B. was born on 4 September 1886 in Uman, Kiev Gubernia, Ukraine. His father was a grains merchant. In 1895 B.'s family moved over to Yekaterinoslav. There B. learned in a gymnasium, and he attended Russian and Yiddish productions. B. then traveled to Aleksandrovsk to settle into his studios and here founded a dramatic circle, which performed in Russian, maneuvering nearer to the theatre, where he became an errand boy for the professional theatre, and he performed at times for a sick actor as "Vaserman" in Hauptmann's "Farzunkener glok". His father took him back to Yekaterinoslav and opened a tobacco shop for him, but when the Yiddish troupe of Zhitomirski came to guest-star, B. left with him and performed as "Rodzhero". In 1905 he entered into the troupe of Bernstein, with whom he acted for a year in "fat" roles, then he traveled to America. He acted for a short time for Levitan in Boston and then in the Columbia Theatre, touring across the province where he participated with the guest-starring Tanentsap. From there he went over to Hart with whom he acted for seven years. He traveled to Ziegler in Vienna, and there at the same time was a house tailor and a rag "merchant". In 1924 B. acted for a short time in Paris and Belgium. In 1926 he was in Budapest (Stramer's troupe), 1927 in Yugoslavia, 1928 for a short time on tour across Czechoslovakia and in Vienna.

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