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Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor
Born Israel Iskowitz
January 31, 1892
New York City, New York, USA
Died October 10, 1964 (age 72)
Beverly Hills, California, USA
Spouse(s) Ida Cantor

Eddie Cantor (January 31, 1892 - October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, singer, actor, songwriter. Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The City of New York The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience primarily by making them laugh An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both Familiar to Broadway, radio and early television audiences, this "Apostle of Pep" was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five children. Broadway theater, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic His eye-rolling song-and-dance routines eventually led to his nickname, Banjo Eyes, and in 1933, the artist Frederick J. Garner caricatured Cantor with large round and white eyes resembling the drum-like pot of a banjo. Cantor's eyes became his trademark, often exaggerated in illustrations, and leading to his appearance on Broadway in the musical Banjo Eyes (1941).

Contents

Early life

Cantor was born Israel Iskowitz[1] in New York City, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Meta and Mechel Iskowitz. The City of New York His mother died of lung cancer two years after his birth, and he was abandoned by his father, left to be raised by his grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz. A misunderstanding when signing her grandson for school gave him her last name of Kantrowitz (later Americanized to "Cantor") instead of Iskowitz. As a child, he attended Surprise Lake Camp.

By his early teens. Cantor began winning talent contests at local theaters and started appearing on stage. One of his earliest paying jobs was doubling as a waiter and performer, singing for tips at Carey Walsh's Coney Island saloon where a young Jimmy Durante accompanied him on piano. Coney Island is a Peninsula, formerly an island in southernmost Brooklyn, New York City, USA with a Beach on the Atlantic Ocean He adopted the first name Eddie when he met his future wife, Ida Tobias, in 1903, because she liked the idea of having a boyfriend named Eddie. The two married in 1914 and remained together until Ida died in 1962.

In 1907, Cantor became a billed name in vaudeville. Vaudeville was a Genre of variety entertainment prevalent on the stage in the United States and Canada, from the early 1880s In 1912 he was the only performer over the age of 20 to appear in Gus Edwards' Kid Kabaret, where he created his first blackface character, Jefferson. Gus Edwards ( 18 August 1879 &ndash 7 November 1945) was an American Songwriter and vaudevillian. Blackface in the narrow sense is a style of theatrical Makeup that originated in the United Critical praise from that show got the attention of Broadway's top producer, Florenz Ziegfeld, who gave Cantor a spot in the Ziegfeld rooftop post-show, Midnight Frolic (1916). Florenz Ziegfeld Jr ( March 21, 1869 &ndash July 22, 1932) called Flo Ziegfeld, was an American Broadway

Broadway and recordings

A year later, Cantor made his Broadway debut in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917. History The Follies were lavish Revues something between later Broadway shows and a more elaborate high class Vaudeville Variety show. He continued in the Ziegfeld Follies until 1927, a period considered the best years of the long-running revue. For several years Cantor co-starred in an act with pioneer African-American comedian Bert Williams, both appearing in blackface; Cantor played Williams's fresh-talking son. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa This is about the Broadway performer Bert Williams For the English footballer see Bert Williams (footballer Early life Williams was Other co-stars with Cantor during his time in the Follies included Will Rogers, Marilyn Miller, and W.C. Fields. This page is about the humorist for others with similar names see William Rogers. Marilyn Miller ( September 1, 1898 – April 7, 1936) was one of the most popular Broadway musical stars of the 1920s and early W C Fields ( January 29, 1880 &ndash December 25, 1946) was an American Juggler, Comedian, and Actor He moved on to stardom in book musicals, starting with Kid Boots (1923), Whoopee! (1928) and Banjo Eyes (1940). Kid Boots is a musical with a book by William Anthony McGuire and Otto Harbach, music by Harry Tierney, and lyrics by Joseph Whoopee! was a Broadway Musical comedy which debuted on 4 December, 1928. Banjo Eyes is a musical with a book by Joseph Quinlan and Izzy Ellinson, based on the play “Three Men on a Horse” by John Cecil Holm

