Al Jolson
Al Jolson (born May 26, 1886 as Asa Yoelson in Seredžius (Srednik), Kovno Governorate , Russia , today Lithuania , † October 23, 1950 in San Francisco ) was an American singer and entertainer .
After great Broadway success, he achieved particular fame with his title role in the film The Jazz Singer 1927, which is considered the first full-length sound film . He also shaped the American radio landscape of the 1930s and 1940s.
life and career
Jolson was born as the youngest son of four children (two sisters, one brother) of a strictly religious Jewish cantor , Moses Yoelson, in Srednik on the Memel . To escape poverty and anti-Semitism , the family emigrated to Washington (DC) in the USA around 1894 . Shortly after arrival, his mother Naomi Yoelson died after a brief, severe illness. When the father remarried soon afterwards, Jolson fled with his brother from the parents' house to New York and made his way as a singer and shoe shiner, among other things. He appeared on a wide variety of theaters in mostly poor neighborhoods. He also lived on the streets and in an orphanage for a while . Due to his living conditions, Jolson was often plagued by illnesses ( pneumonia, etc.) and occasionally returned temporarily to his father, who had meanwhile started a new family.
During his first major successes as a vaudeville artist, Jolson developed his artistic trademarks: black make-up to imitate African-American blues and jazz singers, which was one of the minstrel shows typical of the time . He developed gestures and interaction that fill the stage and engage the audience, in particular playing with his eyes (eye rolls and the like), artistic whistling and an operatic style of singing in a musical jazz context.
In 1911, when Jolson was just 25, he had his breakthrough. Against the will of the producers, he expanded his supporting role in the Broadway musical La Belle Parée to the lead role. Audiences loved his style and performances, and in no time he was gaining stardom. Until the mid-1920s he appeared as a star in various Broadway shows and from 1911 also recorded records ; the sales of his phonograms reached high numbers for the time. One of his central musical trademarks emerged during the Vaudeville period: the "one-knee performance" in which Jolson knelt on one leg and sang "My Mammy". Later he tried out different songs in which he sang about the character of his mother. The audience brought Jolson lifelong in connection with the "Mammy-Songs".
Jolson was initially less known in Europe than in the USA. In his time there were no copyrights, and since Jolson refused to perform outside the USA, his songs were sung by other artists in Europe or his style of interpretation was partially copied. In his later years, Jolson experienced increasing vanity: it is known that Jolson wore a removable dental bridge in order to hide the distinctive tooth gap between his incisors . He also tinted his gray hair for many years, occasionally even wore different hair pieces and avoided being seen with his glasses (even in front of friends).
Jolson's success popularized many famous pieces of music, including titles like You Made Me Love You , Rock-a-Bye Your Baby with a Dixie Melody , Angel Child , April Showers , Toot Toot Tootsie , California, Here I Come , When the Red Red Robin Comes Bob Bob Bobbin 'Along , Mammy and Avalon . Jolson's interpretation of the song Swanee led to the first great commercial success of the composer George Gershwin, who later rose to world fame . However, Jolson described Stephen Foster , who had written songs like Oh Susanna or My Old Kentucky Home , as the best songwriter ever.
The jazz singer
In 1927, the film producer Jack L. Warner and the director Alan Crosland approached Jolson and made him a film offer, which Jolson accepted. His main role in the - coincidentally - essentially autobiographical film The Jazz Singer was to increase his fame further. Because Jolson did not stick to the script and improvised short, typical for him dialogues between the vocal scenes against the will of the producers, he paved the way for the sound film. For this reason, The Jazz Singer is considered the first commercially successful sound film ever. Jolson waived his fee for this film, from which no one expected such a success, because Warner Bros. was on the verge of bankruptcy. Contrary to expectations, he ended up making nearly $ 1 million on this film - and Warner Brothers was saved. Jolson had previously had two other film offers, one of which he realized: A Plantation Act , a film in which Warner Bros. already tried out the Vitaphone technology. He broke off the other film in the middle of production because he found it difficult to work with the camera instead of the audience and, in his opinion, looked like a zebra on the screen. A constantly changing staff contributed to this decision. The film Singing Fool , which Jolson made a year after the "Jazz Singer", broke its records and remained the most successful movie ever until Gone with the Wind . Cinematically, Jolson was now - after almost 20 successful years on Broadway - at the height of his career. He became an American institution, had contact with various presidents of the United States, and occasionally dined in the White House . After the success of The Jazz Singer , Jolson appeared in twelve other films. His acting skills did not reach the quality that he had as a live entertainer, yet most of his films were popular with audiences.
