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This
play was
performed
throughout
Lithuania. Pecker
also
founded
a troupe
of
international
vaudeville
actors,
which
performed
in
Yiddish,
Polish,
Russian
and
Lithuanian. These
were the
ethnic
languages
spoken
throughout
Lithuania. To
a
certain
degree
this
effort
helped
stem the
anti-Semitism
that was
so
prevalent
in
Lithuania
at that
time.
In 1924,
he
arrived
in
America
and
stepped
onto the
stage of
the New
York's Unzer Theatre.
He then
played
at the
“Schildkraut”
Theatre
and from
there,
in 1926,
at the
Irving
Place
Theatre
(under
the
leadership
of Jacob
Ben-Ami). Here
he took
the role
of
theatre
director
in Yereynov’s
“The
Ship of
Saints”
and “The
Second
Operetta”
and in
Leivick’s,
“Shop”.
During
the
1928-1929
season,
he
performed
in
Maurice
Schwartz’s
“Yiddish
Art
Theatre”
and took
part in
presenting
Sholem
Asch’s
“Kiddush
hashem”
(Martyrdom)
and
other
plays
during
that
season.
In
November
1931, he
played
Alexander
Granach
in “Goylem”,
Leivick’s
drama,
which
was
presented
by Egan
Brecher
at the
“Yiddish
Ensemble
Arts Theatre”
(Civic
Repertoire
Theatre).
Pecker
was also
occupied
with
directing
various
acting
clubs
and
would
travel
around
doing
one-man
shows
touring
for
various
Jewish
national
organizations,
such as:
“Arbeiter
Ring”
(the
Workmen’s
Circle),
“The
Yiddish
National Worker’s
Union”,
the
Yiddish
section
of “The
International
Workers
Organizations”
and “Ikar”. He
also
organized
the
“Yiddish
Small
Arts
Traveling
Theatre”
(Misha
Rappel,
Chana
Stramberg.
Sholem
Taggin,
Moishe
Roych,
Wolff
Barzel,
Chana
Specter),
with
whom he
traveled
to many
Jewish
communities
throughout
the
United
States
(underwritten
by the
“Yiddish
National
Worker’s
Union”).
From
1924,
when he
first
aired
“Ikar”
on
radio,
and for
the next
seven
years,
he
busied
himself
with
amateur
talents
on his
“Yiddish
Amateur
Hour”
(that
gave
exposure
to
many
young
talented
Jewish
entertainers). He
also
presented
his
“Street
Broadcast”,
which he
produced
on-site,
in
businesses,
in
out-of-door
locations,
in
commercial
enterprises
and at
meetings
of
various
organizations. For
three or
four
years he
took
part in
a quiz
program
(questions
and
answers). At
first it
ran only
in
Yiddish
but
later it
was
broadcast
both in
Yiddish
and
English. For
years he
conducted
a
program
for
child
prodigies
in
Yiddish. He
also
aired
the
first
broadcast,
in
Yiddish,
worldwide
performances,
presenting
these on
radio
from New
York. He
broadcast
a
program
(together
with M. Yardeini)
called
“The
Story of
My
Song”.
Pecker
dramatized
and
presented
Buckstein’s
novel
“General
Gershelman,”
and
Moshe
Duchovny’s
novel “A
Woman’s
Revenge”
on
radio. His
show
included
spy
thrillers
and
murder
mysteries.
He
featured
sports
events
and
created
two
radio
series:
“Coney
Island”
and” The
Travelling
Jew" (by Tunkel)
which
was
broadcast
in the
evenings.
He
visited
Mexico
on
various
occasions,
during
the
summer
months,
where he
appeared
on stage
and
presented
performances
and
concerts. He
also
staged
Leivick’s
play
“Der
goylem”.
From the
end of
1944
till
mid-summer
1945 he
toured
for the
“Jewish
National
Workers’
Union”
in the
United
States
and
Canada.
Pecker’s
wife Ida
Epstein
was a
dance
and a
music
teacher.
M. E.
-
Jacob
Kirschenbaum
--
New
Faces on
our
Stage, November
12,
1926.
-
The
Brownsville
Carpenter
--
Victor
Pecker,
California
Yiddish
Voice,
Los
Angeles
May 11,
1934.
-
Victor
Pecker --
“A
Contribution
to the
Yiddish
Theatre”,
The
American,
New York
October
13,
1943.
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