The Celia Adler Story....
her life in the Yiddish theatre, and more
 

The Fine Yiddish Actor, Lazar Freed
(first husband of Celia Adler, father of Dr. Selwyn Freed)

Lazar Freed, and his son, Selwyn (Zelik'l)		Lt. to right: Anatol Winogradoff, Liza Varon and Lazar Freed.
				Early photo of Lazar Freed (lt.) and Jacob Ben Ami (rt.) .
Lazar is standing in the back row, third from the left.	Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troupe.	Nice photograph of Lazar (rt.), with his fellow actors, e.g. Izidor Casher and Elihu Tenenholtz.	Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troupe.	Lazar, seated, front row, far left. Mark Schweid is in the back row, in the middle  of the row.

Lazar Freed and his Roles

as Reb Yechiel Michel in "Kiddush Hashem"	Lazar in an unidentified production	In "Yoshe Kalb" by I. J. Singer	Lazar in an unidentified production	Lazar in an unidentified production
Lazar in an unidentified production	Lazar in an unidentified production	Lazar as "Chanan" in "The Dybbuk"	With Lazar Freed, Berta Gerstin (seated) et al	Probably from "American Chasidim"
as Jonathan in "King Saul"	Lazar in an unidentified production	With Jacob Ben Ami in Hirshbein's "Green Fields"	Lazar with Maurice Schwartz	Lazar in "The Witch (Di kishufmakherin)"

Here is the short biography of Lazar Freed, in its English translation, as it appeared in Volume 3 of Zalmen Zylbercweig's "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre":

Lazar Freed was born on 3 May 1888 in Minsk, White Russia. His father was a merchant, who for a short time managed a soap factory in Mir (Minsk Gubernia). His father also used to lead services.

Freed learned in a Jewish elementary school, a yeshiva and attended a Russian progymnasium and Zarchin's Yiddish-Russian school. For a short time he learned in Professor Justinian's class in the Warsaw Conservatory. As a youth he sang as an alto-soprano for Israelke Minsker, Cantor Sirota in Vilna (conductor Leo Loew) and also in other synagogues.

As a child of six he saw theatre for the first time. He possessed a good ear for tunes and an ability to copy voices. Living in the neighborhood of a circus, he often would understudy there.

In 1905 he began to act professionally with A. G. Kompaneyets in Vitebsk, and in the "German-Yiddish" operetta went through all the troubles that are experienced by beginners. Several months later he was brought to Odessa by Sam Adler, where he began to act in greater roles, but he had to work hard to change his Litvak dialect.

In 1908 Freed entered into the Hirshbein troupe. Dr. A. Mukdoni writes in his memoirs: "Of the people who made a good impression on us was the then very young and shy Jacob Ben Ami and his constant friend Lazar Freed. These are all the new people."

After the breakup of the Hirshbein troupe, Freed played the "singing lover" parts in various Yiddish operetta theatres. He received special attention from the Yiddish theatre critic when he acted in the European operetta, "Eva," in Warsaw's Elizeum Theatre.

In 1913 Boris Thomashefsky brought him to America, where he acted in the National Theatre in Dymow's "The Eternal Wanderer," later in Thomashefsky's "The Lost Sheep," and in other troupes where he created "Moshe der griner" by M. Goldberg.

"During his first years in America -- writes Sholem Perlmutter -- Lazar Freed, who possessed a lyrical baritone voice with a warm, hearty tenor, acted in all the Yiddish operettas in which he had, due to his sweet singing, very strongly took off with the American audiences. Several years later (1917-18 season), when Henrietta Schnitzer with Jacob Ben Ami played in the "Garden Theatre" in Madison Square Peretz Hirshbein's "The Idle Inn," Lazar Freed for the first time received his redress, when he completely gave himself over to serious dramatic theatre in America."

In the 1923-24 season Freed joined the Yiddish Art Theatre (Director: Maurice Schwartz). From then on in his stage career, with hardly any small breaks, he was exclusively associated with this theatre, with which he also traveled as a guest actor in Europe.

In the "Art Theatre" in which he held a prominent place, Freed especially excelled as "Khanan" in the revival of the play "Dybbuk," as Nathan in Zulawski's "Shabtai Tsevi," as "The Worker" in Leivick's "Rags," "Der yetser-toyv" in Goldfaden's "The Tenth Commandment, or Thou Shalt Not Covet," Hershele Dubrovner" in the revival production  of Gordin's "God, Man and Devil," "The Visitor from America" in Sholem Aleichem's "The Gold Diggers," "Der eydem" and "Stempenyu," in Sholem Aleichem's "Stempenyu," "The Uncle" in Feuchtwanger's "Jew Suss," "Joseph" in Leivick's "Chains," "Aaron" in Asch's "Uncle Moses," and as "Tehilim-yid" and "The Jewish Student Shneyerson" in Sholem Aleichem's "[It's] Hard to be a Jew."