In the 1930s, public tastes changed; Jolson's more classical singing was now felt to be out of date and replaced by the crooners . Younger musicians like Bing Crosby gradually became more successful. Jolson was already around 50. However, outside of Hollywood movies, he couldn't complain about a lack of offers. From then on he concentrated on working in what was then the leading medium of radio and appeared in various shows both as a host and as a guest. His radio shows regularly achieved high ratings. When the USA moved into World War II, Jolson became the first great entertainer to complete a huge musical tour to support troops, including a. with Marlene Dietrich . Jolson was almost 60 years old at the time and pushed to his physical limits on this tour. In 1944, after performing several times in Africa , he fell ill with malaria , from which he recovered only with difficulty. In the same year, one of his lungs had to be removed. Then his voice changed, which then became much deeper. During this time he met his fourth and last wife, Erle Galbraith. She was 21 when they married in 1945.
His most successful radio show was the Kraft Music Hall in the late 1940s. All the show greats of the time (from Bing Crosby to Cary Grant to Humphrey Bogart and Doris Day ) appeared on this show. A permanent partner in this show was the pianist Oscar Levant . The success of this radio show followed the box office success of The Jolson Story , his film biography.
comeback
Since Jolson was back on the Broadway stage in 1940 at the latest , however, he gradually became popular again. The Jolson Story was the film of his life story produced in 1946 during Jolson's lifetime. Actor Larry Parks played Jolson, but the songs were sung by Jolson himself. The Jolson Story was by far the most commercially successful film of the year in the US and was followed by the film Jolson Sings Again (1949). Jolson made a unique comeback; his music and his life now also inspired the younger generation. In 1948, Al Jolson was voted the most popular singer by American show business magazine Variety , despite the competition from significantly younger singers and entertainers such as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra .
Private life
Jolson knew about his effect on people, sometimes jumped pretty harshly with his managers, producers and colleagues and was tough, condescending and arrogant towards other artists. In the same breath, however, he demonstrated an unerring sensitivity to the wishes of the audience. So it happened again and again that Jolson, described by many critics, fellow men (including wives) as self-centered, performed with various other artists, for example with the entertainer Eddie Cantor or, in his later years, with the singer Bing Crosby .
Jolson, outwardly self-confident, was often plagued by self-doubt before premieres and stage fright: It is said that in the early years a theater director posted a doorman in front of Jolson's locker room and make-up room to prevent Jolson from leaving the theater before the performance escaped. He was also regularly plagued by stomach ulcers before premieres, which made him so sick that he instructed the stagehands to put a tin bucket in every corner of the stage, into which he could vomit. Jolson also suffered from psychosomatic diseases of the throat and larynx, which often stole his voice. He also struggled with tuberculosis in early childhood and adolescence and often developed pneumonia. Jolson often took over himself for his profession, as the strenuous appearances for American GIs in World War II and the Korean War showed, which he ultimately paid with his life.