Cantor began making phonograph records in 1917, recording both comedy songs and routines and popular songs of the day, first for Victor, then for Aeoleon-Vocalion, Pathé and Emerson. Victrola redirects here For other uses see Victrola (disambiguation The Victor Talking Machine Company ( 1901 – 1929 Vocalion Records was a Record label historically active in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Pathé Records was a France based international Record label active from the 1890s through the 1930s Emerson Records was a Record label active in the United States of America between 1916 to 1928 From 1921 through 1925 he had an exclusive contract with Columbia Records, returning to Victor for the remainder of the decade. Columbia Records is an American Record label founded in 1888 Columbia is the oldest surviving Brand name in pre-recorded sound being the first record company

Cantor was one of the era's most successful entertainers, but the 1929 stock market crash took away his multi-millionaire status and left him deeply in debt. A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of Stock prices across a significant cross-section of a Stock market. However, Cantor's relentless attention to his own earnings in order to avoid the poverty he knew growing up caused him to search quickly for more work, quickly building a new bank account with his highly popular, bestselling book of humor and cartoons about his experience, Caught Short! A Saga of Wailing Wall Street[2]in "1929 A. C. (After Crash)".

Films

Cantor also bounced back in movies and on radio. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. Cantor had previously appeared in a number of short films (recording him performing his Follies songs and comedy routines) and two features (Special Delivery and Kid Boots) in the 1920s, and was offered the lead in The Jazz Singer when that was turned down by George Jessel (Cantor also turned it down, so it went to Al Jolson), but he became a leading Hollywood star in 1930 with the film version of Whoopee! in two-strip Technicolor. The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American Musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized Dialogue George Jessel may refer to George Jessel (actor (1898&ndash1981 American actor George Jessel (jurist (1824&ndash1883 English Jurist Al Jolson (May 26 1886 October 23 1950 born in Lithuania, Russian Empire, was a highly acclaimed American singer comedian and actor and the first openly Whoopee! was a Broadway Musical comedy which debuted on 4 December, 1928. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation Over the next two decades, he continued making films until 1948, including Roman Scandals (1933), Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937) and If You Knew Susie (1948). Roman Scandals is a 1933 film starring Eddie Cantor, Ruth Etting, Gloria Stuart, Edward Arnold and David Manners Ali Baba Goes to Town is a 1937 movie starring Eddie Cantor, Tony Martin, and Roland Young.

Radio

Cantor appeared on radio as early as February 3, 1922, as indicated by this news item from Connecticut's Bridgeport Telegram:

Local radio operators listened to one of the finest programs yet produced over the radiophone last night. Events 1112 - Ramon Berenguer III of Barcelona and Douce I of Provence marry uniting the fortunes of those two states Year 1922 ( MCMXXII) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The program of entertainment which included some of the stars of Broadway musical comedy and vaudeville was broadcast from the Newark, N. J. station WDY and the Pittsburgh station KDKA, both of the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing company. The Newark entertainment started at 7 o'clock: a children's half-hour of music and fairy stories; 7:[35?], Hawaiian airs and violin solo; 8:00, news of the day; and at 8:20 a radio party with nationally known comedians participating; 9:55, Arlington time signals and 10:01, a government weather report. G. E. Nothnagle, who conducts a radiophone station at his home 176 Waldemere Avenue said last night that he was delighted with the program, especially with the numbers sung by Eddie Cantor. The weather conditions are excellent for receiving, he continued, the tone and the quality of the messages was fine. [3]

Cantor's appearance with Rudy Vallee on Vallee's The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour February 5, 1931 led to a four-week tryout with NBC's The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Rudy Vallée ( July 28, 1901 - July 3, 1986) was an American Singer, Actor, Bandleader, and entertainer The Fleischmann's Yeast Hour (aka The Rudy Vallée Show, aka The Fleischmann Yeast Hour, aka The Fleischmann Hour Events 1576 - Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France. Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The National Broadcasting Company ( NBC) is an American Television network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's The Chase and Sanborn Hour was the umbrella title for a series of US comedy and variety shows sponsored by Chase and Sanborn Coffee, usually airing Sundays on NBC Replacing Maurice Chevalier, who was returning to Paris, Cantor joined The Chase and Sanborn Hour on September 13, 1931. Maurice Auguste Chevalier ( September 12, 1888 &ndash January 1, 1972) was a French Actor, Singer, and Events 509 BC - The Temple of Jupiter on Rome 's Capitoline Hill is dedicated on the ides of September Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This hour-long Sunday evening variety series teamed Cantor with announcer Jimmy Wallington and violinist Dave Rubinoff. The show established Cantor as a leading comedian, and his scriptwriter, David Freedman, as “the Captain of Comedy. David Freedman ( April 26 1898 &ndash December 8 1936) was a Romanian born American Playwright and Biographer ” Cantor soon became the world's highest-paid radio star. His shows began with a crowd chanting, "We want Can-tor, We want Can-tor," a phrase said to have originated when a vaudeville audience chanted to chase off an opening act on the bill before Cantor. Cantor's theme song was the 1903 pop tune "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider," dedicated to his wife.

