Eddie Cantor

No other entertainer proved successful in as many fields as Eddie Cantor during the 1920s and '30s. Nicknamed Banjo Eyes and the Apostle of Pep for his endless reserves of energy and showmanship (he would literally jump around the stage while performing his favorite numbers), he began his career touring in vaudeville, was promoted to the more legitimate theatre of Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies, recorded many hits for Columbia, translated the success to film during the late '20s, became the biggest radio star of the 1930s with the Chase & Sanborn Hour, and later moved to television as well. Similar to many stars of that period, Eddie Cantor was born into humble circumstances on New York's Lower East Side. The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, he was orphaned at the age of three and sent to live with his nearby grandmother. While working odd jobs for local merchants, Cantor began singing and juggling in the streets for money, and soon moved to talent contests early in his teens. His first professional spot was on Gus Edwards' vaudeville youth act, Kid Kabaret, where he began doing an impression of Eddie Leonard singing "Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider" (he later revived the standard continually as a tribute to his wife, Ida Tobias). Cantor began working the vaudeville circuit and while in Los Angeles, he caught the eye of songwriter Earl Carroll, who found a job for him with his theater show Canary Cottage. Cantor's next step up was a big one; Florenz Ziegfeld, one of the most important stage producers in America, convinced him to come back to New York to take a part in his Midnight Frolic (the energetic Cantor even followed his nightly performance with a vaudeville show elsewhere). After graduating to the popular Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, Cantor soon became one of the most...