A l Jolson did not just sing songs - he rattled your backbone and made you want to get up and dance. He was the greatest entertainer the world has ever known. Born as Asa Yoelson, an immigrant son of a Russian Jewish Cantor, he rose from poverty to international fame and wealth. Beginning as a youth in burlesque, vaudeville and minstrel shows, he rose to be a musical comedy star on Broadway, filling the Winter Garden for two decades. He sang the first songs by an ambitious youngster called Irving Berlin and gave George Gershwin his first big break.
H is love affair with an audience lasted for four decades.
He was married four times and his first two wives cited his audience as the other woman. Al Jolson was not everyone's favourite person but the troops he entertained in World War II loved him. T he release of The Jolson Story in 1946, a film biography of his life starring Larry Parks, resurrected his sagging career and he became immensely popular with a new generation of admirers. At the end of 1947 he was voted the most popular male singer on radio. Again , was made in 1949 and with war erupting in Korea, Jolson again went off to entertain the troops.