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.
Samuel J. LeFrak was a transformative American real estate developer who reshaped postwar urban housing by creating large-scale, affordable residential communities for the middle class. As head of the LeFrak Organization, he led the development of iconic projects like LeFrak City in Queens and the Newport complex in Jersey City, pioneering cost-efficient construction techniques and integrated living spaces. Known for his bold vision and commitment to accessibility, LeFrak also championed diverse housing and urban revitalization. Beyond real estate, he was a generous philanthropist, supporting institutions like the American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University. His legacy continues through the communities he built and the lives he impacted. ~Blog by Deirdre Mooney Poulos
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Oscar Abolafia, the son of Turkish Sephardic Jewish immigrants, grew up in New York City and discovered photography after his father bought him a pawnshop camera. He rose from hotel and resort photography to mingling with Andy Warhol's circle and capturing striking fashion and celebrity images. Oscar went on to photograph the Beatles, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Presley, Audrey Hepburn, and countless others for Life, Time, Harper's Bazaar, and Vanity Fair, as well as working on more than 20 films. Married to Joanna, he lived in New York until his death in 2020, and is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens.~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Benjamin Anzelevitz, professionally known as Ben Bernie, was a celebrated American jazz violinist, band leader, and radio star. Often introduced as "The Old Maestro", he was renowned for his showmanship, charm, and quick-witted banter. He belonged to the first generation of American music stars, alongside legends like Paul Whiteman, Ted Lewis, and Al Jolson. Famous for his catchphrase "Yowsah, yowsah, yowsah," he helped shape early radio entertainment in the 1930's and 1940's. His life story reflects both the glamour of the Jazz Age and the resilience of an artist navigating the Great Depression and the dawn of broadcasting.~Blog by Jonathan Moskowitz
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Nathan Wasserberger (1928-2012) was a Polish-born Jewish American painter and Holocaust survivor whose art journey led from the trauma of Buchenwald to luminous portraits of women in kimonos and serene nudes. After emigrating to the U.S. in the late 1940's, he studied at renowned art institutions in New York and Paris, eventually shifting from dark Holocaust themes to vibrant, introspective figure painting. His work, celebrated for its sensuality and emotional depth, became a means of healing and reclaiming beauty in the face of past horrors. Today, Wasserberger's legacy lives on in the Smithsonian's archives, reflecting his transformation from survivor to celebrated artist. ~Blog by Deirdre Mooney Poulos
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Les Rothman (1926-2022) was a gifted multi-sport athlete from New York City who made his mark during the formative years of professional basketball. A standout at Stuyvesant High School and LIU Brooklyn, Rothman played minor league baseball before joining the American Basketball League (ABL) and later the National Basketball League (NBL), appearing briefly with the Chicago American Gears and Syracuse Nationals during the 1946-47 season. His career unfolded during a pivotal era when Jewish athletes were prominent in urban sports, and professional basketball was still evolving. After retiring from athletics, Rothman devoted his life to education as a New York school principal and summer camp director. His legacy is a reflection of grit, adaptability, and quiet influence in the early landscape of American sports. ~Blog by Deirdre Mooney Poulos
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Hal Sherman (1911-2009), born Harold Sicherman, was a prolific American cartoonist and comic book artist best known for co-creating the patriotic superhero duo The Star-Spangled Kid and Stripesy with Jerry Siegel during the Golden Age of Comics. His innovative reversal of the traditional hero-sidekick dynamic helped distinguish the series in the 1940s. Beyond superheroes, Sherman made a lasting impact as a gag cartoonist, producing humorous illustrations for magazines, cocktail napkins, and novelty collections like The Little Friar and Nudeniks. Blending action-packed storytelling with lighthearted humor, Sherman's work exemplifies the versatility and enduring charm of mid-20th-century American cartooning. ~Blog by Deirdre Mooney Poulos
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Morrie Yohai, a Bronx-born son of Sephardic Jewish immigrants, led a remarkable life as a World War II pilot, business executive, educator, and poet-but he is best known as the inventor of Cheez Doodles, the iconic orange snack created in the 1950s at his family's Old London Foods factory. After coining the name during a brainstorming lunch, Yohai saw the product rise to national fame under the Wise Foods brand. Though modest about his invention, he later embraced a more spiritual and academic path, exploring Jewish mysticism, writing poetry, and helping to found the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival. Yohai passed away in 2010 at age 90 and is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens, leaving behind a legacy that blended culinary innovation with cultural and intellectual depth. ~Blog by Deirdre Mooney Poulos
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Morrie Ryskind (1895-1985) was a versatile American writer whose career spanned theater, film, and political journalism. A Columbia University student turned Broadway success, he collaborated with luminaries like George S. Kaufman, the Marx Brothers, and Irving Berlin, co-authoring hits like The Cocoanuts, Animal Crackers, and Of Thee I Sing, which won a Pulitzer Prize. Ryskind transitioned to Hollywood, contributing to classic films such as A Night at the Opera and Stage Door, earning two Oscar nominations. Though initially active in left-leaning circles, he became a prominent conservative voice, participating in HUAC hearings and helping to found The National Review. He later wrote widely circulated political columns and supported figures like Ronald Reagan. Ryskind's legacy lies in his sharp wit and lasting influence on both American comedy and conservative commentary. ~Blog by Deirdre Mooney
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Benjamin Melniker was an Emmy winning executive producer who, along with Michael Uslan, purchased the rights to Batman. They became the Producers on the Batman film series and other DC Comics films. Melniker was an Entertainment Attorney, Hollywood producer, Vice President at MGM studios and President and CEO at Jerry Lewis Cinemas. He won an Emmy for Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego. Melniker was involved with some of the most memorable films ever made, including Ben-Hur, Dr. Zhivago, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Gigi. ~ Blog by Renee Meyers
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Harold Huber was an actor who had a successful Hollywood career. He was known for his parts in The Thin Man, Charlie Chan on Broadway and Parachute Jumper. Harold appeared in five Broadway productions. He was a devoted family man to his wife, Ethel and his daughter, Margaret. Huber was described by costars as a "delightful person."