However  Freed created an unforgettable image in the title role of I. J. Singer's "Yoshe Kalb.' Jacob Mestel writes:

"His 'Yoshe Kalb,' the outlandish shell of a wishful, wandering man, on the border between two types of characters." This figure of "the "pious simpleton" made many contributions, that the play became so popular and as such continued its permanent association with Freed's name, that when Maurice Schwartz guest-starred with the play across Jewish America (1933), and later in Europe, Freed acted with him in the title role.

In the seasons when the Art Theatre did not play in America, Freed was associated with several other theatres. Thus during the 1931-32 season he participated in the "Ensemble Art Theatre" where he had (under the direction of Egon Brecher) acted in the role of "Maharal" in Leivick's "Golem," and in V. Ivanov's "The Armored Train" (directors Snegoff and Mestel.) In the 1939-40 season he acted in "Khaver Daniel," and in I. J. Singer's "Khaver Nachman" (directors Ben Ami and Mestel.)

Freed also acted in several films and sound films. While in Europe he was in a film together with Libert and Regina Kaminska; in 1924 during the guest appearance of the Art Theatre in Vienna -- in Sackler's "Yizkor" [1924]; in 1925 in America (a Yiddish poet and detective) in "Salome of the Tenements," then in the sound films "The Holy Oath," "Overture to Glory," "The Great Advisor" [1940], and "Eli Eli" [1940] by Izidor Frankel, "The Jewish Melody" [1940] by Chaim Tauber, and "Love and Sacrifice" [1936] by Isidore Solotorefsky.

Freed translated "Samson in Chains" by Leonid Andreyev and "Mendel Spivack" by Semion Yushkevich (which was staged during the 1926-27 season by the "Yiddish Art Theatre.")

In his last years, Freed due to his severe illness (tuberculosis), he could no longer act.

"...He has a face that is not well-known -- according to the writer Sholem Perlmutter -- as serious as his illness was,  it was because of this very difficult and painful to explain to him that in all his virtues there was no fault; as only his horrible illness was..."

After having been treated in a series of hospitals and sanatoria in New York, Freed went to California where he entered into the "City of Hope" sanatorium, and there he passed away on 11 March 1944. His body was sent back to New York where he was brought to his eternal rest, in order to honor his last request to "lie among his own."

Freed was married to the actress Celia Adler. Their only son is Dr. Selwyn Freed.

About his activity in London during the guest appearance of the [Yiddish] Art Theatre, Morris Meyer writes:

"A performer who played with fine nuances and moods was Lazar Freed. He was with Schwartz in London three times. He acted very impressively as Nathan Levi in 'Shabtai Tsevi.' He embodied the mystic appearance of the prophet, who flamed and burned from an inner ecstasy and ignited all those who were around him with the fire of his ecstasy. His appearance was filled with mellifluence.

"With great understanding he played the role of Shneyerson in 'Hard to be a Jew,' although some moments for him were weak.

"With great understanding he produced in "The Seven Who Were Hanged" the stoicity that related to the coldness and philosophy of death.

"He acted with artistic radiance in the fine role of Nahumtche, thereafter Yoshe Kalb. Lazar Freed is an intelligent artistic personality, and the role didn't give him the opportunity to extract the full measure. The role had few opportunities to speak, but he acted in his silence. He brought out much expression in his face and in his eyes. How many mtushtsh'dikes and even how many farnunft and psychological truths he expressed. In the role Freed found beauty in the forms that he could give. He also was successful as "Hershele Dubrovner" in "God, Man and Devil." He had profoundly brought out his struggle with a devil. One could feel a poetic spirit in his speech, and a specific fine mannerism one could notice in his movements."

Jacob Mestel writes:

"Freed had a hard but tender artistic human life on this earth. Artistry was in his veins, which was awash in his blood and nerves.... He was well-versed in yiddishkeit, in Yiddish, Russian and English literature. He had read a lot. ... And nevertheless he had seldom employed his intellect to act in a role. This incorrectness would say to you that Freed thought of his roles. No, he had not 'created' his roles -- he satisfied them. ... To fulfill a role intuitively he reached the boundary of exalted actors' art. In fact he almost always played one role -- for his wonderful acting measures were played there before him: The lyric baritone member of his voice, the trouble-veiled dark eyes, the flexible rhythm, until during the last day [of his] "youthful" body. Even his prominent, semitic "Adlerian" nose had given character to his stage figure. His strong 'genre' was 'fanatical mysticism': his 'Khanan' in 'Dybbuk', 'Natan Hanavi' in 'Shabbatai Zevi,' 'Hershele Dubrovner' in 'God, Man and Devil,' 'The Uncle' in 'Jew Suss,' his 'Tehillim yid' (in an arranged scene from Asch's work, in the Folks Theatre) -- they all reach the heights with their mystical farhoylung, religious ecstasy, rancorous sorrow and pious confidence, with which he always has -- [seen by] the actors on the stage, and the audience in the theatre -- conquered and baroysht.

