Al Jolson was known as the world's greatest entertainer....He was a master showman who performed for adoring crowds for more than fifty years. His performances on stage were magical; His private life was complex and tormented.

The Museum of Family History honors one of the most gifted performers ever to grace the American stage. His contributions to American culture were immense; his cumulative work has left an indelible mark in the annals of music lore.

In this exhibition, you can read (and hear) about the fascinating life of the one and only Al Jolson, from the time he immigrated with his mother and siblings to America in 1894, through his tumultuous childhood and adolescent years. You can trace his career in show business from start to end, learning not only about his professional life, but his personal life as well...

The highlights of this exhibition are not only the many photographs of Jolson in action, but also the seventeen video and nearly fifty sound clips that have been made available. You can hear Jolson sing to your heart's content, see video clips from documentaries made about him, from many of the films he made, even from his own home movies. You can also hear excerpts from some of Jolson's five radio programs, whose guests included Groucho Marx, Georgie Jessel and Fanny Brice (you can hear her sing her famous "My Man.")

Of particular interest is the page "The Jewish Side of Jolson." Though not religious at all (his four wives were all non-Jews), towards the end of his life he waxed two songs, "Israel" and "Hatikvah" and donated all the proceeds from royalties to the new state of Israel. On this page you can also hear Jolson sing "Cantor on the Sabbath" (sung by Jolson in Yiddish; originally part of the Jolson bio pic "The Jolson Story" but left on the cutting room floor, so to speak.) You can also hear him sing "Kol Nidre." All wonderful songs to hear him sing.

A caveat for those wishing to visit the Jolson exhibition. Viewing the video clips might be difficult if you gain access to the internet using land/phone lines, as downloading clips might take an inordinate amount of time. The exhibition is best viewed using either Apple's QuickTime or Windows Media Player 7 or above, though other players might very well be able to play all of the clips.

You should really enjoy this tribute to Jolson. I hope you do.

"The Immortal Al Jolson" is part of the Museum's ongoing "Great Artists Series" and has been created in conjunction with (and with the great cooperation of) the thousand-member strong International Al Jolson Society. This series is meant to honor those Jews who made extraordinary contributions to this world through the scope and quality of the work. Previous honorees have been Bialystok-born artist Max Weber and renown Yiddish playwright David Pinski. Part of the next exhibition about Yiddish acting great Maurice Schwartz is already online, including the first third of the only known biography of Schwartz (book presented in a serialized form.) The construction of a fifth part to this series, about that wonderful American tenor Richard Tucker, is now underway.

You can reach the Museum of Family History's "Great Artists Series" exhibition "The Immortal Al Jolson.

Museum of Family History
Steve Lasky