Eddie Cantor was born Isador Iskowitz on January 31, 1892, in the Lower East Side of New York City. His parents died before he reached the age of two, and he was raised by his maternal grandmother, Esther. Due to his poverty, Cantor was forced to drop out of school before he reached the sixth grade. He took on a variety of odd jobs - delivery boy, shooting gallery attendant, and, finally, performing in the streets for small change. At the age of 16 Cantor was in an amateur singing contest in which he won $5.00. He subsequently became a singing waiter in a saloon in Coney Island in which Jimmy Durante played the piano.