In Judaism and Christianity, an official in charge of music or chants. In Judaism the hsubdotazzan (cantor) leads liturgical prayer and chanting. In medieval Christianity the cantor had charge of a cathedral's music—specifically, of supervising the choir's singing. The term also designated the head of a college of church music.
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(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.
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