Kraft music hall al jolson biography
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Al Jolson
Lithuanian-American entertainer (1886–1950)
This article is about the entertainer.
Kraft music hall al jolson biography
For the Roman Catholic bishop, see Alfred Jolson.
Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, Yiddish: אַסאַ יואלסאָן; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, actor, and vaudevillian.
He was one of the United States' most famous and highest-paid stars of the 1920s,[2] and was self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer".[3] Jolson was known for his "shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach" towards performing, as well as for popularizing many of the songs he sang.[4] Jolson has been referred to by modern critics as "the king of blackface performers".[5][6]
Jolson was the first openly Jewish man to become an entertainment star in America.
His marginal status as a Jew informed his blackface portrayal of Southern blacks. Almost single-handedly, Jolson helped to introduce African-American musical innovation