Born on 15 August 1891 in Bezhezhin [Brzeziny], by Lodz, Poland, wherein his parents, Chasidic grain merchants, had later moved. He learned in a cheder, and at the age of fifteen he was in the Lomza yeshiva, then with the Lodz rabbi Eliyahu Meisel, and lamdoni-khuts in a folksshul.

Through his being a messenger for Sam Adler, he received access to the behind-the-scenes of the Yiddish theatre, and through this became so in love with the theatre, that he used to rest behind the locks there [oysbahaltn hinter dhi shtuln] on the weekdays until the evening productions, used to steal money from his home for tickets to the theatre. After copying the actors, G. brought together several youths, and with them performed in the neighboring cities Zgierzh Solotorefsky's "Yeshiva bokher," playing the title role. The actor Gelade saw him by chance act and took him into his troupe, where he played for several weeks, then with Bialkovitsh. Due to military service, his acting was interrupted, and he once again renewed [his acting] first in 1915 (for three months) with Ester Rokhl Kaminska across Poland, then participated for several months in a tour with Julius Adler and Herman Serotsky, and later began on his own to manage troupes across Poland, especially since his marriage to Regina Tsuker, with her as a main role player.

Her brother Zygmunt Turkow writes:

T. also had, together with his wife, played for nine months in