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Born in 1908 in Vilna,
Polish-Lita. His father was a manufacturer. He learned
in a cheder, then in the Vilna Jewish Real Gymnazie.
From childhood on he had a leaning toward the stage. He
began in small roles, and in 1933 he traveled with the
"Vilna Troupe" on a tour, with whom he toured across the
Polish province for a long time. He returned to Vilna,
[where] he had worked daily with his father in a
manufacturing workshop, and in the evening played in the
"Unzer Theatre" on 8 November. Here he played for a
series of years.
S. Bliacher characterized
him this way:
"Michael Katz, a round [runder],
circular [keylechdiker] young man, had with his
extravagance, an elegance in character roles. Every time
when the director (of "Unzer Theatre") used to direct an
actor, they immediately would invite Katz with his young
friends, unmarried members, whom they would strongly
exploit in the theatre..... In the Polish times they had
paid them one złoty a night. In the beginning he did
not, because he was not a masterpiece of the theatre.
Later he became a ern-frage. ...a small wage,
which is how the boys and young people went on strike...
The director complained to them. They had voted a
percentage of the revenue, but that percentage, that
they also often would not earn the złotys... this
had been Katz, as well as his colleagues, who did not
pay much attention. What can one do, that the business
was generally bad, they were with leytn
immediately." |