阿尔·乔尔森

Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson; c. 26 May [N.S. 7 June] 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-American singer, comedian, actor and vaudevillian.

Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer", Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1910s and 1920s. He was known for his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach" towards performing, along with popularizing many of the songs he sang. According to music historian Larry Stempel, "No one had heard anything quite like it before on Broadway." Stephen Banfield wrote that Jolson's style was "arguably the single most important factor in defining the modern musical." Jolson has been referred to by modern critics as "the king of blackface performers".

Although best remembered today as the star of the first major talking picture, The Jazz Singer (1927), he starred in a series of successful musical films during the 1930s. After the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, he was the first star to entertain troops overseas during World War II. After a period of inactivity, his stardom returned with The Jolson Story (1946), in which Larry Parks played the younger Jolson, but with sung vocals dubbed by Jolson himself. The formula was repeated in a sequel, Jolson Sings Again (1949). In 1950, he again became the first star to entertain GIs on active service in the Korean War, performing 42 shows in 16 days. He died weeks after returning to the U.S., partly owing to the physical exhaustion from the performance schedule. Defense Secretary George Marshall posthumously awarded him the Medal for Merit.

With his dynamic style of singing, he became widely successful by extracting traditionally black music and popularizing it for White American audiences.……

Early life

Asa Yoelson was born in the village of Srednike (Yiddish: סרעדניק), now known as Seredžius, near Kaunas in Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire. He was the fifth and youngest child of Nechama "Naomi" (née Cantor, c. 1858–1895) and Moses Rubin Yoelson (c. 1858–1945);……

Stage performer

In the spring of 1902, Jolson accepted a job with Walter L. Main's circus. Although Main had hired him as an usher, Main was impressed by Jolson's singing voice and gave him a position as a singer during the circus's Indian Medicine Side Show segment.……

Films

The Jazz Singer

Before The Jazz Singer, Jolson starred in the talking live-action short A Plantation Act. This simulation of a stage performance by Jolson was presented in a program of musical shorts, demonstrating the Vitaphone sound-film process.……

Radio

Jolson had been a popular guest star on radio since its earliest days, including on NBC's The Dodge Victory Hour (January 1928), singing from a New Orleans hotel to an audience of 35 million via 47 radio stations. His own 1930s shows included Presenting Al Jolson (1932) and Shell Chateau (1935).……

Korean War

In 1950, according to Jolson's biographer Michael Freedland, "the United States answered the call of the United Nations Security Council ...……

Plans for movies and television

When Jolson appeared on Steve Allen's KNX Los Angeles radio show in 1949 to promote Jolson Sings Again, he offered his curt opinion of the burgeoning television industry: "I call it smell-evision. Some of it, anyway".……

Death

Jolson's ambitious plans went unfulfilled. He had overexerted himself in Korea, especially for a man who was missing a lung. Two weeks after signing the movie contract, while playing cards in his suite at the St.……

Personal life

Despite their close relationship while growing up, Harry Jolson (Al's older brother) did show some disdain for Jolson's success over the years. Even during their time with Jack Palmer, Jolson was rising in popularity while Harry was fading.……

Awards and honors

A few months after his death, Defense Secretary George Marshall presented the Medal for Merit for Jolson, "to whom this country owes a debt which cannot be repaid". The medal, carrying a citation noting that Jolson's "contribution to the U.N.……

Legacy and influence

According to music historians Bruce Crowther and Mike Pinfold: "During his time he was the best known and most popular all-around entertainer America (and probably the world) has ever known, captivating audiences in the theatre and becoming an attraction on records, radio, and in films.……

Performing in blackface

Jolson often performed in blackface makeup.……

As metaphor of mutual suffering

Jolson's blackface and singing style have been described as metaphors for Jewish and Black suffering throughout history.……

Discography

Albums

1946: Al Jolson in Songs He Made Famous (Decca 469) a.k.a. Al Jolson, Volume 1

1947: Al Jolson Souvenir Album (Decca 575) a.k.a. Al Jolson, Volume 2

• 1948: Al Jolson, Volume 3
• 1949: Jolson Sings Again
• 1949: Al Jolson Souvenir Album, Volume 4
• 1950: Stephen Foster Songs