George Jessel lived his life in show business, and he toiled with boundless energy to adapt to the changing modes of the entertainment world. His professional career spanned three-quarters of a century, from 1907 to just before his death. Primarily, he was a live-audience entertainer, with his show business persona evolving from the cocky-but-lovable Jewish-American immigrant boy, to the middle-aged professional emcee and purveyor of nostalgia, to the pompous, self-proclaimed Toastmaster General pose of his last twenty years.

With an unfailingly brash personality, semitic good looks, a nasal voice, and quick-tongued wit, Jessel began performing in musical-comedy "kid acts" at the age of nine, shortly after the death of his father. Before long he was a featured performer with other youthful talents such as Eddie Cantor and Walter Winchell in vaudeville acts produced and written by Gus Edwards. By the time he reached his twenties...