​From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Al Jolson (May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed “The World’s Greatest Entertainer”.He was born in the Russian Empire (the part of which is now in Lithuania) and emigrated to America at the age of five with his Jewish parents.
His performing style was brash and extroverted, and he popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his “shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach”. Numerous well-known singers were influenced by his music, including Bing Crosby Judy Garland, rock and country entertainer Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bob Dylan, who once referred to him as “somebody whose life I can feel”. Broadway critic Gilbert Seldes compared him to “the Great God Pan,” claiming that Jolson represented “the concentration of our national health and gaiety.”
In the 1930s, he was America’s most famous and highest paid entertainer. Between 1911 and 1928, Jolson had nine sell-out Winter Garden shows in a row, more than 80 hit records, and 16 national and international tours. Although he’s best remembered today as the star in the first (full length) talking movie, The Jazz Singer in 1927, he later starred in a series of successful musical films throughout the 1930s. After a period of inactivity, his stardom returned with the 1946 Oscar-winning biographical film, The Jolson Story. Larry Parks played Jolson with the songs dubbed in with Jolson’s real voice. A sequel, Jolson Sings Again, was released in 1949, and was nominated for three Oscars. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jolson became the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II, and again in 1950 became the first star to perform for G.I.s in Korea, doing 42 shows in 16 days. He died just weeks after returning to the U.S., partly due to the physical exertion of performing. Defense Secretary George Marshall afterward awarded the Medal of Merit to Jolson’s family.
He enjoyed performing in blackface makeup – a theatrical convention since the mid-19th century. With his unique and dynamic style of singing black music, like jazz and blues, he was later credited with single-handedly introducing African-American music to white audiences. As early as 1911 he became known for fighting against anti-black discrimination on Broadway. Jolson’s well-known theatrics and his promotion of equality on Broadway helped pave the way for many black performers, playwrights, and songwriters, including Cab Calloway, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and Ethel Waters.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Al Jolson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Al Jolson Biography / Wiki
| Name | Al Jolson |
| Also Know | |
| Gender | Male |
| Known For | Acting |
| Place of Birth | Seredzius, Lithuania |
| Date of Birth | 1886-05-26 |
| Age(as in 2022) | 64 |
| Deathday | 1950-10-23 |
Al Jolson Acting Movies
| Movie Name | Character | Release Date | Overview |
| The Jazz Singer | Jakie Rabinowitz | 1927-10-06 | A young Jewish man is torn between tradition and individuality when his old-fashioned family objects to his career as a jazz singer. This is the first… |
| Mammy | Al Fuller | 1930-03-26 | Mammy features Al Jolson as the star of a travelling minstrel show, appearing in a small Southern town. Jolson falls in love with an actress in the tr… |
| Hallelujah, I’m a Bum | Bumper | 1933-02-03 | A New York tramp falls in love with the mayor’s amnesiac girlfriend after rescuing her from a suicide attempt…. |
| Wonder Bar | Al Wonder | 1934-03-31 | Harry and Inez are a dance team at the Wonder Bar. Inez loves Harry, but he is in love with Liane, the wife of a wealthy business man. Al Wonder and t… |
| The Singing Kid | Al Jackson | 1936-04-10 | Neurotic Broadway star Al Jackson faces professional ruin when he loses his voice. While recuperating in the country, he falls in love with farm girl … |
| Big Boy | Gus | 1930-09-11 | Gus, the trusty family retainer, has hopes of riding his boss’ horse, Big Boy, to victory at the Kentucky Derby…. |
| The Singing Fool | Al Stone | 1928-09-19 | After years of hopeful struggle, Al Stone (Jolson) is on his way. “I’m Sittin’ on Top of the World”, he sings to an appreciative speakeasy crowd. But,… |
| Say It with Songs | Joe Lane | 1929-08-05 | Joe Lane, radio entertainer and songwriter, learns that the manager of the studio, Arthur Phillips, has made improper advances to his wife, Katherine…. |
| Go Into Your Dance | Al Howard | 1935-04-20 | An irresponsible Broadway star gets mixed up with gambling and gangsters…. |
| A Plantation Act | Self | 1926-10-07 | Al Jolson’s first sound film. Dressed in overalls and wearing black-face makeup, he sings three of his hit songs: “When the Red, Red, Robin Comes Bob,… |
