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The Early Years of Asa
Yoelson
Al Jolson was
born Asa Yoelson on May 28, 1886 in Seredzius, a
very small shtetl located just a few miles west of Kaunas, Lithuania.
He was the fifth child of Rabbi Moshe Reuben Yoelson and his
first wife, Naomi (nee Cantor) Yoelson.
Al's older
siblings were named Rose (born 1879), Etta (born 1880), Hirsch
(born 1882, who was later known as Harry), and a fourth, a
baby girl, who had died in infancy (cir 1884).
When Al was just
four years old, his father left Seredzius for the United
States. Like so many families, Rabbi Yoelson wanted to find a
better life for himself and his family elsewhere,
i.e. to find a good place to live and a proper job, so he
could then send
for his wife and five children.
This did not
happen as quickly as everyone would have liked. It took nearly four years for Rabbi Yoelson to establish
himself.
While he was in
America, Naomi raised the family back in the shtetl. Young Al was her favorite
child. At age six, she had Al take violin lessons, though he
was not too eager to do the necessary practice.
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NAOMI YOELSON
Wife of Cantor Moshe Reuben Yoelson
Mother of Asa Yoelson (Al Jolson)
Early in
1894, Rabbi Yoelson sent a letter home to Seredzius. It
was time for Naomi and their children to come to America. |
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WASHINGTON, D.C.
The Capitol is in the background. |
Rabbi Yoelson
had found employment with the Talmud Torah congregation of
Washington, D.C.
From Seredzius to Kaunas, the
Yoelsons rode on a hay wagon. From Kaunas, they took a series
of trains to a harbor from where they took a steamer to
Liverpool, England. While in Liverpool, Naomi allowed her boys
to wander about the city. However, little Asa wandered away
from his older brother Hirsch and was lost to the family for a time.
Fortunately, a policeman brought Asa back to his family an
hour later. The next day, the Yoelson family boarded the
S.S. Umbria, bound for the United States. |
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In Washington,
Asa and Hirsch attended public school. Their father also had
them continue their religious studies, not only with their
readings, but also with singing. Rabbi Yoelson used to place
matchsticks in their mouths so they would learn to sing
properly.
Not nine months after their arrival in America, Naomi having
become pregnant and suffering serious complications, passed
away. This was very hard on the family, especially on
eight-year old Asa, who loved his mother dearly. Asa
most likely carried this deep loss with him for his entire
life, never quite coming to terms with the loss of his loving
mother. |
YOUNG ASA YOELSON |
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Asa and Hirsch, began singing
for whatever money people would give them, wherever they
could. Soon Asa would change his name to Al Joelson and Harry
to Harry Joelson.
Al had already accumulated a
varied resume by the age of twelve. He had already performed
with a carnival, a circus, and had been a mascot for the U.S.
soldiers during the Spanish-American War.
Between 1898 and 1901, Al
appeared with the Walter L. Main Circus which toured around
the eastern United States.
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When
performing with the circus, he was introduced as "Master
Albert Joelson, the "champion buck-and-wing dancer of the
United States," though it is uncertain exactly what his
performance consisted of.
In March 1901, Al joined
up with the Victoria Burlesquers and formed an act with Fred
Moore that was billed as "Master Joelson and Fred
Moore." This was
the first time that Al ever received billing. Al's brother
Harry had found work as a singing waiter in a New York beer
hall. In 1902, the act
joined "Al Reeve's Famous Big Company."
In 1903, Al's
voice started to change and began to break when he sung. This
spelled the end of the partnership between Al and Fred Moore.
After this, Al
would return home to Washington, though he wouldn't stay there
very long. Brother Harry had returned home, having found some
success in the business. Al then decided to team up with Harry
once again, this time as a "straight man." |
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In 1904, Ren
Shields (a special material and songwriter) teamed up brothers
Al and Harry with Yiddish dialect comedian and singer Joe
Palmer to form the team of "Joelson, Palmer and
Joelson." They would perform in the New York burlesque
theatre; their act was called "A Little Bit of Everything."
However, when the went to have business cards printed, they
found the name "Joelson" was too large for the card, so they
dropped the letter "e" from their name. Now Al was "Al Jolson"
for the first time. Al
became
uncomfortable with his part in the skit; he felt
self-conscious. Another person on the bill suggested to Al
that he could
overcome this discomfort by wearing burnt cork on his face during his
act, a la blackface. He did, and the rest, as they say,
is history. |
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In 1910, Al and
Harry created an act called "The Hebrew and the Cadet." Al
played a character named "Meyer," straight man to his
brother's "Mr. Cohen." Mr. Cohen was supposed to be a Jew from the ghetto on
the Lower East Side, and Meyer was a cadet.
This burlesque-type act would be
considered crude and politically offensive today, but back in
1910 it wasn't.
Al and Harry
first played this act in the Rockaways (New York), then played
a week in Coney Island. |
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