Lives in the Yiddish Theatre
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE Yiddish THEATRE
aS DESCRIBED IN zALMEN zYLBERCWEIG'S "lEKSIKON FUN YIDISHN TEATER"

1931-1969
 

Isidor Levenstein
(Efrayim Yitzhak)

 

L. was born in 1879 in Kaptsova (Kopciowo), Suwalki Gubernia, Poland. His father was a businessman. In 1896 he came with his mother to America. Here he completed public school and also attended two years of high school. He had the opportunity to learn Yiddish with a rabbi, and Gemorah and singing with a cantor in Skrentin, then with Cantor Margolius in Louisville, Kentucky.

As a youth of sixteen he became acquainted with the troupe of Leon Golubok and Volfzon and with them performed a felndn rolist in the role of "Berman" in "Kbud ab", then afterwards acting in several other roles. He returned to New York and joined in a dramatic circle, where there was also the late actors Yetta Blank, Zigmunt Weintraub and Morgenbesser and soon thereafter he began by himself to arrange productions in Brownsville, where he acted as first singer-lover ("Absalom" et al), later he traveled around with Jacob Frank and Kestin across the American province. For a season he acted in dramatic roles with Elias Glickman in Chicago (with Lipzin, Fannie Reinhart and Ginzburg), then a season with Silbert in Boston and four seasons with Mr. and Mrs. Simon in Cleveland and the environs.

Later L. toured for a time with his own troupes across the American province and was the first to put together a stable theatre in Detroit and St. Louis where he also used to stage the plays.

 

In 1929-30 he acted with Lando in Pittsburgh, 1930-31 in Montreal with Schnitzer, and in Toronto with Julius Nathanson and later across various cities in America.

In September 1933 L. passed away in New York.


Sh. and M. E.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 2, page 1158.
 

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