After making his credited screen debut in Central Park in 1932, Huber went on to aver-age nearly nine films a year for the next 11 years. He played a range of nationalities from
Chinese to Mexican and French. In 1930, he debuted on Broadway in "A Farewell to Arms." Huber was in three more Broadway shows by 1932 and a forth in 1945. Huber was known as an amateur fencing champion and as a scholar with a great interest in and
knowledge of antiques who also spoke 5 languages. Movies and radio were a regular part of his career.
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Gregory Ratoff was a Russian born American man who was famous for performing in all three capacities including producing, directing and acting. . His most famous role was portraying the Broadway producer Max Fabian in "All About Eve." As a film director, Ratoff , one of his most notable film credits was directing the classic, "Intermezzo: A love story." Ratoff was one of the two producers to have purchased and developed the original rights to the James Bond franchise from Ian Fleming in the 1950's.
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Marvin Wilbur Kaplan was born on January 24, 1927, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Dr. I. E. Kaplan and his wife. He attended Public School 16, and Junior High School 50 and graduated from Eastern District High School in 1943. He graduated from Brooklyn College with a bachelor's degree in English in 1947 and later took classes in theater at the University of Southern California.
Kaplan gained early-stage experience at a Los Angeles theater, working as stage manager on a production of ''Rain''. For many years, Kaplan was a member of Theatre West, the oldest continually-operating theatre company in Los Angeles. He performed in many plays there and elsewhere. Kaplan had a regular role in the radio sitcom and later television version of Meet Millie as Alfred Prinzmetal, an aspiring poet-composer. The program ran from 1951–54 on radio and continued on television from 1952–56. He was also a playwright and screenwriter. He was an American actor, playwright and screenwriter who was best known as Henry Beesmeyer in Alice (1978–1985).
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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Thea Tewi was a German-born American sculptor known for her work in stone. During the 1940s she was also a successful fashion designer who was proclaimed America's top lingerie designer in 1947
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Shep Fields was a popular jazz band leader of the 1930s and '40s, best known for his "Rippling Rhythm" trademark, which featured Fields blowing bubbles into a bowl of water at the beginning of every song and wood-block playing by the band's drummer. Among the highlights of Shep Fields career was his band being featured in the film "The Big Broadcast of 1938," which starred W.C. Fields and Bob Hope, and conducting his band. He had his own NBC coast-to-coast radio broadcast and conducted his orchestra at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in 1939.
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"Kid Dropper" Nathan Caplin or Kaplan, also known as Jack the Dropper, was an American gangster who controlled labor racketeering and extortion in New York City during the post-World War I period into the early years of Prohibition in the early 1920s.
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Irving "Waxey" Gordon was dubbed one of the Prohibition Era's most sinister underworld figures. He began as a common pick pocket and ended as the head of a nationwide narcotics ring. In a "profession" where many men died in a hail of bullets or were sent to jail for half of their lives, Irving was a survivor. His criminal career endured for nearly 50 years from 1905 to 1952. In that period, he had some close calls and made more than a few enemies. He spent a total of 14 years in prison- the longest stretch was from 1933-1940. He spent decades as a thief, gangster, tax cheat and bootlegger. Irving "Waxey" Gordon was a career criminal and knew no other way to live his life.
Blog by Renee Meyers
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Max Jacobson was a German Refugee who moved to N.Y.C and established a practice on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. His practice catered to writers, musicians, politicians and entertainers. His popularity and his nicknames "Dr. Feelgood" and "Miracle Max" came from his vitamin injections which got their kick from 30-50 milligrams of amphetamines (speed) mix in with other things. Dr. Jacobson's most famous patients were JFK and his wife, Jackie. Some patients had bad reactions or died from these injections. Dr. Jacobson was investigated and charged with unprofessional conduct. His medical license was revoked. Dr. Jacobson applied to have his license reinstated a few years later. However, his application was denied and he died several months later.
