orig. Edward Israel Iskowitz
born Jan. 31, 1892, New York, N.Y., U.S.
died Oct. 10, 1964, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. comedian and singer.
As a child, Cantor clowned and sang for coins on street corners in his native New York City. He dropped out of elementary school, could not keep a job because of his irrepressible clowning, and soon went into vaudeville as a blackface song-and-dance man. He toured with Florenz Ziegfeld 's Follies and the Shuberts. He appeared in several Broadway reviews, and from 1923 to 1926 he was a star in Kid Boots . From 1931 Cantor performed for 18 years on The Chase and Sanborn Hour as a standup comedian. His films include Roman Scandals (1933) and Strike Me Pink (1936). In the 1950s he hosted a television show.