Lives in the Yiddish Theatre
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE Yiddish THEATRE
aS DESCRIBED IN zALMEN zYLBERCWEIG'S "lEKSIKON FUN YIDISHN TEATER"

1931-1969
 

David Rogow

 

R. was born in 1915 in Vilna, his father -- a small merchant. He learned in a cheder., then in the Vilna real gymnasium. From his early youth he manifested an interest in the theatre, participating in the school productions and singing in the chorus. Later as an office worker in the Vilna lumber merchants union, learning in the evening in the dramatic school (first under the direction by Avraham Morevsky, later  Jonas Turkow). For a short time he performed with the "Maidim" marionette theatre and the small art theatre "Davke" in the Vilna province. In the summer of 1939 he guest-starred with the "Maidim" theatre in Lodz and Warsaw.

Soon after the liberation from the Nazis he acted, with several rescued actors, in small-arts programs in the former German city Szczecin, where he had then found several thousand rescued Jews.

In 1946, together with his wife Nekhama [Nina Shulman], he acted with a troupe across Austria and Germany, especially literary musical programs for the Jews in the [displaced persons- ed.] camps. In 1947 -- he acted in the Munich Yiddish theatre "MIKT", where he was also a member of the artistic council, and under the direction of the Polish-Jewish director Bardini he performed as "David Reuveni" in Glanz-Leyeles' "Shlomo molkho", "Kabus" in "Die Hoffnung" by Herman Heyermans, and "Kuni lemel" from Goldfaden's "Two Kuni Lemels", which he staged together with Pesach Gutmark.

 

In 1950 he immigrated to America and took to performing in New York with recitations in various activities. In 1953 -- he was taken in as a member of the Yiddish Actors Union. He acted in the refugee theatre, under the direction of David Licht in Sholem Aleichem's "Dos farkhishufte shneyderl", from time to time he acted together with union actors in a repertory in Boston, Montreal and Philadelphia. In 1955 -- he performed as "Nekhumsche" in "Yoshe Kalb" with Maurice Schwartz and "Shlomele" in Asch's "Kiddush Hashem".

R. then organized with the actors Norbert Horowitz and Zishe Gold the "New Theatre", where "Parnusseh" was staged. In 1958-59 -- he acted in the cooperative troupe (directors Sheftel Zak and Max Bozyk) in the play "Di ershte shvalb" by the Israeli playwright I. Yash, "A shpiel farn teyvl (A Play for the Devil)" by I. Bashevis (Director -- Jonas Turkow), and he performed from time to time in the "Forverts (Forward) programs" on the radio.

R. is a collaborator on the "Great Dictionary of the Yiddish Language".


Sh. E.

  • M. Tsh--ny -- Men hot gezegnt a khbr ... "Neye yidishe tseytung", Munich, 23 December 1950.

  • Dr. N. Swerdlin -- Beym farhang, "Tog", N. Y., 10 February 1951.

  • A. Leyeles -- Velt un vort, "Tog", 10 March 1951.

  • Norbert Horowitz -- "Yidish teater fun der sharis hplith" -- "Fun noentn ebr", New York, 1955, pp. 119, 125, 130, 131, 132, 133, 143.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 4, page 3116.
 

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