Al Jolson
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Singer, actor AL JOLSON May 26th At the peak of his career, he was dubbed “The World’s Greatest Entertainer”. Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Jewish Lithuanian-born American singer, film actor, and comedian. At the peak of his career, he was dubbed “The World’s Greatest Entertainer”. His performing style was brash and extroverted, and he popularized a large number of songs that benefited from his “shamelessly sentimental, melodramatic approach”. Numerous well-known singers were influenced by his music, including Bing Crosby David Bowie, Bob Dylan and others, Dylan once referred to him as “somebody whose life I can feel”. Broadway critic Gilbert Seldes compared him to the Greek god Pan, claiming that Jolson represented “the concentration of our national health and gaiety.” In the 1930s he was America’s most famous and highest-paid entertainer. Between 1911 and 1928, Jolson had nine sell-out Winter Garden shows in a row, more than 80 hit records, ...