Hebron's Stories
If a story is important, then it must be told. We can portray dreams of what the future may hold, or allow introspection on what has occurred in the past. A story is a narrative that can relay lessons and warnings. A story can teach us about hope and remind us how important and meaningful our lives are. We are unearthing stories about those buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
Leon Leibgold was born to parents who were both Yiddish actors. In his youth, Leon worked as a Vaudeville
performer. Leibgold was an actor in both the Yiddish theater as well as in Yiddish Lan-guage films. Leibgold gained fame by acting in several Yiddish Language films including Yidl Mitn Fidl and The Dyb-buk.
He was also known for his role in the film Tevye. After completing the Dybbuk, Leibgold and his wife, Lili Liana (Leibgold's former costar), escaped the holocaust in 1937 when they left Poland for the United States. ~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Jack Pearl was an American Vaudeville performer and a star of early radio. He is best known for his character, Baron Munchausen. He was considered one of the highest paying comedians on radio and one of the funniest men in the nation. ~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Aaron Lebedeff was one of the greatest Yiddish performers of all time. He was born for the stage and was one of the top song-and-dance men of the Yiddish Theater. Unlike many of the performers of his time, he composed, wrote the lyrics to and sang and performed all of his material both in English and Yiddish.Lebedeff also produced a number of his shows and appeared in several of them in the 1930's. He was the star of the Second Avenue theatre district for 16 straight seasons. Lebedeff's wrote his Yiddish lyrics in his individual style and one reviewer remarked that they "virtually defied translation with a humor that is difficult to render into English.`Blog by Renee Meyers
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Throughout her nearly six decades long career, Jennie Goldstein was beloved by the public and acclaimed by critics
for her ability to make audiences cry and for her outstanding voice. When Jennie was young, she played self
sacrificing wives, daughters and sweethearts. As she got older, Jennie played Self-Sacrificing wives. Jennie Goldstein lived almost sixty years of Yiddish theater and was one of the main heroines of its' history and one of its main creators.
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Maurice Schwartz became an actor and a producer of Yiddish plays. He founded the Yiddish Art Theater in Manhattan. Schwartz also started an acting school to nurture budding talent. One of his students was Paul Muni who went on to star in 25 of Schwartz's productions. His theater performed a rotating repertoire
of nearly 200 plays. Later on in his career, Schwartz was billed as the greatest of all Yiddish actors and the "Olivier of the Yiddish stage".
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Naftule Brandwein was an Austrian-born Jewish American Klezmer musician,clarinetist, bandleader and recording artist active from the 1910's to the 1940's.
Naftule Brandwein is considered to be among the top Klezmer musicians of the twentieth century. Brandwein was also known for his impetuous and boundless life.
Many band compositions have become standards and sources of inspiration in the Klezmer music world. Since the revival of Klezmer in the 1970's, a new generation
the new generation of Klezmer revives the works of Naftule Brandwein.
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Ludwig Satz was a Yiddish comedian. He was born in Lvov, Poland. In 1910 he joined a troupe of Yiddish actors. he played in Gordin's Got and Mentsch under Taivi. He appeared in Budapest and London and achieved Broadway success as Abe Potash in Potash and Perlmutter. He also acted with Jacob Adler and Maurice Schwartz. Ludwig performed in Boris Thomashefsky's Yiddish Venture on Broadway. He later toured Europe and South America. In 1925, a New York Times article stated that Ludwig Satz was the greatest Yiddish comic actor of all time.
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Molly Picon was known as the great comedienne of the Yiddish Theater over a career that lasted nearly 90 years. She was the star of the Yiddish and English-speaking stage, motion pictures,radio and television. Picon's work after the war is significant. She performed comic song and dance performances for people in the DP camps in Europe and worked with Jewish refugees. Picon understood that entertainment was a way to connect people to their Jewish heritage after all they had endured. Molly Picon was a true star with universal appeal: across nations, languages, cultures and religions.
Blog by Renee Meyers
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Pesach Burstein was just a teenager when he joined a Yiddish Theatrical Troupe in Russia. Shortly after arriving in the USA, he became a major Star in the Yiddish Theatre. Pesach recorded over 300 discs of Yiddish songs and his voice soon became one of the best known in Yiddish music.
