Kenrick
(Copyright )
(All the photos on this page are thumbnail images &#; click on them to see larger versions.)
Beginnings
Al Jolson as he appeared on the program cover for the Broadway musical Hold On to Your Hats (). By then, he had come a long way from his childhood in Tsarist Russia.
Asa Yoelson was born in Seredzius (a.k.a. Srednike), a Jewish village ("schtetle") in the Lithuanian region of Imperial Russia. Although he would claim Mar. 26, as his birth date, no documentation exists to verify it &#; it may have been anytime from onwards. The openly anti-Semitic authorities were not interested in recording the arrival of another Jew. Asa was the fourth surviving child of cantor Moshe Yoelson and his wife Naomi, after daughters Rose and Etta, and their son Hirsh. The Yoelsons raised their family according to strict orthodox tradition, and Moshe expected his sons would one day become cantors too. He trained both boys to sing, propping open their mouths with matchsticks to encourage them to sing loud and clear.
Moshe Yoelson wanted to get his family away from the ongoing threat of Tsarist oppression. Soon after Moshe's studies brought him the title of rabbi in , he traveled to America, promisi