| Studio Highlights | Self | 1934-08-01 | A short promotional film about Ruby Keeler and her upcoming film “Flirtation Walk.” It provides a brief look at her career on Broadway, early films, a… |
| Rose of Washington Square | Ted Cotter | 1939-05-05 | Rose Sargent, a Roaring ’20s singer, becomes a Ziegfeld Follies star as her criminal husband gets deeper in trouble…. |
| Swanee River | Edwin P. Christy | 1939-12-29 | Swanee River is a 1940 American biopic about Stephen Foster, a songwriter from Pittsburgh who falls in love with the South, marries a Southern girl, t… |
| Salsa | 1976-08-18 | Documentary about Salsa music with interviews with major Latin stars… | |
| Hollywood and the Stars | (Archive footage) | 1964-05-04 | NBC’s pioneering documentary series, produced by the David L. Wolper Production Company, in association with United Artists Television. Each 30-minute… |
| Hollywood Handicap | Himself | 1938-05-28 | A group of stable hands is given a race horse when its owner retires from the business. They raise money to run the horse in the Hollywood Derby at Sa… |
| Okay for Sound | 1946-09-07 | This short was released in connection with the 20th anniversary of Warner Brothers’ first exhibition of the Vitaphone sound-on-film process on 6 Augus… | |
| Screen Snapshots Series 18, No. 8 | Al Jolson | 1939-04-08 | Ice skating is the theme; at the Tropical Ice Garden, in Westwood Hills, are seen a flock of skating stars including Irene Dare and Phyllis Ann Thomos… |
| New York Nights | Al Jolson | 1929-12-28 | Show girl Jill Deverne is married to song writer Fred Deverne, and everyone is involved in the Broadway night life and endless parties. Jill is being … |
| Jolson Sings Again | Himself (singing voice) (uncredited) | 1949-08-17 | In this sequel to The Jolson Story, we pick up the singer’s career just as he has returned to the stage after a premature retirement. But his wife has… |
| A Day at Santa Anita | Al Jolson (uncredited) | 1937-05-22 | Orphaned horse-trainer’s little daughter has reciprocated bond with horse, which needs her presence to win races…. |
| Hollywood Cavalcade | Al Jolson | 1939-10-13 | Starting in 1913 movie director Connors discovers singer Molly Adair. As she becomes a star she marries an actor, so Connors fires them. She asks for … |
| Myrna Loy: So Nice to Come Home To | (archive footage) | 1990-06-04 | This tribute to Myrna Loy is organized chronologically with a few photographs, many film clips, a handful of personal appearances, and a detailed comm… |
| Rhapsody in Blue | Himself | 1945-06-27 | Fictionalized biography of George Gershwin and his fight to bring serious music to Broadway…. |
| Show-Business at War | Self | 1943-05-21 | A multi-studio effort to show the newsreel audience the progress of the Hollywood war effort…. |
| Show Girl in Hollywood | Al Jolsen | 1930-04-20 | Broadway actress leaves New York to become a star in Hollywood, and succeeds despite sleazy directors and her own ego…. |
| The Voice That Thrilled the World | Himself (segment ‘The Jazz Singer’) (archive footage) | 1943-01-01 | This short traces the history of sound in the movies, beginning with French scientist Leon Scott’s experiments in 1857. Featured are snippets from ear… |
| Purple Heart Diary | Al Jolson (archive footage) (uncredited) | 1951-11-12 | A trio of singers is entertaining wounded soldiers of WWII. They encourage a mutilated soldier in his love to a nurse…. |
| The Legend of Rudolph Valentino | Self (archive footage) | 1961-05-24 | A documentary of Hollywood’s first great Latin Lover, the contradictions in his personal life, and his premature death…. |
| Take It or Leave It | Himself | 1944-07-17 | A young husband becomes a game-show participant in the hopes of winning the cash to pay his pregnant wife’s doctor…. |
| The Golden Twenties | Himself (archive footage) | 1950-04-07 | Feature-length compilation of 1920s newsreel footage, with commentary about news, sports, lifestyles, and historical figures…. |
| Showbiz Goes to War | Archive Footage | 1982-12-31 | While a few Hollywood celebrities such as James Stewart and Clark Gable saw combat during World War II, the majority used their talents to rally the A… |
| Going Hollywood: The ’30s | (archive footage) | 1984-01-01 | Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually get… |
| Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? | (archive footage) | 1975-08-06 | Period music, film clips and newsreel footage combined into a visual exploration of the American entertainment industry during the Great Depression…. |
Credit: TMDB
Checkout The More Celebrities Profiles in Biography World