Biography for
Eddie Cantor More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

31 January 1892, New York City, New York, USA

Date of Death

10 October 1964, Beverly Hills, California, USA (heart attack)

Birth Name

Israel Iskowitz

Nickname

Banjo Eyes
The Apostle of Pep

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Singer, songwriter ("Merrily We Roll Along"), comedian, author and actor, educated in public schools. He made his first public appearance in Vaudeville in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall, then became a member of the Gus Edwards Gang, later touring vaudeville with Lila Lee as the team Cantor & Lee. He made Broadway stage appearances in "Canary Cottage," "Broadway Brevities of 1920," "Make It Snappy," "Kid Boots," "Whoopee," "Banjo Eyes," and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1917, 1918, 1919 and 1927. He had his own radio program in the 1930s, appeared often on television in the 1950s, and made many records. Joining ASCAP in 1951, and his popular-song compositions also include "Get a Little Fun Out of Life," "It's Great to Be Alive," and "The Old Stage Door." Eddie Cantor also wrote the books "Ziegfeld, the Great Glorifier" and "As I Remember Them," and the autobiographies "My Life Is In Your Hands" and "Take My Life."

IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234!

Spouse

Ida Tobias Cantor

(9 June 1914 - 9 August 1962) (her death) 5 children

Trivia

Received a Special Academy Award in 1956 for distinguished service to the film industry.

He invented the name "March of Dimes" for the donation campaigns of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (polio), a play on the "March of Time" newsreels. He began the first campaign on his own radio show in January 1938, asking people to mail a dime to the nation's most famous polio victim, President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Other entertainers joined in the appeal via their own shows, and the White House mail room was deluged with 2,680,000 dimes.

President of Screen Actors Guild (SAG) from 1933-35.

At one time, when the rights to The Wizard of Oz (1939) were owned by Samuel Goldwyn, Cantor was considered for the role of the Scarecrow. Goldwyn eventually sold the rights to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2000.

Theme song: "One Hour With You."

Father of Marilyn Cantor Baker, Marjorie Cantor, Natalie Cantor Metzger, Edna Cantor McHugh and Janet Cantor Gari

Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 89-91. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387

Both his parents died before he was a year old, and he was adopted and raised by his maternal grandmother, Esther Lazarowitz Kantrowitz, who died on January 29, 1917, two days before he signed a long-term contract with Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. to appear in his "Follies". "Kantrowitz" was the name mistakenly assigned to the boy instead of his actual name, Iskowitz, by a public school registrar. It was shortened to Cantor. Eddie was the nickname given him by his girlfriend, Ida Tobias, whom he later married (See Ida Tobias Cantor).

Father-in-law of Robert Clary.

Often ate the breakfast staple cornflakes and milk for dinner at fancy restaurants. It had been the foodstuff he could afford as an up-and-coming comedian, and due to some personal quirk, he preferred it even after he was rich and famous.

Grandfather of Brian Gari and Judy McHugh

Great-grandfather of Lee Newman.

Brother-in-law of Nettie Tobias.

Following his financial loss in the stock market crash of 1929, Eddie Cantor wrote a short humorous book entitled, "Caught Short."

He was awarded 3 Stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6648 Hollywood Boulevard; for Television at 1710 Vine Street; and for Radio at 6765 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Personal Quotes

[after attending the premiere of the film The Eddie Cantor Story (1953)] If that was my life, I didn't live.

[commenting about losing most of his money in the 1929 stock market crash] Well, folks, they got me in the market just like they got everybody else. In fact, they're not calling it the stock market any more. They're calling it the stuck market.

[on Al Jolson] He was more than just a singer or an actor. He was an experience.

Salary

Whoopee! (1930)

$100,000 + 10% profits