Alexander Granach
M. was born in 1893 in
Viezhkovtse, near Horodenka, Eastern Galicia. Already
as a child of six G. was employed at the bakery that his
father had opened up in Horodenka, from where his entire
family had come from.
At the age of twelve G. went
to Zoletshiki, where he worked as a baker. Here he saw
Ukrainian acting and Yiddish troupes for the first time. The play made such an impact on him that he decided to
become an actor. He traveled to Lemberg, entered into
the local dramatic circle of the Yiddish Socialist
section, afterwards migrating to Berlin and, after
having many difficulties, [underwent=durkhmakhndik] also
due to the stage career an operator on foot(?), he was
taken into the actors school of Reinhardt's "German
Theatre". Working further for his profession, G. now was
a student in Reinhardt's school, and he had the
opportunity to act the the greatest German actors: Bassermann, Moise, Schildkraut, Wegener et al, but G.'s
[tsit] all to the Yiddish theatre, he spent his free
evenings with the small Yiddish troupe (Leresko and
wife; Klug and wife; Mestel et al.), with whom he acted
then (1913) in Berlin.
During the World War G.
served as an under officer in the Austrian army, fell
into Italian captivity, and after escaping from there,
acted for a short time in Vienna until he became
engaged in the Munich shoyshpil house. From there
he went over to |
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Barnovski in Berlin, and had
now first the probability of fulfilling his old
dream. He acted from time to time in the Yiddish theatre
in a mixed repertoire, for "Khinke-pinke" until Asch's
"Got fun nekhome". Soon however he became engaged for [yesener
farn] Berlin's German city theatre, and he went over
afterwards to the "German folksbine", where he performed
as "Mephisto" and "Shylock", and from there to the [piskator]
stage.
Sh. E. from
Jacob Mestel.
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Gitel Meyzil --
Aleksander grankh, "Literarishe
bleter", 12, 1927.
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Arnold Zweig -- "Juden
oyf der yudisher un nisht-yudisher bihne, "Der
morgen", Lemberg, 25 April 1929.
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Nakhman Meyzel --
Aleksander granakh, "Di post", London, 22
November 1929.
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Y. Sh. Goldstein
-- A geshprekh mit aleksander granakh, "Heynt",
Warsaw, 5 August 1930.
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Nakhman Meyzel --
Fun a beker-yung iz er gevoren a barimter
deytsher shoyshpiler, "Forward", 16 November
1930.
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