Al Jolson: The Greatest Entertainer America Forgot

There was a time when Al Jolson was arguably the biggest entertainer in America.

He conquered vaudeville and Broadway, helped usher Hollywood into the age of talking pictures with The Jazz Singer, became a radio star, faded from fashion—and then staged one of the most remarkable comebacks in American entertainment.

But recordings and photographs leave us with a puzzle: What was it actually like to see Al Jolson perform?

In this episode of The Common Room, we begin with someone who knew the answer: George Burns. Burns saw Jolson in the great age of vaudeville and, decades later, was still telling Johnny Carson stories about the extraordinary effect Jolson could have on an audience.

From there we explore Jolson’s immigrant beginnings, Broadway triumphs, signature songs, The Jazz Singer, radio career, decline and astonishing 1940s revival.

We also confront the most difficult part of his legacy: blackface and the complicated relationship between Jolson, minstrelsy, African-American music and the popular culture of his time. We neither erase it nor allow one aspect of his career to prevent us from asking the larger historical question:

Why did people who actually saw Al Jolson perform never seem to forget him?

Pull up a chair.

The Common Room is open.

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