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Louis "Lepke" Buchalter was an American Jewish Organized Crime figure and head of the Mafia hit squad and Murder Inc during the 1930s and one of the premier labor union racketeers. during that era. He paired up with the mobsters that would make his career. Buchalter together with Jacob "Gurrah".Shapiro infiltrated the unions that represented New York's garment industry workers. This scheme that would last Buchalter's entire career. The mob run unions would threaten strikes unless management paid the union bosses and the bosses would rob the unions. Buchalter eventually built up his labor scam into a small empire. He partnered with future Italian Mafia boss, Tony Lucchese to run the garment industry. This venture made him extremely wealthy.
~Blog by Renee Meyers
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George Zaslavsky was a Soviet mathematical physicist and one of the founders of dynamical chaos. His intellectual strength is reflected in his many contributions to dynamical systems theory, classical and quantum chaos, plasma physics and statistical mathematics. He touched the lives of countless people in or out of the scientific world and left a great legacy, both personal and professional.
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He was the father of the timeless Barbara Streisand, a loving Jewish husband. and great educator of his time. "I must have gotten my detailed, obsessive streak from my father, because my mother wasn't like me at all", Barbara was quoted in the biography Barbra Streisand Redefining Beauty, Femininity, and Power by Neal Gabler. Even though she would lose him at only 15 months old, the legacy and influence her father left behind would become a driving force in his daughter's life.
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Raphael Lemkin was a Polish lawyer who coined the term genocide. Growing up, he was constantly interested in stories of ethnic and religious discrimination. He was also highly mindful of pogroms committed against Jews. Then, when Lemkin was in his 20s studying law, he discovered that the Ottoman Empire had massacred Armenians during World War I, an event now known as the Armenian Genocide. His conviction that international law should prohibit the annihilation of groups was motivated by his horror at historical and modern instances of group-targeted mass violence. Lemkin believed the suffering of Jews in eastern Poland was a component of a greater pattern of injustice and violence that went back in time and spread around the globe.
~Blog Written by Priya Perumal
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Gilford would become well known for his impressions, comedy routines and physical humor. These skills were no doubt developed while he was working as a Master of Ceremonies and doing Broadway acting. Even into his later career these skills proved useful as a comedic actor. Jack Gilford was known for his unique style of comedy, which was characterized by his distinctive voice, expressive face, and impeccable timing. His humor was often self-deprecating and centered on his own experiences as a Jewish-American, but he also had a talent for finding the humor in everyday situations and human folly. Jacks' roots in the entertainment industry were in Vaudeville, Yiddish theatre, and Burlesque performances.
~Blog Written by Julian Christy
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Joseph Edward Bromberg was a Hungarian-born American character actor in motion picture and stage productions dating mostly from the 1930s and 1940s.He was involved with the era of blacklisting actors who were accused of communism. He now rests at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
~Blog Written by Julian Christy
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Fred Lebow was a runner, race director, and founder of the New York City Marathon. When the New York City Marathon began in 1970 it only had 55 finishers. Through his innovation and passion, it became one of the biggest marathons in the world, with a record 52,000 finishers in 2018.
He now rests with us at Mount Hebron.
Post Written by Rene Yaroshevsky
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Alan King was an American actor and comedian known for his biting wit and often angry humorous rants. King became well known as a Jewish comedian and satirist. He was also a serious actor who appeared in a number of movies and television shows. King wrote several books, produced films, and appeared in plays.
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Julius "Julie" Schwartz was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various times he was primary editor over the company's flagship superheroes, Superman and Batman. He now rests with us at Mount Hebron Cemetery.
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Michael Rabin (May 2, 1936 - Jan 19, 1972) was an American classical violinist renowned and remembered for his talent and his tragic and inspiring story. Rabin was a marvel at the violin from a very young age. He dedicated much of his life to get better at his craft. But, unfortunately, his rising stardom, fame, and lifestyle clashed with his waning health.
~Blog Written by Brandon Castro
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Sergei Dovlatov wasa leading Soviet emigre writer noted for the laconic irony and graceful irreverence of his stories about his homeland. He now rests with us at Mount Hebron.
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Alfred Eisenstaedt was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in Germany prior to World War II but achieved prominence as a staff photographer for Life magazine after moving to the U.S.
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Abraham "Abe" Landau was the chief henchman for New York gangster Dutch Schultz. Landau was Schultz's most trusted employee, often given tasks that required coolness and cunning rather than gunfire and brutality. It is very likely that he never actually killed anyone during his gang years.
Category:
Famous
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Madeline Lee Gilford was an American film and stage actress and social activist, who later enjoyed a career as a theatrical producer. Gilford was married, secondly, to actor Jack Gilford from 1949 until his death in 1990.
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Temima Gezari was an American artist and art educator. Her life's work in painting and sculpture is presented in the photographic retrospective The Art of Temima Gezari, edited by her son, Daniel Gezari.
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