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
 

Bessie Weissman
 

 

She was born in New York, America. Her father was the prompter and playwright Reuben Weissman. As a four-year-old child, until age ten, she acted in children's roles with Adler and Thomashefsky.

She studied in a public school and sang in the chorus. Later, for a short time she was in New York's vaudeville. She debuted as "Dos dinstmeydl" in Rakov's "Khantshe in amerika" and later acted some seasons in Brooklyn with Mintz (A brother of Michael Mintz), with Louie Goldberg at the Lenox Theatre, at the National Theatre with Thomashefsky, afterwards for three seasons in Kessler's Second Avenue Theatre with Kalich, Kessler, Thomashefsky and Schwartz (Yiddish Art Theatre, "The Two Kuni Lemels", 1919 -- ed.)

V. was the first kreairt to play the role of "Natasha" in Kobrin's "Yankel boyle" and "Mary" in Asch's "Moshke ganef (Moshke the Thief)". Afterwards she acted for five seasons at the National Theatre as a prima donna for Lebedeff, and after a season's break, she acted in 1926 at the Liberty Theatre with the difficult Anshel Schorr. Since then she hasn't performed any more.


M. E.

  • Alter Epstein -- Interesante momenten fun aktyoren-leben (Interesting Moments from the Beloved Actors), "Der tog", N. Y., 22 December 1918).


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 1, page 698.
 

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