Al Jolson, 64, one of the most influential American entertainers during the first half of the 20th Century, died on October 23, 1950. Born Asa Yoelson on May 26, 1886 in Seredžius, Lithuania, Jolson was brought to the U.S. as a young child and trained by his cantor father in both the Hassidic style of Jewish music and American popular songs. Jolson was featured in a number of Broadway musicals throughout the 1910s, including The Honeymoon Express (1913) and Sinbad (1918). His breakout role was in the widely received musical entertainments of the Ziegfeld Follies in 1919; he became the highest paid entertainer, and one of the most recognizable, in the country. Jolson starred in numerous stage productions, musicals, and films throughout the 1920s, including the Academy Award nominated 1927 revolutionary sound film, The Jazz Singer. He continued to appear in films and in other musical venues during the 1930s and early 1940s. Widely credited as one of the first mass-marketed blackface performers, Jolson's talent, charisma, and enjoyment of the role of entertainer resonated with generations of audiences. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.