antsharov/isak

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

Isak Antsharov

V. was born on 15 April 1897 in Berdichev, Ukraine.

His father was a violin maker.

He learned in a middle school.

From childhood on he sang, and in shul he participated both in the chorus and in the shul's theatrical productions, and from then on he had developed a yearning for the stage.

In 1917, being in Zhitomir, he entered into the Russian troupe led by Madam Khrenikova, where he acted in episodic roles. From there he went away to study in Odessa, where he learned for two years in a Yiddish facultat of the university there and studied for a year in the local conservatory, learning diction with the teacher Lorenzo.

A proposal to study for free in his dramatic studio was offered to him, and convinced that his voice wasn't given to the possibility of becoming an opera singer, A. left the conservatory to [dergern] and he had the possibility again to study. He acted in a Russian troupe.

In 1919, when the Soviet powers had seized Odessa, the Jewish facultat closed, and A. then continued as an actor, and had also directed several plays.

In 1921, due to Petlura's forbiddance (for Jews) to act in Russia, he went to act on the Ukrainian stage.

Through the Rumanian-Yiddish actor Adolph Segal, he crossed over to the Yiddish stage and later acted in a range of cities as part of the "Yiddish folks-bine" troupe, with whom he acted for a year in Kiev.

At the beginning of 1924, together with actor Benjamin Schwartzer, he founded the "Folks=Theatre" troupe, afterwards reuniting with his former troupe and touring through various Russian cities.

In 1925 he, together with G. Grinshteyn, founded the "Amcha" [emd] troupe with whom he performed on tour across many cities within Russia.

Not having an ample name, A. performed in various roles [and plays] as "Motke the Thief", "Uriel Acosta", "Der vilner balebesl", "Tuviah", "Holoveshka" ("Golddiggers"), "Motke" ("Rumanian Wedding"), "Shloimke sharlatan", "Berele" ("A mentsch zol men zeyn").

A. also translated from Ukrainian the play "Rodina shtshitkariv", and from Russian the play "Smertelni Potseloy", "Piat Notshey", "Prigover", which was performed on the Yiddish stage. A. also participated in an episodic role in the film "Durkh trern".

A.'s brother was an administrator in a Russian troupe, and another brother was an actor, and his wife Bronina and his sister were Yiddish actresses.

Sh. E.

Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 7, page 6177.