Leo Fuchs (May 15, 1911 – December 31, 1994) was a Polish-born American actor.Mendelovitch, Bernard (January 18, 1995).
Leo Fuchs
(obituary). ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. independent.co.uk. Retrieved November 10, 2018. According to YIVO, he was born Avrum Leib Fuchs in Warsaw;Leo Fuchs papers
''Guide to the YIVO Archives''.

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research YIVO (, , short for ) is an organization that preserves, studies, and teaches the cultural history of Jewish life throughout Eastern Europe, Germany, and Russia as well as orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to Yiddish. Establi ...

. yivoarchives.org. Retrieved October 31, 2018. according to Joel Schechter, he was born in

Lwów Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Galicia, then Poland, now called

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, Ukraine. Schechter (2008), p. 180
Fuchs performed in many Yiddish and English plays and movies throughout the mid-twentieth century, and was famed as a comic, a dancer, and a coupletist. He wrote much of his own material and toured widely.

Early life

Fuchs was born into a Yiddish theatrical family: his father, Yakov Fuchs, was a character actor; his mother, Róża Fuchs ( Ruzha Fuchs),Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book five, 4053 was "a leading lady of the musical theatre who perished in the Holocaust of the 1940s," shot dead by Nazi Germans. He began acting (in Polish) when he was five years old, and was praised when he performed at the Warsaw cabaret ''Qui Pro Quo'' when he was 17.

Career

His American debut was at the Second Avenue Theater in the Yiddish Theater District in ''Lucky Boy'' with Moishe Oysher in 1929.Leo Fuchs: Born Laybl Springer in Lemberg
. Caraid O'Brien, 2nd Avenue site. Retrieved May 26, 2015. He moved to New York City in 1935. In his prime, he was known as "The

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 ...

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

", appearing both on Broadway and in film. In 1936, he married fellow actor Mirele Gruber and toured with her through Poland for a year. In 1937, he made two movies, the short '' I Want to Be a Boarder'' (in which he sang his famous song ''Trouble'') and ''I Want to Be a Mother'' with Yetta Zwerling. In 1940, he starred in ''Amerikaner Shadkhen'' ( American Matchmaker).Leo Fuchs bio at IMDb
Retrieved May 26, 2015. He divorced in 1941 and later married Rebecca Richman. Starting in the 1960s, Fuchs performed in English-language plays and television, as well as

Hollywood films The cinema of the United States, primarily associated with major film studios collectively referred to as Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, has significantly influenced the global film industry since the early 20th century. Classical Holly ...

, including '' The Story of Ruth'' (1960). Two of his best-known roles were in '' The Frisco Kid'' (1979), in which he played with

Gene Wilder Gene Wilder (born Jerome Silberman; June 11, 1933 – August 29, 2016) was an American actor, comedian, writer, and filmmaker. He was mainly known for his comedic roles, including his portrayal of Willy Wonka in ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Fa ...

, and as Hymie Krichinsky in the film ''

Avalon Avalon () is an island featured in the Arthurian legend. It first appeared in Geoffrey of Monmouth's 1136 ''Historia Regum Britanniae'' as a place of magic where King Arthur's sword Excalibur was made and later where Arthur was taken to recove ...

'' (1990). He died in Los Angeles in 1994.

Filmography

Movies

Television

References

Bibliography

* Friedman, Jonathan C. ''Rainbow Jews: Jewish and Gay Identity in the Performing Arts.'' Plymouth, UK: Lexington, 2007. * Lugowski, David. "'Pintele' Queer: The Performance of Jewish Male Heterosexuality in Yiddish American Cinema of the Great Depression." In Griffin, Sean. ''Hetero: Queering Representations of Straightness.'' Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2009. 53–70. * Schechter, Joel. ''Messiahs of 1933: How American Yiddish Theatre Survived Adversity through Satire.'' Philadelphia, PA: Temple UP, 2008.

External links

* * * There are several Leo Fuchs songs on NYU's Yiddish Theater archive: *
Hopalong Knish
*
You Gotta Cut Off His Head
*
The Yiddisher Chinaman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fuchs, Leo 1911 births 1994 deaths Jewish American male actors Jewish cabaret performers Male actors from Lviv Actors from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Jews from Austria-Hungary Yiddish theatre Polish cabaret performers Jewish Polish male actors Polish emigrants to the United States Male actors from Greater Los Angeles Yiddish theatre performers Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery 20th-century American male actors American vaudeville performers 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American Jews Jewish American comedians