Born on 6 January 1886 in Odessa, Ukraine. Father -- a small dealer. He was raised by his grandfather in Praga, Warsaw. He learned in a cheder, and Russian and Polish with a private teacher. In 1903 he began to act in "prima donna" roles in Warsaw with an amateur group (the actors-to-be: Moshe Silberkasten, Menasha Skulnik, David Keyzerovitsh, Sh. Z. Shidlover, Yablonski, David Greenstein), who used to perform in private houses for various simchas. The repertoire of the group consisted of "Kaptsnzon un Hungerman" by Goldfaden, and "Der treyfniak (The Heretic)" by Shomer.

In October 1904 W. was arrested as a Bundist and imprisoned for eleven months in Aleksandrovsk fortress.

In 1906 the group invited the actor Julius Oskar to stage direct the play "Uriel Acosta", which for Passover 1906 was staged in Warsaw's Muranov Theatre. Since that production, the amateur group became a professional troupe with Oskar as the stage director and main actor.

In 1907 W. was engaged for Kompaneyets and Rappel for the Muranow Theatre in Warsaw. In 1909 W. acted with A. R. Kaminski across the Polish province, and in 1912 with Mishurat's troupe across Bessarabia.