Born 22 January 1888 in Yelisavetgrad, Ukraine.

When M. was twelve years of age, his parents moved over to Kremenchug where he sang as a choir boy [in a synagogue] and as a soloist with Chonan Avramele Orenstein.

Later his parents moved into a new house in Bobruisk where his father became a manager for a ship on the Berioza River.

Here M. had in 1907 began his theatrical career with a substitute Ukrainian troupe, and so until the World War, he performed with the Russian-Ukrainian troupes with A. S-Slov, D. Heidenmaku, Chernov and M. Suchodolsky.

From the time of the World War, M. had together with his wife Raisa Solovyova, performed in concerts and moved to Harbin, and from there through Japan and China, arriving in America in 1915 where he debuted on the Yiddish stage in Chicago (Empire Theatre et al, for Joseph Kessler and Sara Adler) in the Goldfaden operetta "Shulamis" and "Bar kokhba".

Hereupon M. was engaged in 1916 by Boris Thomashefsky at New York's National Theatre where he performed in the operetta "Der tsebrokhene fidler (The Broken Violin)," in which he excelled with the song "Oykh breng eykh a gros fun der haim" (Music: Joseph Rumshinsky) and since then has remained on the Yiddish stage.