Editing Eddie Cantor (section)

==Stage==
[[File:George Jessel and Eddie Cantor, circa 1913.webp|left|thumb|[[George Jessel (actor)|George Jessel]] and Eddie Cantor, while in ''Kid Kabaret,'' {{Circa|1913}}]]

===Saloon songs to vaudeville===
By his early teens, Cantor began winning talent contests at local theaters and started appearing on stage. One of his earliest paying jobs was doubling as a waiter and performer, singing for tips at Carey Walsh's [[Coney Island]] saloon, where a young [[Jimmy Durante]] accompanied him on piano. He made his first public appearance in [[Vaudeville]] in 1907 at New York's Clinton Music Hall. In 1912, he was the only performer over the age of 20 to appear in [[Gus Edwards (vaudeville)|Gus Edwards]]'s ''Kid Kabaret'', where he created his first [[blackface]] character "Jefferson". He later toured with [[Al Lee]] as the team Cantor and Lee. Critical praise from that show got the attention of Broadway's top producer [[Florenz Ziegfeld]], who gave Cantor a spot in the Ziegfeld rooftop post-show, ''Midnight Frolic'' (1917).<ref name="International" />

===Broadway===
A year later, Cantor made his Broadway debut in the ''[[Ziegfeld Follies|Ziegfeld Follies of 1917]]''. He continued in the ''Follies'' until 1927,<ref name="bway">[http://www.ibdb.com/person.php?id=5198 "Eddie Cantor Broadway Credits"] Internet Broadway database listing, retrieved December 24, 2009.</ref> a period considered{{by whom?|date=April 2024}} the best years of the long-running revue. For several years, Cantor co-starred in an act with pioneer comedian [[Bert Williams]], both appearing in blackface; Cantor played Williams's fresh-talking son. Other co-stars with Cantor during his time in the ''Follies'' included [[Will Rogers]], [[Marilyn Miller]], [[Fanny Brice]], and [[W.C. Fields]].<ref>Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald. "Vaudeville, Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers" (2007). Routledge. {{ISBN|0-415-93853-8}}, p. 193.</ref> He moved on to stardom in book musicals, starting with ''[[Kid Boots]]'' (1923) and ''[[Whoopee!]]'' (1928).<ref name="bway" /> The successful Broadway run of ''Banjo Eyes'' was cut short when Cantor suffered a major [[heart attack]], the first of several that would plague his later years.

===Steel Pier, Atlantic City===
Cantor was a headliner at the [[Steel Pier Theater]] in [[Atlantic City]].

[[File:Eddie Cantor Midnight Rounders.jpg|thumb|Flyer for ''Midnight Rounders'']]
* ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1917'' – [[revue]] – performer
* ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1918'' – revue – performer, co-composer and co-lyricist for "Broadway's Not a Bad Place After All" with [[Harry Ruby]]
* ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1919'' – revue – performer, lyricist for "(Oh! She's the) Last Rose of Summer"
* ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1920'' – revue – composer for "Green River", composer and lyricist for "Every Blossom I See Reminds Me of You" and "I Found a Baby on My Door Step"
* ''The Midnight Rounders of 1920'' – revue – performer
* ''Broadway Brevities of 1920'' – revue – performer
* ''[[Make It Snappy]]'' (1922) – revue – performer, co-bookwriter
* ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1923'' – revue – sketch writer
* ''[[Kid Boots]]'' (1923) – musical comedy – actor in the role of "Kid Boots" (the Caddie Master)
* ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1927'' – revue – performer, co-bookwriter
* ''Whoopee!'' (1928) – musical comedy – actor in the role of "Henry Williams"
* ''Eddie Cantor at the [[Palace Theatre (New York City)|Palace]]'' (1931) – solo performance
* ''Banjo Eyes'' (1941) – musical comedy – actor in the role of "Erwin Trowbridge"
* ''[[Nellie Bly]]'' (1946) – musical comedy – co-producer