Indicative of his effect on the mass audience, he agreed in November 1934 to introduce a new song by the songwriters J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie that other well-known artists had rejected as being "silly" and "childish. John Frederick Coots ( May 2, 1897 - April 8, 1985) was an American Songwriter. James Lamont "Haven" Gillespie (born February 6 1888 in Covington (KY died March 14 1975 was a Tin Pan Alley composer and lyricist " The song, "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town", immediately had orders for 100,000 copies of sheet music the next day. " Santa Claus Is Coming to Town " (sometimes with Coming changed to Comin') is a Christmas song. It sold 400,000 copies by Christmas of that year.

His NBC radio show, Time to Smile, was broadcast from 1940 to 1946. In addition to film and radio, Cantor recorded for Hit of the Week Records, then again for Columbia, for Banner and Decca and various small labels. Hit of the Week Records was a Record label based in the United States of America in the early 1930s. Banner Records was a United States based Record label of the 20th century Decca Records is a British Record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis.

He was a founder of the March of Dimes, and did much to publicize the battle against polio. March of Dimes is the name of a United States health charity, whose mission is to improve the health of babies. Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral Infectious disease spread from person to person primarily via Cantor also served as first president of the Screen Actors Guild. The Screen Actors Guild ( SAG) is an American labor union representing over 120000 Film and television principal performers and background His heavy political involvement began early in his career, including his quick rush to strike with Actors Equity in 1919, against the advice of father figure and producer, Florenz Ziegfeld.

Cantor's career declined somewhat in the late 1930s due to his public denunciations of Adolf Hitler and Fascism. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately Fascism is a totalitarian nationalist and corporatist ideology Wishing to distance themselves from any political controversy, many sponsors dropped Cantor's shows. However, it soon bounced back with the United States' entry into World War II. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Television

In the 1950s, he was one of the alternating hosts of the television show The Colgate Comedy Hour, in which he would introduce variety acts and play comic characters like "Maxie the Taxi. The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired on NBC network from 1950 to 1955. " However, the show landed Cantor in an unlikely controversy when a young Sammy Davis, Jr. appeared as a guest performer. Samuel George “Sammy” Davis Jr (8 December 1925 &ndash 16 May 1990 was an American Entertainer. Cantor embraced Davis and mopped Davis's brow with his handkerchief after his performance. Worried sponsors led NBC to threaten cancellation of the show; other sources claim that NBC threatened to cancel the show when Davis was booked for two weeks straight. Cantor's response to the controversy was to book Davis for the rest of the season.

Cantor also merits an interesting footnote in the history of television.

On May 25, 1944, the infant NBC Television Network presented an early telecast from their New York station WNBT (now WNBC) fed to their other two affiliated stations (at the time), WRGB Schenectady, and WPTZ Philadelphia (now KYW). Cantor, one of the first major stars to agree to appear on television, was to sing "We're Havin' A Baby, My Baby And Me". Reportedly, shortly before airtime, Cantor was told to cut the song because it might be considered too risqué. Cantor refused, claiming no time to prepare an alternative number. NBC relented, but cut the sound on certain lines in the song. This is considered the first instance of television censorship.

Books and merchandising

In addition to Caught Short!, Cantor wrote or co-wrote at least seven other books, including booklets released by the then-fledgling firm of Simon & Schuster, with Cantor’s name on the cover. Simon & Schuster Inc, a division of CBS Corporation, is a Publisher founded in New York in 1924 by Richard L Some were "as told to" or written with David Freedman). David Freedman ( April 26 1898 &ndash December 8 1936) was a Romanian born American Playwright and Biographer Customers paid a dollar and received the booklet with a penny embedded in the hardcover. They sold well, and H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) asserted that these books did more to pull America out of the Great Depression than all government measures combined.

