Influential Widow Twice Over
LOS ANGELES - Erle Jolson Krasna, an occasional actress who was the influential widow of both singer Al Jolson and Oscar- winning screenwriter and producer Norman Krasna, has died. She was 81. Krasna died Sunday of cancer at her Los Angeles home. Widowed by Jolson's death in 1950, she retained control over his recordings after marrying Krasna a year later. Jolson, whose signature song was My Mammy, became a superstar in the first "talkie," 1927's The Jazz Singer: Krasna was portrayed by actress Barbara Hale in 1949's Jolson Sings Again, a sequel to the better-received1946 biopic The Jolson Story. When Jolson's remarkable life in entertainment was revisited in the 1999 stage musical, Krasna attended its premier in Pasadena, Calif., before it ventured to Broadway as Jolson & Co.
Erle Chenault Galbraith, born Dec. 1, 1922, in Little Rock, Ark., was an X-ray technician at the Army and Navy General Hospital at Hot Springs, Ark., when she met Jolson, known for his tours to entertain troops. The singer; some 35 years her senior, suggested that, pretty as she was, she should try Hollywood. The young woman signed a contract with Columbia, then went on to 20th Century Fox when Columbia declined to pick up her option. She had a few small roles showcasing her beauty, including one in a Phil Silvers comedy, but never earned major recognition. On March 24, 1945, she married Jolson in Quartzsite, Ariz., becoming his fourth wife. He died five years later from a heart attack in San Francisco after a tour to entertain soldiers in the Korean War. As his widow at age 28, she was in control of nearly half his $4 million estate and more important, his musical legacy. The couple adopted a son, who was named after Jolson, originally the Lithuanian born Asa Yoelson. Young Asa, also called Albert Jolson Jr., has been known most of his life as "Jolie.
The youthful widow met Krasna, 13 years her senior, the summer after Jolson's death and just after the writer's five-day engagement to actress Betty Hutton ended. The couple married Dec. 7, 1951. Norman Krasna, originally a New York journalist and playwright, won an Academy Award in 1943 for his script to Princess O'Rourke starring Olivia de Havilland and was nominated for Oscars for three other scripts - The Richest Girl in the World in 1934 Fritz Lang's Fury in 1936 and The Devil and Miss Jones in 1941. By the time he married Erle Jolson, he also was a producer and executive helping to run RKO.
The Krasnas spent 20 years as residents of Switzerland. He died in 1984. Krasna is survived by her son Jolie from her first marriage and three children from her marriage to Krasna, Beth, Emily and David, and three grandchildren.
Published in The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Thur Jan 15, 2004.
Lizzie Kunde 
