A. was born on 18 September 1894 in Lodz, Poland. His father was a ritual slaughterer; his uncle was a rabbi. He completed a folkshul.

As a youth he was very interested, and often secretly visited the Yiddish and Russian theatres when he was a yeshiva student. In 1913 he began to participate in literary and musical events. In 1915 he performed for he first time in Zylbercweig's troupe as "Hirsh Ber" in Kobrin's "Der dorfs-yung." After performing with the local troupe across the Polish province, he acted for several months in M.D. Waxman's troupe in Lodz's Thalia Theatre, then with member troupes across the Polish province. Since 1918 he toured with member troupes across the province of Galicia. In 1920 he acted for several months in Przemysl under the direction of Ebell, then for two years with a member troupe (organized by the local artists' union) in Lemberg. Later again he traveled with various member troupes across the province.

During the Second World War he acted in Lemberg, and when the troupe fled, he almost fell into the Nazi hands. He went away, to travel around under the worst conditions, across the Soviet Union. He died in Bukhara during the typhus epidemic.

Here his daughter Leah (Lola) Amzel also died of typhus, she who at the age of nineteen or twenty was a "wonder child." She had acted in Yiddish theatre for the state, and even guest-starred.