Pesach was a multi-talented performer. He was a singer, dancer, comedian, coupletist, stage whistler and director. Pesach formed a Troupe with his wife and children called "The Four Burstein's." The group toured internationally and made a name for themselves bringing Yiddish language productions to Yiddish speaking audiences around the world.
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Shifra got her start in show business at the tender age of 8 when she began to act in children's roles. Around this time, an Actor/ Producer named Boris Thomashefsky was in Buenos Aires looking for a child actor for his touring Yiddish Troup. Miriam Lerer, Shifra's older sister, met with Mr. Thomashefsky and recommended he meet Shifra. Miriam added a caveat saying that their father might object. Mr. Thomashefsky reportedly stated, "You bring the girl, I'll deal with the father later."
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Ida Kaminska was born on September 18, 1899, in the Russian Empire in Odessa (modern-day Ukraine) to Ester-Rokhl Kaminska and Avrom-Yitskhok (Abraham Isaac) Kaminski . Her parents were both stage actors of considerable note, with her mother, called by Ida, "the Jewish Eleonora Duse" . Esther was a profound influence on her daughter. Esther began acting in 1888 in her husband's acting company and was well renowned for her performances in the plays of Jacob Gordin. Her impact on Abraham Isaac's company should be understated, in fact,Esther later purchased Abraham's theatre and continued to support his productions . In total, Abraham Isaac and Esther had 3 children, Ida, Regina Kaminska, also an actress, and Joseph Kaminska, a composer.
~Blog Written by Julian Christy
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Bertha Kalich was a Ukrainian-Jewish-American actress. Though she was well-established as an entertainer in Eastern Europe, she is best remembered as one of the several "larger-than-life" figures that dominated New York stages during the "Golden Age" of American Yiddish Theatre during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Historians estimate that, during her career, Kalich performed more than 125 different roles in seven different languages.
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Meyer "Meir" Posner (November 6, 1890-February 8, 1931) was a music director, conductor, composer, choral director, and educator. Posner was a man of many titles. He started young, learned efficiently, and went on to plant his legacy. He lived a young yet fulfilling life.
He now rests with us at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
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Seymour Rexite, also known as Seymour Rechtzeit (Jan 18, 1910, OR 1911-Oct 14, 2002), was a Polish American actor, singer, and pioneer of the American Yiddish Theater. He began as a child singing wunderkind, dazzling everyone who heard him perform. He starred and performed on radio shows for several decades throughout his career, served on Yiddish airwaves, and even sang for President Calvin Coolidge. Rexite's passion, talent, and ability to reinvent himself led to a legendary career spanning several decades.
~Blog Written by Brandon Castro
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Herman Wohl (September 1, 1876 - October 10, 1936) was a prolific Jewish-American composer, director, and songwriter celebrated for his prominence during the early stages of American Yiddish Theater. His work made many people recognize Yiddish Theater. His career followed the rising trends of American Yiddish Theater in the early twentieth century. His life's work continues to influence many future actors and musicians.
~Blog Written by Brandon Castro
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Yablokoff had a fabled career and life. His performances, songs, and plays influenced many generations, and many are still moved by his work today. His performances to over 180,000 Jewish refugees deserve all the praise and celebration in the world. Yablokoff's story and legacy should be shared and remembered forever.
~Written by Brandon Castro
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Alexander Olshanetsky was one of the most prominent and prolific Second Avenue composers and conductors, and one of the musically most sophisticated exemplars of the Yiddish theater.
He now rests with us at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
~Blog Written by Brandon Castro
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Joseph Rumshinsky was a Jewish conductor, lyricist, director, and composer. Rumshinsky is celebrated among the greatest American Yiddish musical composers, even being considered one of the Big Four composers of his period. He transformed Yiddish theater, made it a part of his life, and took it with him.
~Blog Written by Brandon Castro
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Menasha Skulnik was an American actor, primarily known for his roles in Yiddish theater in New York City. Skulnik was also popular on radio, playing Uncle David on The Goldbergs for 19 years.
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