Star Facts

  • Category Motion Pictures

    Address 6648 Hollywood Blvd.

    Ceremony date 02/08/1960

  • Category Television

    Address 1770 Vine Street

    Ceremony date 02/08/1960

  • Category Radio

    Address 6765 Hollywood Blvd.

    Ceremony date 02/08/1960

About
Eddie Cantor
Born:
1892-01-31,
New York City,
New York,
USA
Education:
NA
Ethnicity:
Caucasian
Death Date:
1964-10-10
Addition Websites

Eddie Cantor

Eddie Cantor was an American “illustrated song” performer, comedian, dancer, singer, actor and songwriter. Familiar to Broadway, radio and early television audiences, this “Apostle of Pep” was regarded almost as a family member by millions because his top-rated radio shows revealed intimate stories and amusing anecdotes about his wife Ida and five daughters.

His eye-rolling song-and-dance routines eventually led to his nickname, “Banjo Eyes”. In 1933, the artist Frederick J. Garner caricatured Cantor with large round eyes resembling the drum-like pot of a banjo. Cantor’s eyes became his trademark, often exaggerated in illustrations, and leading to his appearance on Broadway in the musical Banjo Eyes. His charity and humanitarian work was extensive, and he is credited with coining the phrase and helping to develop The March of Dimes.

Cantor was born Isidore Iskowitz in New York City, the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Meta and Mechel Iskowitz. His mother died in childbirth one year after his birth, and his father died of pneumonia when Eddie was two, leaving him to be raised by his beloved grandmother, Esther Kantrowitz. As a child, he attended Surprise Lake Camp. A misunderstanding when signing her grandson for school gave him her last name of Kantrowitz. Esther died on January 29, 1917, two days before he signed a long-term contract with Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. to appear in his Follies.

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