Cantor's popularity led to merchandising of such products as Eddie Cantor's Tell It to the Judge game from Parker Brothers. Parker Brothers is a Toy and Game Manufacturer and Brand. Over nearly 115 years the company published more than 1800 games among their In 1933, a set of 12 Eddie Cantor caricatures by Frederick J. Garner were published by Brown & Bigelow. These advertising cards were purchased in bulk as a direct-mail item by such businesses as auto body shops, funeral directors, dental laboratories and vegetable wholesale dealers. With the full set, companies could mail a single Cantor card each month for a year to their selected special customers as an ongoing promotion.

Cantor was often caricatured in magazines and newspapers, and he was occasionally a character in Warner Bros. cartoons, including Billboard Frolics and What's Up Doc?

Tributes

Cantor was profiled on the popular program This Is Your Life, in which an unsuspecting person (usually a celebrity) would be surprised on live television with a half-hour tribute. Warner Bros Entertainment Inc (or Warner Bros, Warner Bros Pictures) is one of the world's largest producers of Film and What's Up Doc? is a 1949 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert McKimson and released by Warner Bros This Is Your Life was a television documentary series hosted by its producer Ralph Edwards. Cantor was the only subject who was told of the surprise in advance; he was recovering from a heart attack and it was felt that the shock might harm him. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply

In 1953 Warner Bros. , in an attempt to duplicate the box-office success of The Jolson Story, filmed a big-budget Technicolor feature film, The Eddie Cantor Story. The Jolson Story is a 1946 musical biography which purports to tell the life story of singer Al Jolson. Technicolor is the trademark for a series of color film processes pioneered by Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation The film found an audience but might have done better with someone else in the leading role. Actor Keefe Brasselle played Cantor as a caricature with high-pressure dialogue and bulging eyes wide open; the fact that Brasselle was considerably taller than Cantor didn't lend realism either. Eddie and Ida Cantor were seen in a brief prologue and epilogue set in a projection room, where they are watching Brasselle in action; at the end of the film Eddie tells Ida, "I never looked better in my life". . . and gives the audience a knowing, incredulous look.

Something closer to the real Eddie Cantor story is his self-produced 1944 feature Show Business, a valentine to vaudeville and show folks that was RKO's top-grossing film that year. Probably the best summary of Cantor's career is in one of the Colgate Comedy Hour shows. The Colgate Comedy Hour is an American comedy-musical variety series that aired on NBC network from 1950 to 1955. The Colgate hour was a virtual video autobiography, with Cantor recounting his career, singing his familiar hits, and re-creating his singing-waiter days with his old pal Jimmy Durante (Jimmy's wearing a lavish toupee!). This show has been issued on DVD as Eddie Cantor in Person.

Family

Eddie and Ida Cantor had five children: Marilyn, Marjorie, Natalie, Edna and Janet. Cantor's daughter, Janet Gari, is a songwriter who has collaborated with Toby Garson, the daughter of composer Harry Ruby, on children's shows and off-Broadway revues. Harry Ruby ( October 29 1895 – February 23 1974) was an American Songwriter and Screenwriter. Cantor’s autobiographies, My Life is in Your Hands (with David Freedman) and Take My Life (with Jane Kesner Ardmore) were republished in 2000, thanks to the dedicated efforts of Cantor’s grandson, musician Brian Gari.

On October 10, 1964 in Beverly Hills, California, Eddie Cantor suffered another heart attack and died. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Year 1964 ( MCMLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the 1964 Gregorian calendar. Myocardial infarction ( MI or AMI for acute myocardial infarction) also known as a heart attack, occurs when the blood supply He is buried in Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery. The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 6001 W Centinela Avenue in Culver City California, USA. Cantor was awarded an honorary Academy Award the year of his death. "The Oscar" redirects here for the film see The Oscar (film.

Filmography

Broadway

Watch

Listen to

Quote

"It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice. "

Sources

Goldman, Herbert G. (1997). Banjo Eyes: Eddie Cantor and the Birth of Modern Stardom. New York: Oxford University Press.  

References

  1. ^ Who's Who in Musicals: Ca-Cl
  2. ^ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Caught_Short
  3. ^ "Radio Operators Hear a Good Concert," Bridgeport Telegram, February 4, 1922.

External links


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