Cantor, Eddie

Cantor, Eddie (b. Isidore Itzkowitz)

(1892–1964) singer; born in New York City. A rolling-eyed actor with a high-pitched singing voice, who often performed in black-face, Cantor appeared in Kid Cabaret (1912) with George Jessel. He worked for Florenz Ziegfeld (1916–28) where he sang his best known songs, including "Making Whoopee." A radio host and movie actor in the 1930s, he helped to found actors' unions and to promote the March of Dimes.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.