George Jessel (actor)
George Jessel (April 3, 1898–May 23, 1981) was 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.
Biography
Jessel was born in the Bronx. By age 10, he was appearing 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 Anout 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.
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.
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 Velez. In 1934 he married Hollywood starlet Norma Talmadge, causing a scandal because Talmadge was married at the time of 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.
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 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.
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. He 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. 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. Despite his conservatism, he supported Civil Rights and was openly critical of racism and anti-Semitism.
By the late 1960s he had gained a reputation as being overly indulgent in reminiscing about former companions who were little known by a younger audiences. Walter Winchell once said of him, "That son of a bitch started to reminisce when he was eight years old." 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. He had achieved a somewhat iconic status representing a Hollywood of yore such that he extended his career by playing himself, rather than roles, including in the 1967 cult classic Valley of the Dolls,
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. He appeared his last movie role in Diary of a Young Comic in 1979. He also appeared as himself as a interviewed witness in the 1981 movie Reds. He died of a heart attack that same year in Los Angeles.
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