....With this he had limited the tifazhn of his helpless people, the 'La Yutslkhm': 'The Worker' in "Rags,' 'Aaron' in 'Uncle Moses,' his 'Zaydl' in '60,000 Heroes.'

"....Freed has had an honest attitude to his stage work. Perhaps he did not know many "names" of stage directors, but he always tried to walk on the marked-out line. Rarely did his partner complain that Freed had 'spoiled' a scene. He used to keep himself honest, and according to his powers also help his friends. We came out to play a role with Freed -- 'Avraham Yakov' in 'Green Fields.' With all his poorly paid opportunities for expression, he diligently explained the scenes and situations to us, which might help us carry out the role.

"....Did Freed die an "abandoned" person? It seems to us that he alone had created a kind of loneliness that had outlasted his life. This is like lying in his personal identity. For in his long and rich stage career -- which began in his early youth while still in Europe, with the 'Ben hadorot,' 'Absaloms' and later the the Hirshbein repertoire, until his 'Song of Songs,' 'The Lost Sheep' and afterwards the artistic-dramatic repertoire in America -- Freed had always found love and recognition from the broad theatre audience, as with his professional colleagues. Each artist felt happy with such success -- Freed always remained a sad person. Not having this gave him perhaps too few to satisfy. He was never forced to make a being for his artistic performance -- he was possibly too modest, too shy for such pretenses. .... However there is somewhere in his soul that laid a grief that had made him feel like an orphan.

Social, almost always with a smile, a sad smile, not infrequently even with humor -- he had, however, isolated himself, and he was closed in. Nevertheless, even his laughter used to roll out like a wave  in a covered tone, with his hand in front of his mouth. Something of a hermit, there was an ascetic monarch that lied within him. His private life, possibly his family life, presented a shock from which it was difficult to receive oneself. And if  he was tired in those sleepless nights, he would seek comfort in a book, [though] he had squandered his grief for entire nights at the coffee table."

Sholem Perlmutter:

.... "His greatest pay was a good critique and an evaluation of his acting, and for his serious attitude to Yiddish theatre. He was one of the beloved personalities in our theatrical world. Everyone had love for him, and to us all he was a good friend.  ... Each issue in which it he been asked to handle had interested him, and it soon became near to his heart. And even when an issue came up that hadn't affected him directly, he was always willing to help, whether on a council or with thoughts. And therefore he had in his last few years, be it that the cruel fate had almost, as if by violence, expelled him from the theatre, and he became a lost resident of the hospital, and in the sanatorium, he had very many complaints about the theatre profession. He also had complaints about his own people, friends and colleagues, and for the entire world. It is perhaps poetic that in his last few years that they did not give him the proper attention, they did not give him enough hospitality. If one is not sufficiently sincere, even when they do a favor, he used to say -- it is not with the entire heart.

.... Lazar Freed had in his repertoire the important, prominent roles that were created in the last years in the Yiddish theatre. And he had created Jewish types of an eternal worth, and just as "Stempenyu," "Khanan," "Yoshe Kalb," also "Moshe der griner," which remains marked in the memory of every Yiddish actor, and every theatre lover. And every showman who wants at times to sit in a theatre where that play will be performed, will before his eyes continually float the image of Lazar Freed, who one never wants to forget"....

N. B. Linder:

"Lazar Freed was the master of bringing forth onto the stage with the fullest entirety of those chasing [something], troubled--always for those people suffering from hard knocks, who speak little and suffers much. Very little do Yiddish actors know such silence, and so masterfully act silently, as those who have known Lazar Freed."

And Maurice Schwartz writes:

"Lazar Freed, Samuel Goldinburg, Abraham Teitelbaum and now Izidor Casher! These four actors were pillars of the Yiddish Art Theatre. With their loss it is not possible to bring so quickly onto the world stage, to Yiddish theatre, others who may represent them...."

Above are photographs of Lazar Freed, with friends and colleagues, over the years.
Many of the photographs shown above seem to come from his years
 as a troupe member with Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre of New York.

This is the first publication of the English translation.

Photographs courtesy of Dr. Selwyn Freed, son of Celia Adler
and Lazar Freed, and the Museum of the City of New York.
 
Freed biography translated from the Yiddish to English by Steven Lasky.