Lillian Lux
Encyclopedia
Lillian Lux was an Israel
i-American
singer, author, songwriter and actor in Yiddish theater and Yiddish vaudeville in the United States
, Israel
and other Yiddish speaking communities in the diaspora
.
. Her father, a jeweler, had originally wanted to become an actor. He sent his daughter to the Yiddish Art Theater, where Lux began performing when she was just seven years old.By the age of 14, Lux was a chorus girl and involved in various Yiddish radio programs. Working in the Catskills, she was teamed with a young Danny Kaye
; the friendship that began from the working relationship was lifelong.
She met her future husband, Polish
-born Israel
i Yiddish-language actor-director Pesach Burstein
, in 1938 when he hired her for his theater company's South American tour. While on the tour, the couple was married in Montevideo, Uruguay. Lux's most notable roles in her milieu were The Komediant
and A Khasene in Shtetl
(A Wedding in the Village), both of which were directed by her husband. Her most critically acclaimed performance was in Itzik Manger
's Songs of the Megillah (Yiddish: Megille Lider - the longest running Yiddish production to date in Israel, released on Broadway as Megilla of Itzik Manger). It was also Lux's only role on Broadway.
She played roles alongside her husband, and often alongside her twin children Mike and Susan, who were born in 1945; the performing family was advertised as the Four Bursteins. In 1962, the family moved to Israel. On the 100th anniversary of her husband's birth in 1996, director Arnon Goldfinger directed a documentary film about the lives and careers of the Burstein family -The Komediant
.
The move for the Burstein troupe to tackle serious theater (when they produced Megilla of Itzak Menger) was part orchestrated by Lux. She also ran a cosmetics company - Lily of Israel. Although critically panned, she wrote a number of the songs and musicals her family appeared in, and has also appeared in Israeli and American films, and American television, including roles in The Body and Law and Order
.
Her son, Mike Burstyn is a Jewish American actor on Broadway
, Israeli theatre and the Yiddish theater. Her daughter, Susan, has not performed on stage since her teenage years.
She also co-authored her husband's autobiography - What a Life! in Yiddish (Geshpilt a Lebn, 1980), which was later translated into English. Lux and her husband are buried in the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance section-Block 67-of Mount Hebron Cemetery
. This section is reserved for those who worked in New York Yiddish theater; the section is maintained by the Alliance.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, author, songwriter and actor in Yiddish theater and Yiddish vaudeville in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
and other Yiddish speaking communities in the diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
.
Life and career
Lillian Sylvia Lukashefsky was born in BrooklynBrooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Her father, a jeweler, had originally wanted to become an actor. He sent his daughter to the Yiddish Art Theater, where Lux began performing when she was just seven years old.By the age of 14, Lux was a chorus girl and involved in various Yiddish radio programs. Working in the Catskills, she was teamed with a young Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
; the friendship that began from the working relationship was lifelong.
She met her future husband, Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-born Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Yiddish-language actor-director Pesach Burstein
Pesach Burstein
Pesach "Peishachke" Burstein , born in Warsaw, was an Israeli-American comedian, singer, coupletist, and director of Yiddish vaudeville/theater. His wife Lillian Lux, and son Mike Burstyn are also actors.-Early years:...
, in 1938 when he hired her for his theater company's South American tour. While on the tour, the couple was married in Montevideo, Uruguay. Lux's most notable roles in her milieu were The Komediant
The Komediant (show)
The Komediant was a Yiddish theater act produced by the Pesach Burstein troupe, and was performed to Jewish diaspora audiences all around the world. It was on the stage of The Komediant that Pesach Burstein met and ultimately married his second wife Lillian Lux...
and A Khasene in Shtetl
A Khasene in Shtetl
A Khasene in Shtetl A Khasene in Shtetl A Khasene in Shtetl (Yiddish for A Wedding in the Village / A Village Wedding, also called A Shtetl Wedding / A Wedding in the Shtetl, Yiddish: אַ חתונה אין שטעטל (סעגיל-װאָל) is a Yiddish musical theater play written by William Sigal, and often directed and...
(A Wedding in the Village), both of which were directed by her husband. Her most critically acclaimed performance was in Itzik Manger
Itzik Manger
Itzik Manger was a prominent Yiddish poet and playwright, a self-proclaimed folk bard, visionary, and ‘master tailor’ of the written word...
's Songs of the Megillah (Yiddish: Megille Lider - the longest running Yiddish production to date in Israel, released on Broadway as Megilla of Itzik Manger). It was also Lux's only role on Broadway.
She played roles alongside her husband, and often alongside her twin children Mike and Susan, who were born in 1945; the performing family was advertised as the Four Bursteins. In 1962, the family moved to Israel. On the 100th anniversary of her husband's birth in 1996, director Arnon Goldfinger directed a documentary film about the lives and careers of the Burstein family -The Komediant
The Komediant (documentary)
The Komediant is an Israeli documentary film of 2000 directed by Arnon Goldfinger which recalls the life, and careers of the Burstein family of Yiddish theatre: Pesach Burstein, his wife Lillian Lux, his son Mike Burstyn and daughter Susan Burstein-Roth...
.
The move for the Burstein troupe to tackle serious theater (when they produced Megilla of Itzak Menger) was part orchestrated by Lux. She also ran a cosmetics company - Lily of Israel. Although critically panned, she wrote a number of the songs and musicals her family appeared in, and has also appeared in Israeli and American films, and American television, including roles in The Body and Law and Order
Law & Order franchise
The Law & Order franchise is a number of related American television series created by Dick Wolf and originally broadcast on NBC, all of which deal with some aspect of the criminal justice system...
.
Her son, Mike Burstyn is a Jewish American actor on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, Israeli theatre and the Yiddish theater. Her daughter, Susan, has not performed on stage since her teenage years.
She also co-authored her husband's autobiography - What a Life! in Yiddish (Geshpilt a Lebn, 1980), which was later translated into English. Lux and her husband are buried in the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance section-Block 67-of Mount Hebron Cemetery
Mount Hebron Cemetery
Mount Hebron is a Jewish cemetery located in the Flushing neighborhood of New York City. It was founded in 1903 as the Jewish section of Cedar Grove Cemetery. It is noted for its Yiddish theater section....
. This section is reserved for those who worked in New York Yiddish theater; the section is maintained by the Alliance.
External links
- Obituary at www.Jewish-theater.com
- The Komediant website