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
 

Mary Wilensky
(Miryam Katz)
 

W. was born in April 1876 in Warsaw, Poland. Her father was a writer in the "rathoyz".

She learned in school, but due to her parents' poverty she had to cut short her studies and began to work in a paper factory.

When Goldfaden and Tanzman came to Warsaw, W., with the knowledge of her parents, was taken into the chorus. She toured with the troupe across Poland until she came to Lemberg in Gimpel's troupe.

At the age of fourteen she married the prompter Bernard Wilensky and, when Adler came in 1893 to guest star in Lemberg, he took her to America.

Here she also acted as a soubrette, but soon she acted dramatically and later in character-comical roles. W. for the entire time acted in New York with the troupes of Adler, Kessler, Thomashefsky and from 1921-30 with Gabel.


M. E.

B. Gorin -- "Di Geshikhte fun idishn teater (The History of the Yiddish Theatre)", Vol. II, p. 126, 143.

 


 

 

 

 


 

Home       |       Site Map       |      Exhibitions      |      About the Museum       |       Education      |      Contact Us       |       Links


Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 1, page 720.
 

Copyright © Museum of Family History.  All rights reserved.