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With Erle Galbraith, Al Jolson's fourth wife, a six month old baby boy was adopted in late 1947. Naming him Asa Albert Jolson, Jr., Al and Erle became doting parents for the toddler. It was after Asa's adoption that Al bought the perfect home for his new family, buying the home he had built for Ruby and himself back from Don Ameche, it's current owner, at a loss.
In 1950, the Jolsons adopted a second baby, a girl they named Alicia. Pictured at the right, she was diagnosed as being retarded and eventually required institutional placement.
Alicia died in 1982, at the age of about 32. She is buried in Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills along with Erle, Norman Krasna, and members of the Galbraith family.
Known to his family as "Jolie," Albert Jolson is alive and well, living in Nashville, and pulled the cord to reveal the "Al Jolson Way" sign at the ceremony in New York in August, 2006.
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In 1935, Al Jolson and his third wife, Ruby Keeler, adopted a baby boy. This seven week old boy, of Jewish and Irish extraction, was named Al Jolson, Jr., although Al called him "Sonny Boy," and Ruby shortened that into "Sonny." According to Jolson biographers, Al Jr. seemed more attracted to Ruby than Al, as many children seem to prefer one parent over another. After divorcing Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler married John Lowe, and at age 14 Sonny Boy became Albert Peter Lowe.
