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17 unusual facts about Al Jolson


Canton Theatre

The theatre eventually changed its name again to Haven put on top shows including their first talking motion picture 'Singing Fool' starring Al Jolson.

Claire Windsor

She had a brief stint on a road tour with Al Jolson in the production of The Wonder Bar and would occasionally take stage parts.

Cristina Montt

In July 1928 Cristina Montt joined actors Al Jolson, Carmel Myers, and other motion picture persons for an event to benefit the United Jewish Appeal.

Felix Bernard

Best known as a composer, Bernard found success writing musical material for artists such as Al Jolson, Nora Bayes, Eddie Cantor, Marilyn Miller, and Sophie Tucker.

John Stromberg

Stromberg also wrote "Ma Blushin' Rosie" (also sometimes called "Rosie You Are My Posie") which was part of the repertoire of the legendary Al Jolson, the theme song of the Rosemary Clooney TV variety show in the 1950s, and even performed in an Abbot and Costello film, The Naughty Nineties.

Kip Rhinelander

In an unusual turn, vaudeville star Al Jolson was called to testify that he did not have an affair with Jones after a letter she wrote stating that she heard from a co-worker that Jolson was a "flirt" was disclosed at the trial.

Larry Harmon

Upon returning, he harbored dreams of becoming a doctor, until he met legendary entertainer Al Jolson.

Lew Dockstader

Various popular entertainers of the era performed with Dockstader's Minstrels, including Will Oakland, and the most famous being young Al Jolson, c.

Liberty bond

Al Jolson, Elsie Janis, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin were among the celebrities that made public appearances promoting the idea that purchasing a liberty bond was "the patriotic thing to do" during the era.

Maude Turner Gordon

Maude appeared in a number of Broadway productions from 1908 1925 including: Glorious Betsy, The American Maid, A Full House with Hugh Cameron and Ralph Morgan, Elsie and Big Boy with Al Jolson, Minnie Dupree and Colin Campbell.

National Synagogue

Ohev Shalom was founded in 1886, and the father of Al Jolson once served as cantor.

Nicholas Dante

He authored a screenplay, Fake Lady, and a stage musical based on the life of entertainer Al Jolson entitled Jolson Tonight, but never again achieved the success he did with A Chorus Line.

Seredžius

Seredžius was the birthplace of the American singer, comedian, and actor Al Jolson, born into the town's Jewish community in 1886 as Asa Yoelson.

Sybil Jason

Jason followed this with supporting roles opposite some of Warner Bros. most popular stars, including Kay Francis in I Found Stella Parish (1935), Al Jolson in The Singing Kid (1936), Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart in The Great O'Malley (1937), and again with Kay Francis in Comet Over Broadway (1938).

The Actors' Temple

Many vaudeville, musical theater, television, and nightclub performers attended services there, including Sophie Tucker, Shelley Winters, Milton Berle, Al Jolson, Jack Benny, Joe E. Lewis, Edward G. Robinson, as well as several of the Three Stooges.

The Brian Conley Show

It also featured a performance from Brian as Al Jolson, a performance that would later earn him awards, praise and recognition.

Winter Garden Theatre

The show starred Al Jolson and launched him on his highly successful singing and acting career.


A Khasene in Shtetl

The play was one of several Old World counterparts to Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer.

Al Hopkins

They were also the first to play for a president of the United States (Calvin Coolidge, at a Press Correspondents' gathering) and the first to appear in a movie (a 15-minute Warner Bros./Vitaphone short released along with Al Jolson's The Singing Fool).

Beverly Roberts

In one of her last public appearances, on October 18, 2006, she was a guest of honor at the 84th Anniversary of the opening of the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood with Sybil Jason, where she answered questions from the audience after a screening of her debut film from 1936, The Singing Kid, which starred Al Jolson.

Gerald Marks

He also wrote the songs "That's What I Want for Christmas" for the film Stowaway starring Shirley Temple, and "Is It True What They Say About Dixie" recorded by Al Jolson and Rudy Vallee.

Henry Busse

Aside from his close relationship with Bing Crosby, he became friends with several notable people of that time, including Ray Bolger, Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, Irving Berlin, George Raft, Ginger Rogers, and Edward G. Robinson.

Henryk Gold

When silent movies in Poland lost popularity following the arrival of Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer, (known in Yiddish as The Singing Buffoon), thousands of Polish musicians who'd played in the movie theaters lost their livelihood; they began to create large and small orchestras playing dance music and jazz.

Jack Kapp

Kapp also worked with artists on the Brunswick label; it was over the company's objection that he had Al Jolson record "Sonny Boy"; the song became a huge success for Jolson.

Jolson Sings Again

Jolson Sings Again is the 1949 film sequel to The Jolson Story, both of which cover the life of singer Al Jolson.

Larry Parks

When Columbia was preparing a screen biography of Al Jolson, many big-name stars were considered for the title role, including James Cagney and Danny Thomas (both of whom turned it down), but resident contractee Larry Parks was reportedly the first actor to be interviewed.

Mummer's Day

From the canon of Minstrel songs within the current practice it can be seen that they owe their origins to late 19th and early 20th century Jazz and the blacked up minstrel craze which ultimately created huge stars such as Al Jolson, in particular the works of American song writer Stephen Foster feature.

Sitting on Top of the World

The title line of "Sitting on Top of the World" was probably borrowed from a well-known popular song of the 1920s, "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", written by Ray Henderson, Sam Lewis and Joe Young (popularised by Al Jolson in 1926).

Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around

This was a concept album of sorts as Bing covered some of his musical rivals' big hits, such as Al Jolson's "April Showers" and Nat King Cole's "Mona Lisa".

The Happenings

The group had nine Billboard Hot 100 Singles hits from 1967 to 1968, including covers of "Go Away Little Girl" (a #1 hit for Steve Lawrence in 1962) and the jazz song "My Mammy" (popularized by Al Jolson in the 1920s).

There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder

"There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder" is a 1928 song sung by Al Jolson in the early Warner Bros. talking picture The Singing Fool the same year.