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Berta Gersten (1894 – September 10, 1972;
Her acting debut happened because her mother was working for an actor who needed a child for a production. In 1918 she was recruited by Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troup performing notable Yiddish works and dramatic classics like Chekhov Ibsen and Shakespeare in Yiddish. Stayed with the theatre for 25 years frequently in leading roles with Mirele Efros
. National Center for Jewish Film. jewishfilm.org. Retrieved 2017-04-14. Gersten acted in Yiddish plays, but in 1954 she took a role in an English-speaking play "The World of Sholom Aleichem" on Broadway. She was known for acting in the theatre, but she played Benny's mother in the 1956 film
Mirele Efros at IMDB
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gersten, Berta 1890s births 1972 deaths Year of birth uncertain 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Kraków Actresses from New York City American people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to the United States Yiddish theatre performers
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Berta Gerstenman), was a Polish-born American actor, in Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
theater and later in Broadway productions. She took a major role in ''The Benny Goodman Story
''The Benny Goodman Story'' is a 1956 American musical film, musical biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, written and directed by Valentine Davies, and released by Universal-International. The film was intended as a follow-up t ...
'' film in 1954.
Biography
Gersten was born in 1894, or maybe 1896, inKraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, Grand Duchy of Kraków (now Poland). Her family moved to New York City in 1899 where her father, Avrom Gerstenman, was a translator and her mother, Meshe (née Kopps) was a dressmaker.
Her acting debut happened because her mother was working for an actor who needed a child for a production. In 1918 she was recruited by Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troup performing notable Yiddish works and dramatic classics like Chekhov Ibsen and Shakespeare in Yiddish. Stayed with the theatre for 25 years frequently in leading roles with Jacob Ben-Ami
Jacob Ben-Ami (; November 23 or December 23, 1890, Minsk, Russian Empire – July 2, 1977, New York City, New York (state), New York, United States) was a noted Belarusian-born Jewish stage actor who performed equally well in Yiddish and English.
...
.
A film adaptation of the play Mirele Efros was made in the United States in 1939. It was directed by Josef Berne
Josef Berne (January 19, 1904 – December 19, 1964) was a Russian-born American writer, film director and producer. Berne was born Josef Berstein on January 19, 1904, in Kyiv, Russia (now Ukraine). He also wrote and directed Yiddish languag ...
with Gersten in the title role and Ruth Elbaum as Shaindl. It was made in Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
with English subtitles.. National Center for Jewish Film. jewishfilm.org. Retrieved 2017-04-14. Gersten acted in Yiddish plays, but in 1954 she took a role in an English-speaking play "The World of Sholom Aleichem" on Broadway. She was known for acting in the theatre, but she played Benny's mother in the 1956 film
The Benny Goodman Story
''The Benny Goodman Story'' is a 1956 American musical film, musical biographical film starring Steve Allen and Donna Reed, written and directed by Valentine Davies, and released by Universal-International. The film was intended as a follow-up t ...
. This was her only Hollywood film appearance. Other significant Broadway productions of '' The Flowering Peach'' (1955), ''A Majority of One
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''.
It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...
'' (1959), and ''Sophie
Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Soph ...
'' (1963) included Gersten in the cast. Her lasting acting role was in ''My Father's Court'' in 1971.
Death and legacy
Gersten died in a hospital inThe Bronx
The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...
, aged 78. Gersten is included in the 1971 work Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary.
References
External links
Mirele Efros at IMDB
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gersten, Berta 1890s births 1972 deaths Year of birth uncertain 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Kraków Actresses from New York City American people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to the United States Yiddish theatre performers