R. was born on 11 December 1892 in Kalinovka, Kamenets Podolsk Gubernia.

Her father was an owner of a box factory, was pious, while at the same time the "staroste" of the village.

She became an orphan when she was four years of age, and at the age of five-and-a-half came with her mother and sister to America, and they settled in Philadelphia. Here she finished public school and learned at the Yiddish home with a rabbi.

Already in the folkshul, she manifested a singing ability, and in the higher class often had the opportunity to show her voice....she was recommended as a chorus singer to Thomashefsky, with whom she was with for only one season. Afterwards she went over to local vaudeville, where she was for about four years. From there she went over to the Yiddish vaudeville house in New York, where she acted for an entire year and also from time to time was in legitimate theatre, participating in productions across the province with Boris Thomashefsky and Rudolph Schildkraut.

R. had for six years continued to act at the Grand Theatre, during the 1921-1922 season in Toronto (Dir. Littman), 1924-25 at the Mount Morris Vaudeville House, from 1925-27 in vaudeville at the Prospect Theatre. In 1927-28 she was in Toronto and later in other cities.