Eddie Cantor American actor, comedian, dancer, singer and songwriter Date of Birth: 31.01.1892 Country: USA

Biography of Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor was an American actor, comedian, dancer, singer, and songwriter. He was actively involved in Broadway, radio, television, and film, and was considered a member of the family by millions of Americans. He was born as Edward Israel Iskowitz in New York City to a Russian Jewish family. Cantor's mother passed away a year after his birth, followed by his father's death a year later due to pneumonia. He was raised by his loving grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz. In school, Cantor's surname was mistakenly recorded as 'Kantrovich' and later shortened to 'Kantor'.

As a teenager, Cantor won several talent competitions in local theaters and began performing in amateur productions. In one of his first paid projects, he worked as an actor and a waiter at Carey Walsh's saloon in Coney Island, accompanied by the young Jimmy Durante on the piano. In 1907, Cantor made his debut at New York's Clinton Music Hall, and five years later, he became the only actor over 20 years old to be accepted into Gus Edwards's Kid Kabaret, where he created his first black character.

In 1917, Cantor made his Broadway debut in one of the productions of the 'Ziegfeld Follies' series. He continued to work with Florenz Ziegfeld until 1927, which he considered to be his best years. In 1903, Cantor shortened his name from Edward to Eddie when he met his future wife, Ida Tobias. They got married in 1914 and had five daughters: Marjorie, Natalie, Edna, Marilyn, and Janet. Although they were dearly loved, they became a popular topic in Cantor's comedic repertoire, much to their discontent.

From 1933 to 1935, Cantor served as the president of the Screen Actors Guild. He coined the term 'The March of Dimes' for the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which raised funds to fight polio. Cantor initiated the first campaign during one of his radio shows, where the most famous victim of polio, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, also contributed. Other celebrities joined the charitable cause, and eventually, the White House's postal department received a total of 2,680,000 dimes.

After the death of Marjorie at the age of 44, both Ida and Eddie's health rapidly deteriorated. Ida passed away in August 1962 due to heart failure, and on October 10, 1964, at the age of 72, Eddie Cantor suffered another heart attack, which took his life. In the year of his death, Cantor was honored with an honorary Academy Award for his unique contributions to the film industry.