Eddie Cantor, Who?

Remembering A Star and Humanitarian
By Michelle E. Malik

Almost unheard of today, Eddie Cantor was a phenomenal star of stage, screen, radio, and television from the teens to the early 1960’s. Known for his “banjo eyes,” this comedic singer, began his career on the Broadway stage with the Ziegfeld Follies, in shows like The Midnight Rounders and Kid Boots, and made his splash in Hollywood in the 1930s starring in Samuel Goldwyn musicals like the 1930 two-strip color classic Whoopee!, Roman Scandals, and Palmy Days. He followed up his film success with an over 30 year run in radio, and hosted TV’s Colgate Comedy Hour in the 1950s.

Some of Eddie’s signature songs include Makin’ Whoopee! and Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider, and the ever-popular Looney Tunes theme song, Merrily We Roll Along, which he co-wrote. He had a hand in launching the careers of Dinah Shore, Deanna Durbin, and Sammy Davis Jr., among others, and wrote a few books of memoirs on his experiences in show business. While raising his five daughters with his loving wife Ida, he managed to make time to tour universities to talk about his fifty year career in show business, supported the war effort, and coined the phrase and helped develop The March of Dimes with Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Eddie would say, “Nice work for a grandfather, ain’t it?”

Currently, UCLA has an extensive Eddie Cantor archive in the University Research Library’s Special Collections, featuring his numerous honorary plaques for his humanitarian efforts, film props, radio shows, and rare pictures, among other items. There is a growing Eddie Cantor Appreciation Society that works alongside Eddie’s daughter Janet Gari, and grandson, Brian Gari to keep Eddie’s memory alive.

**The Eddie Cantor Appreciation Society** was formed in 1993 by first president, Sheila Riddle, to commemorate the many talents and contributions of the great musical comedian and humanitarian, Eddie Cantor. A new incarnation of the society has been continued by me, Michelle Malik, in the interests of perpetuating Eddie's memory.