Al Jolson

Al Jolson, born Asa Yoelson around May 26, 1886, in the village of Srednike, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, was an American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian whose Broadway career spanned from 1911 to 1940. He was the fifth and youngest child of Moses Rubin Yoelson, a rabbi and cantor, and Nechama Naomi Yoelson. His siblings included Rose, Etta, a sister who died in infancy, and Hirsch, later known as Harry. Jolson himself did not know his precise birth date, as records were not kept in that region at the time, and he gave his birth year as 1885.

In 1891, Moses Yoelson relocated to New York City, and by 1894 he had earned enough to bring his family to the United States. They arrived as steerage passengers aboard the SS Umbria on April 9, 1894, at the Port of New York. Moses had by then secured work as a cantor at Talmud Torah Congregation in the Southwest Waterfront neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Jolson's mother, Naomi, died at age 37 in early 1895. Following her death, Jolson spent time at St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys in Baltimore, a reformatory and orphans' home run by the Xaverian Brothers. After being introduced to show business in 1895 by Al Reeves, Asa and his brother Hirsch began singing for coins on street corners by 1897, using the names Al and Harry respectively.

In the spring of 1902, Jolson took a job with Walter L. Main's circus, where he was initially hired as an usher before Main moved him into a singing role during the Indian Medicine Side Show segment. After the circus folded, Jolson performed in the burlesque show Dainty Duchess Burlesquers in May 1903, where he sang "Be My Baby Bumble Bee." He subsequently formed a vaudeville partnership with his brother Harry, and the two worked through the William Morris Agency, later joining with performer Joe Palmer for a nationwide tour. While performing in a Brooklyn theater in 1904, Jolson began performing in blackface, which he continued in all subsequent shows. Harry departed the trio in late 1905, and Jolson and Palmer separated by 1906. Jolson then established himself as a vaudeville singer, becoming a regular at the Globe and Wigwam Theater in San Francisco. In 1908, he returned to New York, and in 1909 joined Lew Dockstader's Minstrels after Dockstader took notice of his singing.

Producer J.J. Shubert, impressed by Jolson's energy, booked him for La Belle Paree, a musical comedy that opened at the Winter Garden Theater on March 20, 1911, marking Jolson's Broadway debut. The show ran for 104 performances, and Jolson's blackface performances of Stephen Foster songs drew strong audience response. He followed that production with Vera Violetta, which opened on November 20, 1911, where his popularity grew to the point that his weekly salary was raised from $500 to $750. His next production, The Whirl of Society, further elevated his Broadway profile. During his time at the Winter Garden, Jolson introduced his signature blackface character "Gus" and delivered his well-known line "You ain't heard nothing yet" before performing additional songs. Winter Garden owner Lee Shubert signed him to a seven-year contract at $1,000 per week, a salary that was doubled by 1914.

In 1916, Robinson Crusoe, Jr. became the first Broadway musical in which Jolson received star billing. Two years later, he starred in Sinbad, which became the most successful Broadway musical of 1918 and 1919. During the run of Sinbad, composer George Gershwin's "Swanee" was added to the show and became Gershwin's first hit recording; Jolson also added "My Mammy" to the production. By 1920, Jolson had become the leading star on Broadway. He later starred in the musical Big Boy, and also appeared in The Wonder Bar, Artists and Models, and Hold on to Your Hats, among other productions.

Beyond Broadway, Jolson became best known to later generations as the star of The Jazz Singer in 1927, the first talking picture. He went on to appear in a series of musical films during the 1930s. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was the first star to travel overseas to entertain troops during World War II. His public profile was revived by The Jolson Story in 1946, in which actor Larry Parks portrayed the younger Jolson while Jolson himself dubbed the sung vocals. A sequel, Jolson Sings Again, followed in 1949. In 1950, Jolson again became the first star to entertain troops on active service, this time during the Korean War, performing 42 shows in 16 days. He died on October 23, 1950, weeks after returning to the United States, partly as a result of the physical exhaustion from that performance schedule. Defense Secretary George Marshall posthumously awarded him the Medal for Merit.

Music historian Larry Stempel noted that Broadway had not heard anything quite like Jolson's performing style before his arrival, and Stephen Banfield described that style as arguably the single most important factor in defining the modern musical. Jolson has also been referred to by modern critics as the king of blackface performers, and music critic Ted Gioia wrote in 2000 that if blackface has a shameful poster boy, it is Jolson. Despite his promotion of Black stereotypes of the era, his work was frequently well regarded by Black publications, and he has been credited with fighting against Black discrimination on Broadway as early as 1911.