I’ve been asked to write a short biography of my friend Al Jolson.
“Try to remember an incident,” -the editor told me, “that would bring out some of the fine points about Jolie. But all day long I’ve been thinking, and, all that comes to my mind is the last time I saw Jolie.
It was a Monday afternoon, just a few days before he passed on. We were, sitting around at the Hillcrest Country Club, in Beverly Hills. I was planning to leave that night for New York for my television show.
Jack,” he said, “I hear you’re going out to Korea to entertain the boys, after you get back from your trip.”
I told him that was my plan.
“Well, don’t go without first talking to me. I’ll tell you just whom to see in Korea, where to go, what those G.I.’s want to hear. It’ll save you a lot of time and energy.
I promised Jolie I’d see him before I flew to Korea.
Then, at three o’clock in the morning that Friday, although I’d left a “Do Not Disturb” request at the hotel desk, my telephone rang. It was a reporter for International News Service.
I know you didn’t want to be disturbed, Mr. Benny, he apologized,. “but I figured this is something special. Al Jolson just died and we’d like to have a comment from you.”
Well, folks, I can’t remember a word of my “comment” now. What keeps hitting me, though, is that “Do Not Disturb” request. Because the news of Jolie’s passing was the most disturbing thing that happened to me and to millions of people all over America -all over the world.
Too many of us, I guess, have that “Do Not Disturb” sign hanging out. It take’s a jolt like Jolie’s sudden death to knock, that sign off our door.
I won’t be seeing Jolie before I go to Korea. But when I’m there I know that somehow he’ll be nearby, paving the way for a friend. And somewhere on a stage out there I’ll probably have to resist using that famous line of his, “You ain’t heard nothin’ yet.”
Jolie will always be with us. You can’t be a great entertainer like Al without leaving a great void in the world about you.
from “The Real Story of Al Jolson” 1950, Spectrolux Corp.
