George Jessel (April 3, 1898–May 23, 1981) was a U.S. actor, singer, songwriter, and movie 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" (a parody of Postmaster General) for his frequent role as the master of ceremonies at political and entertainment gatherings. April 3 is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 272 days remaining. ... 1898 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... May 23 is the 143rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (144th in leap years). ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Simon Le Bon lead singer of Duran Duran in concert, 2003. ... A songwriter is someone who writes, in part or in full, the lyrics to songs, the musical composition or melody to songs, or both. ... In the entertainment industry, a producer is generally in charge of, or helps to coordinate, the financial, legal, administrative, technological, and artistic aspects of a production. ... Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... Toastmaster can refer to: Toastmaster is a general term referring to a master of ceremonies at a public event, such a banquet. ... A Postmaster General is the national politician in charge of the postal system of a country. ... A Master of Ceremonies or MC is the host of a staged event or other performance. ...

Biography

Jessel was born in the Bronx. By age 10, he was appearing in Vaudeville and on Broadway to support his family after his father's death. His mother, who worked as a ticket seller at the Imperial Theater, helped him form The Imperial Trio with Walter Winchell and Jack Wiener, using the stage names Leonard, Lawrence and McKinley. 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 began a solo performer. His most famous comedy skit was called "Hello Mama" or "Phone Call from Mama", in which he portrayed a one-side phone conversation. In 1919 he produced his own solo show, "George Jessel's Troubles" and appeared in his first motion picture, the silent movie The Other Man's Wife. He co-wrote the lyrics for a hit tune "Oh How I Laugh When I Think How I Cried About You" and 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. The Bronx is one of the five boroughs of United States. ... Vaudeville was a style of multi-act theater which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... This article is about the street in New York City. ... The Imperial Theater can also refer to the Imperial Garden Theater in Tokyo, Japan The Imperial Theater was the Schubert brothers fiftieth theater in New York City. ... Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972), an American newspaper and radio commentator, invented the gossip column at the New York Evening Graphic. ... Eddie Cantor in the 1920s Eddie Cantor (born September, 1892 on the Jewish New Year; died October 10, 1964) was a comedian, singer, actor, songwriter, and one of the most popular entertainers in the United States of America in the early and middle 20th century. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America and in Australia as the Roaring Twenties . In Europe it is sometimes refered to as the Golden Twenties. ... 1921 (MCMXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... This reproduction of a 1900 minstrel show poster, originally published by the Strobridge Litho Co. ...

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 Brothers to adapt the show as the first "talkie" and to cast Jessel in the lead role. When the studio refused his salary demands, however, he turned down the movie role, which was eventually played by Al Jolson. His second movie role was in 1926 in Private Izzy Murphy. Whereas Jolson's career skyrocketed after the 1927 release of The Jazz Singer, Jessel remained in smaller movie roles, often intended for Jewish audiences. 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Jazz Singer is a 1927 U.S. movie musical notable for being the first feature-length motion picture with talking sequences. ... Warner Bros. ... Ù Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson in Seredzius, Lithuania on May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was an American singer and the son of Jewish immigrants. ... 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... // The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי transliterated: Yehudi) is used in many ways, but generally refers to a follower of Judaism, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes. ...

In the 1930s, his personal life kept him in the public eye as much as his movies. He had notorious affairs with actresses Pola Negri, Helen Morgan and Lupe Vélez (all detailed in his 1975 autobiography The World I Lived In). In 1934 he married Hollywood starlet Norma Talmadge, causing a scandal because Talmadge was married at the time that they started their affair. After their divorce in 1939, Jessel caused further scandal by breaking into her house with a pistol and firing shots at her current lover. // Events and trends The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical lifestyles, as countries were struggling to find a solution to the global depression. ... Pola Negri (December 31, 1899 – August 1, 1987) was a Polish film actress who achieved notoriety as a femme fatale in silent films. ... Helen Morgan was an born 2 August 1900 in rural Danville, Illinois. ... Lupe Vélez Lupe Vélez (July 18, 1908 – December 13, 1944) was a Mexican actress. ... 1934 (MCMXXXIV) was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... Norma Talmadge Norma Talmadge (May 26, 1897 – December 24, 1957) was an American actress. ... // Events January-March January 2 - End of term for Frank Finley Merriam, 28th Governor of California. ...

