M. was born on 17 October 1894 in Warsaw, Poland. His parents were well-to-do merchants. Until age twelve he learned in Lubovitsh's school and especially with a Gemora melamed (religious teacher), then in Strotsk with the local rabbi. He became acquainted with a group of "amateurs" and with them toured across the province, until he became in 1912 a professional actor in Brandesco's troupe in Russia,  from where he then went over to the troupes of Rothstein, Mishurat.

As prisoners-of-war, he founded in Camp Vilburg near Vienna an association "Sholem Aleichem", through which he arranged in one camp Yiddish productions ([sympathy=onteylungen]: Cantor Hershman from Warsaw, the pianist Shtamler from Russia, a certain "Solovey" from Slonim, et al.). after the war, M. acted in several productions with Kompaneyets in Warsaw, then he traveled in a tour across Poland with Abelman, Kats and A. Berman and with several itinerant troupes. In the beginning of 1922 M. acted in Lublin in the Tsipkus troupe. Then he went into productions in Brest-Litovsk and from there he wandered out to Argentina, where he acted and founded there on 5 May 1922 the first Yiddish actors union, of which he became secretary. Later M. became director of the Olympia Theatre, wherein he bought over the Americans Malvina Lobel and Boris Auerbach. In 1924 M. came to New York and engaged for Argentina Louis Kramer, Rosa Wallerstein, Boris Auerbach and Aneta Hoffman, later also bringing here the actors Itzhak Deutsch, Ninina and L. Sokolov. In