Although Eddie Cantor started his career in vaudeville, he was best known for his roles on Broadway, in movies, and in radio and television programmes. A comedian, singer and dancer, Cantor became extraordinarily popular as a song stylist, crooning 1920s-style numbers like “Dinah,” “If You Knew Susie,” and “Alabamy Bound.” His dedication to show business eventually led him to found the Screen Actors’ Guild, and other organisations which supported performer rights.
Eddie Cantor (originally Isidore Itzkowitz) was born on January 31, 1892 on the lower East Side of New York City. The child of Russian immigrants, he was orphaned by the age of three and subsequently went to live with his grandmother, Esther. He left school at fourteen and started singing on street corners. Then as part of a song-and-dance team, competed in and won local talent contests. Cantor then got a job on Coney Island as a singing waiter, where he was accompanied by Jimmy Durante, a ragtime pianist who also became famous in cabaret and later film musicals. Joining the Gus Edwards troupe in 1912, he started working in vaudeville and became well-known for his “blackface” routine.
During a performance in Los Angeles, Cantor was discovered by theatrical producer Oliver Morosco. As a result, he was featured in songwriter Earl Carroll’s Canary Cottage in 1917. He then signed with Florenz Ziegfeld to perform in The Midnight Frolics at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York. After twenty-seven weeks, Frolics ended and Eddie headlined the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917. With his skipping feet, clapping hands, and rolling eyes, the captivating Cantor became one of America’s greatest musical theatre performers. He developed from a “timid soul” into a man known for his comical and musical outbursts, and was deemed “Banjo Eyes” because of his “large, expressive optics.” Like his contemporary Fanny Brice, Cantor frequently alluded to his humble Manhattan upbringing; this brought him popularity with both Jewish theatre-goers and audiences as a whole. His participation in the Follies brought him recognition as a major star. Subsequently, he performed in the Follies of 1918–19, 1923, and 1927. In 1923, Ziegfeld hired Cantor to act in Kid Boots. This performance led to the beginning of Cantor’s movie career when it was filmed in 1926. Ziegfeld’s Whoopee in 1928 made him a millionaire and was also filmed two years later. Despite losing most of his money in the crash of 1929, Cantor’s continuing theatrical successes and his autobiography, My Life Is in Your Hands, helped rebuild his fortune.
Cantor began working in radio in 1931, and over the next two decades became one of the biggest stars of the medium. Cantor’s film career also began to take off; he was signed by Samuel Goldwyn, and had major successes with movies like Palmy Days (193D, The Kid From Spain (1932), Roman Scandals (1933), and Ali Baba Goes to Town (1937). He spent much of his time during World War II entertaining the troops. He created the “March of Dimes” with President Roosevelt to help fund research for a cure for infantile paralysis. He also founded and served as the first president of the Screen Actors’ Guild, the American Foundation of Radio Artists, and the Jewish Theatrical Guild.
Cantor went on to host the NBC Colgate Comedy Hour He suffered his first heart attack in 1952, and was forced into semi-retirement by a second. However, he continued to do guest appearances and also continued writing books and articles. He died on October 10, 1964 after an extremely prolific career in musical theatre, the movies, radio, and television.
Sarah Lowe
SEE ALSO:
FILM MUSICALS; JOLSON, AL; KAHN, GUS; MUSICALS; POPULAR MUSIC; PORTER, COLE.
FURTHER READING
Goldman Herbert G. Banjo Eyes: Eddie Cantor and the Birth of Modern Stardom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).
SUGGESTED LISTENING
The Best of Eddie Cantor: A Centennial Celebration; Makin’ Whoopee!