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Al Jolson

Musical Variety

Broadcast History:

• Nov. 18, 1932-Feb. 24, 1933, NBC. 30m, Fridays at 10.  Presenting Al Jolson.  Chevrolet.

Orchestra:  Ted Fio Rito.

• Aug. 3, 1933-Aug. 16, 1934, NBC.  60m, Thursdays at 10.  Joined Paul Whiteman's Kraft-Phenix Program, which had begun June 26, 1933, and became the long-running Kraft Music Hall.   Jolson's appearances were erratic, with many absences.  KMH continued long after Jolson's departure, with Bing Crosby as a star.

• April 6, 1935-March 6, 1936, NBC.  60m, Saturdays at 9:30.  Shell Chateau.  Shell Oil.

Orchestra:  Victor Young.
Director:  Herb Polesie of J. Walter Thompson.
Writer-Producer:  Carroll Carroll of the Thompson agency.
Theme:  Golden Gate.  Jolson left the show in progress; it ran with other hosts until June 26, 1937.

• Dec. 22, 1936-March 14, 1939, CBS. 30m, Tuesdays at 8:30. The Lifebuoy Program, then The Rinso Program, then The Tuesday Night Party.  Lever Brothers.

Co-Stars:  Harry Einstein as Parkyakarkus; Martha Raye.
Announcer:  Tiny Ruffner.
Music:  Lud Gluskin, Victor Young.

Again, Jolson left the series in progress:  Dick Powell took over (March 21, 1939), then Walter O'Keefe (Sept. 19), and it left the air Dec. 12, 1939.

• Oct. 6, 1942-June 29, 1943, CBS.  30m, Tuesdays at 8:30.  The Colgate Program.  Colgate.

Co-Star:  Monty Woolley.
Vocalist:  Jo Stafford.
Orchestra:  Gordon Jenkins, Ray Bloch.
Producer:  William A. Bacher.
Director:  Bill Lawrence.

• Oct. 2, 1947-May 26, 1949, NBC.  30m,Thursdays at 9. The Kraft Music Hall.  Kraft Foods.

Co-Star:  Oscar Levant.
Announcer:  Ken Carpenter.
Orchestra:  Lou Bring.
Theme:  April Showers.

Spanning the years 1932-49, for various sponsors and under various titles.  Jolson was a dominant personality whose appearance in any series inevitably made the public think of it as "the Jolson show," whatever its real title might have been.

Depending on the source, Al Jolson was either the world's greatest entertainer or the world's biggest ham.  Some people would have said both.

His natural environment was the stage.  He had buckets of charisma before anyone had ever heard of the word.   Though Jolson loved performing before an audience, he was a formidable radio presence, fully able to project his dynamic, forceful nature over the air.

His name was Asa Yoelson; he was born May 26, 1886, son of a Russian rabbi.  In his youth he considered becoming a cantor: instead he became a performer, a specialist in blackface vaudeville skits whose down-on-one-knee delivery of robust southern songs was as powerful in its way as Louis Armstrong wason trumpet.

His popularity grew quickly after 1909, when he first sang Mammy from a San Francisco stage.  He so loved performing that he often kept his captive audience overtime.  In 1927 he starred in The Jazz Singer, the world's first talking picture.  He was on the air as early as 1928, in guest roles and cameos, but he seemed too busy to be tied down long in regular radio jobs.