George Jessel

George Albert "Georgie" Jessel (April 3, 1898 – May 23, 1981) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and film producer.

He was famous in his lifetime as a multitalented comedic entertainer, achieving a level of recognition that transcended his limited roles in movies.

He was widely known by his nickname, the "Toastmaster General of the United States," for his frequent role as the master of ceremonies at political and entertainment gatherings.

Jessel originated the title role in the stage production of The Jazz Singer.

In 1919 he produced his own solo show, George Jessel's Troubles.

Jessel appeared in his first motion picture, the silent movie The Other Man's Wife (1919).

Jessel co-wrote the lyrics for a hit tune, "Oh How I Laugh When I Think How I Cried About You," and he performed in several successful comedy stage shows in the early 1920s.

In 1921 he recorded a hit single, "The Toastmaster."

He sometimes appeared in blackface in his vaudeville shows.

In 1924, he appeared in a brief comedy sketch in a short film made in the DeForest Phonofilm sound-on-film process.

In 1925, he emerged as one of the most popular leading men on Broadway with the starring role in the stage production of The Jazz Singer.

The success of the show prompted Warner Bros.—after their success with Don Juan (1926) with music and sound effects only—to adapt The Jazz Singer as the first "talkie" with dialogue and to cast Jessel in the lead role.

However, the studio refused his salary demands, so Jessel turned down the movie role, which was eventually played by Al Jolson.

Jessel's next movie role was in Private Izzy Murphy (1926).

Whereas Jolson's film career skyrocketed after the 1927 release of The Jazz Singer, Jessel remained in smaller movie roles, often intended for audiences fond of Jewish and other "ethnic" humor.

In the middle 1940s, he began producing musicals for 20th Century Fox, producing 24 films in all in a career that lasted through the 1950s and 1960s.

At the same time he became known as a host on the banquet circuit, famous for his good-natured wit aimed at his fellow celebrities.

He was elected to The Lambs Theatre Club in 1942.

He wrote three volumes of memoirs, So Help Me (1943), This Way, Miss (1955), and The World I Lived In (1975).

Jessel produced a number of Hollywood films, including The Dolly Sisters (1945), Nightmare Alley (1947), Golden Girl (1951) and The I Don't Care Girl (1953).

In 1946, he was one of the founding members of the California branch of the Friars Club.

(A recording exists of an example of his "blue" work in front of a stag audience, although it was actually recorded at a roast hosted by the Friars' rival, the Masquers Club.) He also traveled widely overseas with the USO entertaining troops.

As he grew older, he wrote eulogies for many of his contemporaries in Hollywood.

In the early 1950s, he performed on the radio in The George Jessel Show, which became a television series of the same name from 1953 to 1954.

Thereafter, Jessel guest-starred on NBC's The Jimmy Durante Show.

His later film roles included a cameo as himself in Valley of the Dolls (1967), The Busy Body (1967) opposite Sid Caesar, and the controversial musical Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? (1969) directed by and starring Anthony Newley.

In 1968, he starred in Here Come the Stars, a syndicated variety show.

However, his attempt to extend his career was undermined by a perception that his style of comedy was outdated, as well as by his outspoken support of the American entry into the Vietnam War and of conservative political causes.

He often crossed the era's stereotypical political lines with its support for the civil rights movement and criticism of racism and anti-Semitism.

His outspoken political opinions were, at times, the source of scandal.

He made additional cameos in other all-star films such as The Phynx (1970) and Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976).

In 1971, while being interviewed by Edwin Newman on The Today Show on NBC, he repeatedly referred to The New York Times as Pravda (the house organ of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), and the interview was cut short.

According to Jessel during an interview around 1980, Warner Bros. still owed Jessel money for earlier roles and lacked enough funds to produce this movie with a leading star.

Jolson, the biographical inspiration for the movie, became the movie's main financial backer.

Jessel was born to Jewish parents, Joseph and Charlotte "Lottie" (née Schwarz) Jessel, on 118th Street in Harlem, New York City.

By age 10, he was appearing in vaudeville and on Broadway to support his family after the death of his father, who was a playwright.

His mother, who worked as a ticket seller at the Imperial Theater, helped him form The Imperial Trio, a harmony group of ushers to entertain patrons of the theater, with Walter Winchell and Jack Wiener, using the stage names Leonard, Lawrence and McKinley, in their early teens (such usher-singer groups were common).

At age 11, he was a partner of Eddie Cantor in a kid sketch and performed with him on stage until he outgrew the role at age 16.

He later partnered with Lou Edwards and then became a solo performer.

His most famous comedy skit was called "Hello Mama" or "Phone Call from Mama," which portrayed a one-sided telephone conversation.