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. In 1946 he was one of the founding members of the California branch of the Friars 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. He wrote two volumes of memoirs, So Help Me in 1943 and This Way, Miss in 1955. // Events and trends The 1940s were seen as a transition period between the radical 1930s and the conservative 1950s, which also leads the period to be divided in two halves: The first half of the decade was dominated by World War II, the widest and most destructive armed conflict in... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... Fox Plaza, the company headquarters. ... // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... State nickname: The Golden State Official languages English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) Senators Dianne Feinstein (D) Barbara Boxer (D) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 3rd 410,000 km² 4. ... The Friars Club is a New York City club now with nationwide branches famous for its risqué celebrity roasts. ... USO is a TLA that may stand for: Unidentified submarine object Udaipur Solar Observatory Ultra stable oscillator Unidentified submarine object or Unidentified swimming object or Unidentified submersible object Union der Schülerorganisationen (uso. ... A eulogy is a funeral oration given in tribute to a person or people who have recently died. ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the early 1950s he performed on the radio in The George Jessel Show, which became a television show of the same name from 1953 to 1954. In 1968 he starred in Here Come The Stars, a syndicated variety show. His attempt to extend his career was undermined, however, by a perception that his style of comedy was outdated, as well as by his outspoken support of the Vietnam War and of conservative political causes, though he often crossed the era's stereotypical political lines with his support for the Civil Rights movement and criticism of racism and anti-Semitism. This outspokenness regarding his political opinions could sometimes get him into trouble. 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 in the Soviet Union, and was ejected from the show. // Events and trends This map shows two essential global spheres during the Cold War in 1959. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) is a common year starting on Thursday. ... 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1968 calendar). ... The Vietnam War or Second Indochina War was a conflict between the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRVN, or North Vietnam), allied with the National Liberation Front (NLF, or Viet Cong) against the Republic of Vietnam (RVN, or South Vietnam), and its allies—notably the United States military in support of... Conservatism is any of a number of political philosophies supporting traditional values or an established social order. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... An African-American man drinks out of the colored only water fountain at a racially segregated streetcar terminal in the United States in 1939. ... The Eternal Jew: 1937 German poster. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Edwin Newman (born January 25, 1919) is a journalist and writer. ... Today (commonly referred to as The Today Show) is a morning news and talk show airing on the NBC television network in the United States. ... The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. ... This article treats the Soviet/Russian newspaper. ... In modern usage, a communist party is a political party which promotes communism, a sociopolitical philosophy based on the particular interpretation of Marxism put forth by Vladimir Lenin. ...

By the late 1960s he had gained a reputation as being overly indulgent in reminiscing about former companions who were little known by younger audiences. Walter Winchell once said of him, "That son of a bitch started to reminisce when he was eight years old." He had achieved a somewhat iconic status, representing a Hollywood of yore, such that he extended his career by playing himself, rather than characters, as in the 1967 cult classic Valley of the Dolls The 1960s in its most obvious sense refers to the decade between 1960 and 1969, but the expression has taken on a wider meaning over the past twenty years. ... Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972), an American newspaper and radio commentator, invented the gossip column at the New York Evening Graphic. ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Valley of the Dolls is the title of a best selling novel by Jacqueline Susann, published in 1966, and the Hollywood film which followed it in 1967. ...

Famous in his youth for his affairs with starlets, he also became known for keeping company with a wide assortment of younger show girls, even into his old age.

In 1969 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences honored him for his charity work by awarding him the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, a Special Academy Award. His last movie role was in Diary of a Young Comic in 1979. He also appeared as himself as an interviewed witness in the 1981 movie Reds. 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday For other uses, see Number 1969. ... Founded on May 11, 1927 in California, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures. ... Allegorical personification of Charity as a mother with three infants by Anthony van Dyck Charity is a term that refers to giving. ... The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award is awarded periodically (although not every year) at the Academy Award ceremonies for outstanding contributions to humanitarian causes. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Reds is a 1981 movie starring Warren Beatty and Diane Keaton. ...

George Jessel died of a heart attack in 1981 at the age of 83 in Los Angeles and was interred in the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... The City of Los Angeles (from Spanish; Los Ángeles, ) also known simply as L.A., is the second-largest city in the United States in terms of population, as well as one of the worlds most important economic, cultural, and entertainment centers. ... The Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 6001 W. Centinela Avenue, in Culver City, California. ... Culver City sign, at the northeast corner of the Sepulveda Boulevard and Centinela Avenue intersection, near the 405 and the 90 freeway interchange. ...

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, George Jessel has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1777 Vine Street. An example of a Hollywood Walk of Fame star, for the film actress Carole Lombard. ...

External links

• Encyclopedia Commedia: George Jessel
• IMDb entry