Jolson was married four times, often neglecting his wives, and only made serious rescue attempts when it was too late. The first wife, whom he often cheated on and - according to research by some biographers - also beat, divorced him after almost twelve years (1907-1919). She was the only one who still got to know Jolson as a less successful singer and comedian and was about as old as him. His subsequent wives were each considerably younger than himself. However, Jolson was still in contact with his divorced wife for a few years. Three years after the divorce - in 1922 - he asked her in the song "Angel Child" to come back to him. His second marriage (1922–1926) ended with a lightning divorce in Paris and the admission of the divorced to an institution for alcohol addicts. With the third wife (1928-1939), the dancer and actress Ruby Keeler , Jolson adopted his first son Al Jolson Jr., with whom he could not develop a close relationship, which hurt the child-loving Jolson very much. This time was marked by his sinking star, which made him a less bearable fellow human being. He was extremely jealous of his wife's success, often insulting her publicly - mostly disguised as a joke, although he always apologized too late for it. Ruby Keeler separated on December 26, 1939 for "extreme cruelty" from Al Jolson. She renamed the son, who from then on lived with her, Albert . He was adopted by his stepfather when he was 15. Only the fourth marriage (1940–1950) with the 39 years younger X-ray technician of the US military Erle Galbraith went well, which is also thanks to the terrific fame of his last years and the fact that she meant no professional competition for him. According to her own statements, Jolson particularly liked her "domestic skills". With her he adopted another boy in 1948, whom they named Asa, and in 1950, a girl named Alicia. Jolson, like his brother Harry, was unable to father children. The reasons were apparently an untreated measles disease in early childhood.
Al Jolson had a difficult relationship with his brother Harry all his life, as they competed fiercely with each other, especially during the vaudeville era. Harry, who was less successful in show business, was wrongly accused after his brother's breakthrough of always trying to imitate his brother. Basically, Harry had z. B. the " blackface performance" was practiced long before Al. After Al Jolson's breakthrough, Al Jolson had secretly financed his brother and paid people to hire Harry. Harry never found out about it. Until his father's death in 1945, Jolson repeatedly fought for his father's respect for his work.
Politically, Jolson was a conservative Republican . Even then, the majority of Jews voted democratically . Jolson became a member of the Freemasonry Association in July 1913 , his lodge was St. Cecile Lodge, No. 568 , in New York.
Command performances and death
Jolson, who had dedicated his life to appearances in front of US soldiers all over the world, took a flight to Korea in 1950 to entertain the US troops fighting there. After an emergency landing on the outbound flight due to technical problems, Jolson was forced to spend the night in a drafty and damp barracks, which again caused him severe pneumonia. Despite the febrile pneumonia, he made 42 appearances in Korea in just seven days. Jolson had a lung and two ribs removed in an operation during a troop visit to Africa in 1945 due to malaria . Although not fully recovered, he was already filming again, namely for the film Rhapsody in Blue , which tells the life story of the composer George Gershwin .
After only a brief rest of a few weeks on his California estate , he flew to San Francisco on October 23, 1950 for a radio appearance . A cardiologist had already unsettled him before the flight, so Jolson got a second doctor's opinion. The latter noted that Jolson needn't worry too much. He eventually gave him the phone number of a famous San Francisco cardiologist named Dr. Kerr. Jolson flew, and after what was for him a very nice experience in a restaurant, where the guests stood up and applauded for him when he left, he was playing cards with friends in the hotel in San Francisco that evening, suddenly complained of stomach problems and wanted to lie down. One of the friends informed the hotel reception at Jolson's urging. Jolson replied, "How embarrassing when it says tomorrow in the newspapers that Al Jolson had a doctor called for an upset stomach." Since both hotel doctors were on duty and only the nurse was available, the Jolson recommended cardiologist was informed Minutes later, accompanied by a vacant hotel doctor, entered his suite. By then, everyone thought it was a "false alarm" again (Jolson was easily perturbed as to his physique). Until then the nurse had to reassure him, to whom Jolson said several times that he could no longer feel his pulse. When the doctors arrived shortly afterwards, Jolson had a little chat with them until he suddenly got up from his pillow and said, "Oh, I'm going." And died of a heart attack.
