Eddie Cantor

• Born: January 31, 1892
• Birthplace: New York, New York
• Died: October 10, 1964
• Place of death: Hollywood, California

Actor, entertainer, and singer

Known for his bulging “banjo eyes,” Cantor was a major entertainer in vaudeville, on radio, and on early television.

Early Life

Eddie Cantor (KAN-tur) was born on January 31, 1892, the only child of Russian immigrants Mechel and Meta Iskowitz. Cantor’s mother died from tuberculosis when Cantor was two, and his father apparently deserted his son shortly afterward. Cantor was subsequently raised by Esther, his grandmother.

After briefly living with one of Esther’s sons in New York, Esther and Cantor moved into a basement apartment on Henry Street, an address Cantor would later incorporate into his shtick. In 1898, Cantor entered Public School 126 and Americanized his name.

The young Cantor ran with hoodlums, became a petty thief, and eventually stopped attending school. Always small, Cantor found that acting as a street-corner comedian brought him acceptance by his peers. He was also introduced to the Educational Alliance, an organization that provided a warm place to stay, some education, and an opportunity to attend an outdoor camp in Cold Spring, New York. As an adult, Cantor would provide similar opportunities for children raised in poverty.

During the summer of 1906 Cantor became acquainted with a local girl from a wealthy family, Ida Tobias. The smitten Cantor began spending more time with her; among her friends was a boy named Eddie, a name that Israel adopted as his own. Tobias’s family did not approve of Cantor, a “bum” in their eyes. However, time and maturity worked in Cantor’s favor, and eventually she became his wife. Cantor also began his involvement with politics, becoming a lifelong Democrat.

Life’s Work

Cantor’s first attempt at acting began in 1908 at Miner’s Bowery Theatre, where he won ten dollars for his improvisation in an amateur competition. Cantor continued making rounds as an amateur in local theaters with limited success, eventually ending up on Coney Island at Carey Walsh’s saloon in 1909. There he became friends with the pianist Jimmy Durante.

Cantor’s career significantly improved as he became active on vaudeville circuits, playing a “Hebrew” comic as well as a comedic singer. Cantor often sang in blackface, clearly racist but common for the times. By 1912 Cantor was a major performer in Gus Edward’s Kid Cabaret, a popular vaudeville show. Eventually he came to the attention of Florenz Ziegfeld, a major show producer on Broadway, who offered Cantor a contract for the show Midnight Follies, a smaller version of Ziegfeld Follies, Ziegfeld’s primary annual show. Cantor remained associated with Ziegfeld for a decade, becoming one of the impresario’s primary performers.

During these years, Cantor refined his musical comedy act, starring in a number of Broadway musicals and beginning a recording career with Victor Records and Columbia Records. Cantor also became increasingly involved in charities, foremost the Surprise Lake Camp, sometimes called the Eddie Cantor Camp, and with religious groups. His onstage career was at its peak during this period, until the stock market crash in 1929 wiped out his savings and those of many entertainers and producers.

During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Cantor’s career began to include radio and films, because talking pictures were clearly here to stay. His first significant radio appearance was on Rudy Vallee’s The Fleischmann Hour during the winter of 1931, followed by seven weeks on The Chase and Sanborn Hour. Cantor remained a major radio host and performer for most of the following two decades. During these years, his act often revolved around his family, particularly his wife Ida and their five daughters, which became a running joke in his dialogue with his audience.

During the 1950’s, Cantor entered the newest entertainment medium, television. He became a rotating host on The Colgate Comedy Hour, often reprising his vaudeville routines. Twenty-six-year-old Sammy Davis, Jr., was a guest on the show presented in February, 1952. After a spirited performance by the young entertainer, Cantor wiped Davis’s forehead with his handkerchief. The result was an avalanche of racist hate mail. Cantor’s response was to include black performers on his next show and to make a point of again wiping Davis’s forehead.

Ill health and the deaths of Ida and of his oldest daughter from cancer marked Cantor’s last years. The last of several heart attacks proved fatal to Cantor in October, 1964.

Significance

Cantor was arguably the first musical entertainer to bridge vaudeville to films and radio, and from these to early television. Cantor contributed more than musical comedy as he became involved with both social and political causes late in his career, unusual for entertainers during this period in American history. His friendship with U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt subsequently led to Cantor’s coining the term the “March of Dimes,” and he supported generously the fight against polio.

Bibliography

Cantor, Eddie.“My Life Is in Your Hands” and “Take My Life.” New York: Cooper Square Press, 2000. Combined edition of Cantor’s two autobiographies, the first written as his career was beginning (1928), the other during the 1950’s. Highly idealized works, they nevertheless provide insight into the author’s career and life.

Goldman, Herbert. Banjo Eyes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. A well-researched biography that scrutinizes both the public persona and the private individual the public never saw. Included are a filmography and a radiography.

Mordden, Ethan. Ziegfeld: The Man Who Invented Show Business. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2008. Ziegfeld was known as “the man who glorified the American girl.” His annual follies included young entertainers such as Cantor. The biography provides a picture of the entertainment industry of the period.