Yetta Zwerling
Encyclopedia
Yetta Zwerling Silverman (December 25, 1894 – January 17, 1982,New York Times obituary) Yiddish movie star during the 1930s and 1940s.
); her father had a fruit business and was also a klezmer. Her sisters Bessie and Mamie sang in the Yiddish theater chorus and brought Yetta in as well.
She emigrated to the United States with her family, finishing high school there and playing juvenile roles in variety theaters and English-language vaudeville. During her vaudeville years she also sung Yiddish songs like Vu Bistu, Yukel? and Bei Mir Bist du Schoen
.
was as Hanele in Zolotarevsky's Yeshiva Bokher (Schoolboy). She toured and ended up in New York, playing Yiddish vaudeville with Sam Klinetsky at the Grand Theater, then doing four years of English-language comedy with Leon Errol
and then six seasons in Philadelphia with Anshel Shor, who improved her Yiddish and gave her the opportunity to play the soubrette
opposite Leon Blank, Celia Adler
, Sam Kestin, Dayna Feynman, Samuel Goldenberg and Boris Thomashevsky. She then played at the National Theater in Student Prince and with Bertha Kalich
in Di neshomeh fun a froy (The Soul of a Woman).
She played alongside Yitskhok Feld, Julius Nathanson, Eli Mintz, Isidore Meltzer, Adof Fenigshtayn, Irving Jacobson, later Menasha Skulnik
and Leo Fuchs
in Yiddish movies such as Motl der opereytor and Ikh vil zayn a mame. Beyond her comic roles, she sang as a soloist and in duets with her partners. She was also noted for her eccentric outfits and jewels.
, survived by two sons, Sidney and Arthur Silverman. She was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
Early life
Zwerling was born in Kalievo, near Lemberg, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Choliv, near Lviv, UkraineLviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
); her father had a fruit business and was also a klezmer. Her sisters Bessie and Mamie sang in the Yiddish theater chorus and brought Yetta in as well.
She emigrated to the United States with her family, finishing high school there and playing juvenile roles in variety theaters and English-language vaudeville. During her vaudeville years she also sung Yiddish songs like Vu Bistu, Yukel? and Bei Mir Bist du Schoen
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
"Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs and Sholom Secunda for a 1932 Yiddish musical, I Would If I Could , that closed after one season...
.
Career
Her first "legitimate role" in Yiddish theatreYiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
was as Hanele in Zolotarevsky's Yeshiva Bokher (Schoolboy). She toured and ended up in New York, playing Yiddish vaudeville with Sam Klinetsky at the Grand Theater, then doing four years of English-language comedy with Leon Errol
Leon Errol
Leon Errol , was an Australian-born American comedian and actor, popular in the first half of the 20th century.-Biography:...
and then six seasons in Philadelphia with Anshel Shor, who improved her Yiddish and gave her the opportunity to play the soubrette
Soubrette
A soubrette is a female stock character in opera and theatre. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means "conceited" or "coy".-Theater:...
opposite Leon Blank, Celia Adler
Celia Adler
Celia Feinman Adler was an American Jewish actress, known as the "First Lady of the Yiddish Theatre"....
, Sam Kestin, Dayna Feynman, Samuel Goldenberg and Boris Thomashevsky. She then played at the National Theater in Student Prince and with Bertha Kalich
Bertha Kalich
Bertha Kalich, was a Jewish actress, born in Lemberg, Galicia...
in Di neshomeh fun a froy (The Soul of a Woman).
She played alongside Yitskhok Feld, Julius Nathanson, Eli Mintz, Isidore Meltzer, Adof Fenigshtayn, Irving Jacobson, later Menasha Skulnik
Menasha Skulnik
Menasha Skulnik was a Jewish American actor, primarily known for his roles in Yiddish theater in New York City. Skulnik was also popular on radio, playing Uncle David on The Goldbergs for 19 years...
and Leo Fuchs
Leo Fuchs
Leo Fuchs was a Polish-born Jewish American actor. According to YIVO, born Avrum Leib Fuchs in Warsaw; according to Schechter, born in Lemberg, Galicia, then Poland, now Lviv, Ukraine)....
in Yiddish movies such as Motl der opereytor and Ikh vil zayn a mame. Beyond her comic roles, she sang as a soloist and in duets with her partners. She was also noted for her eccentric outfits and jewels.
Death
In 1982, Yetta Silverman died in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, survived by two sons, Sidney and Arthur Silverman. She was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles.