|
Adolf Fenigstein
|
Born in 1895 in Warsaw,
Poland. Parents --owners of a lace-making factory. He
received a Jewish education at home.
At the age of thirteen he,
according to his father's wish, he performed with
amateurs, to benefit a voyltetikn avek, as "Chaim
Yoel" in Moshe Richter's "Hertsele Myukhs". From that
moment on, he felt a love and a pull to the stage, and
there arose a conflict between him and his father, who
had not wanted this, that he should become a
professional actor.
F. since then used to give
in to the repetitions, in Polish theatre, and had in a
year's time learned in a Polish dramatic school in
Warsaw. In 1908 he went away with a professional Yiddish
troupe under the direction fo Tsipkus across the
province, where he began as a chorister, and a little
later received small roles until he had in 1914 taken
first place in Genfer's troupe, in Russia as a young
comic in the then-popular historical plays. This brought
him great success, but a slight inner satisfaction.
As it went over to the
"Yiddish stage", he strove to art "and not having any
possibility to act seriously, durkhgetrakhte
roles, he always went around discontented. His striving
for the arts was felt first after the revolution in
Russia, where he had in 1917, at a conference of the
Yiddish actors in Kiev, happened upon Misha Fishzon.". |
|
 |
|
In 1919, when the
Soviet "Jewish Art State Theatre" was founded in Odessa
with actor Bertanov as regisseur, F. created an entrance
examination to become, and six actors had to act in the
role of "Noakh" in Hirshbein's "The Faraway Corner".
In 1920 he went over to
Romania and there, together with Misha Fishzon, worked
in the "Yiddish muster un kinstler" theatre, where
he performed as "Yoel Dovid" in Mark Arnstein's "Voilner
bel bisl", "Uriel" and Gutskov's "Uriel Acosta", "Itsik"
and Peretz Hirshbein's "Puste kretshme", "Chanan" or "Mshulkh"
in Sh. Anski's "Dybuk" and "Khlestyakov" in Gogol's "Revizor",
at the same time he had however, while in distress,
further acting as a singing-lover or fat comic in the
operettas. In 1923-24 -- he had, with great success,
together with his brother Herman Fenigstein, Misha
Fishzon and Viera Zaslavska, guest-starred across
Galicia and Poland.
F. later arrived in America,
where he became engaged in Philadelphia.
As Misha Fishzon recalls in
his memoirs, they had, when he had made a try (to be
accepted into) for the Yiddish Actors Union, restricted
him, that he didn't have the strength to endure the
exam, and he thereof became ill.
On 30 June 1925, F. passed
away in Philadelphia.
-
"Yudishe bine",
Lemberg, N' 2, 1922.
-
[--] -- "Literarishe
bleter", Warsaw, 1' 65, 1925.
-
Misha Fishzon --
Hintern forhang fun idishen teater, "Tog", N.
Y., 20-21 January 1948; 25 February 1948.
|
|