On the evening of his death, all the lights on Broadway in New York were turned off for ten minutes in memory of him and the traffic stopped. The news of his death was the headline in every newspaper the next day. In some, it was even above the actual name of the newspaper. Eddie Cantor reported in an obituary that all the people he met the following day - hotel porters, taxi drivers - were crying and couldn't believe that the legend Al Jolson was no longer alive. Jolson was first in Israel buried, but then by his widow to Culver City on the Hillside Memorial Park relocated where it was built in honor of a large grave monument which of the Afro-American architect and friend Jolson Paul R. Williams designed (1894-1980) has been.
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Artistic importance
Many artists have directly committed themselves to Al Jolson as a role model, for example the actress Judy Garland , the singers Jackie Wilson , Rod Stewart , Elvis Presley , Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson . Many artists have been inspired and influenced by him in their style and appearance: Eddie Cantor, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, but also others, such as Johannes Heesters or Harald Juhnke . In 1950 he received the Medal for Merit , at that time the highest civilian award in the USA.
In Leon Schlesinger Cartoons I Love to Singa 1936 plays an owl ( English owl ) called Owl Jolson starring. In addition to the naming, the film also refers to Jolson in terms of content, as it describes a boy's efforts to become a jazz singer against his father's will. The title song is from the 1936 film The Singing Kid , in which Jolson sings it in a duet with Cab Calloway .
Adaptations
- Jack Finney memorialized him in his fantasy novel Im Strom der Zeit , which takes place in Jolson's time (1911).
- In the US cartoon - The Simpsons , a memorial was erected to him: of all things, the figure of the capitalist nuclear power owner and the tyrannical boss of Homer Simpson - Mr. Burns is a supporter of Al Jolson who refuses to admit that he is no longer alive.
- In Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005), "I'm Sitting on Top of the World", sung by Al Jolson, is played at the beginning of the film.
- In October 2008 the documentary Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer premiered at the 50th Nordic Film Days in Lübeck . Two weeks later, he won first prize in an annual film competition organized by the local broadcaster Kiel TV . In November 2007, the short documentary Ein Blick auf Al Jolson won first prize there.
Discography
Albums
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Singles and EPs
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Stage plays
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Filmography (selection)
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literature
- Barrie Anderton: Sonny Boy! The World of Al Jolson. Jupiter Books, London 1975.
- Michael Freedland: Jolie. The Al Jolson Story. 2nd Edition. 1985.
- Herbert G. Goldman: Jolson: The Legend Comes to Life. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1989.
- Richard Grudens: When Jolson was King: Sittin 'on Top of the World. Celebrity Profiles Publishing, Stonybrook, NY 2006.
Web links
- Al Jolson in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Al Jolson on the Internet Broadway Database (IBDb)
- Works by and about Al Jolson in the catalog of the German National Library
- Al Jolson in the database of Find a Grave (English)
- The International Al Jolson Society
- Images by Al Jolson In: Virtual History
- Al Jolson at Discogs (English)
- Al Jolson at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ self-chosen date; in Lithuania no birth certificates were issued to Jews at the end of the 19th century. It is likely that Jolson was born between 1880 and 1885
- ^ Hall of Fame - Al Jolson , St. Cecile Lodge # 568, accessed October 14, 2011
- ↑ Internet Lodge Freim. Personalities, Lemma: Al Jolson . Website of Franz-L. Bruhn's old chair master Masonic Lodge "Am Rauhen Stein", accessed on October 14, 2011
- ↑ knerger.de: The grave of Al Jolson
- ↑ UK chart placements
- ^ The Billboard Albums by Joel Whitburn , 6th Edition, Record Research 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
- ^ Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer at Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Al Jolson and The Jazz Singer wins 1st Prize Nov. 15, 2008
- ↑ A Look at Al Jolson , winner at German film festival November, 2007
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jolson, Al |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Yoelson, Asa (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer and entertainer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 26, 1886 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Seredžius (Srednik), Kovno Governorate , Russia , now Lithuania |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 23, 1950 |
| Place of death | San Francisco |