Zvee Scooler
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Zvee Scooler (December 1, 1899 – March 25, 1985) was a
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n-born
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
actor and radio commentator. He was born in
Kamenets-Podolsky Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...
(now
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
) and his original surname was Shkolyar. He came to the United States in 1912. He performed in both
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 ...
and
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...
, on the stage, television, and film. He first joined
Maurice Schwartz Maurice Schwartz, born Avram Moishe Schwartz (June 18, 1890 – May 10, 1960),Yiddish Art Theater The Yiddish Art Theatre was a Yiddish theatre company of the 20th century in New York City. The organization was founded in 1918 by actor and impresario Maurice Schwartz, to present serious Yiddish drama and works from world literature in Yiddis ...
in 1921 -- his debut was in the first American performance of
S. Ansky Shloyme Zanvl Rappoport (1863 – November 8, 1920), also known by his pen name S. An-sky, was a Jewish author, playwright, researcher of Jewish folklore, polemicist, and cultural and political activist. He is best known for his play '' The ...
's classic play
The Dybbuk ''The Dybbuk'', or ''Between Two Worlds'' (, trans. ''Mezh dvukh mirov ibuk'; , ''Tsvishn Tsvey Veltn – der Dibuk'') is a play by S. An-sky, authored between 1913 and 1916. It was originally written in Russian and later translated into Yidd ...
-- and remained with the company for 25 years. He is probably best known for his roles in ''
Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and musical theatre#Book musicals, book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Russian Empire, Imperial Russia in or around 19 ...
'', playing Mordcha, the innkeeper in the Broadway play (he was the only actor to appear in every performance of the play's entire seven-year-run) and the rabbi in the film version. He appeared as Duddy's grandfather in the 1974 film "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz." Another of his more notable roles was that of Boris' father in
Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...
's ''
Love and Death ''Love and Death'' is a 1975 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. It is a satire on the Golden Age of Russian literature starring Allen and Diane Keaton as Boris and Sonja, Russians living during the Napoleonic Era who enga ...
''. He was known as the Grammeister (Master of the Rhyme) on
WEVD WEVD was the call sign held by three New York City commercial radio stations, with related ownership, from 1927 until 2003. This call sign was formed from the initials of recently deceased Socialist Party of America leader Eugene Victor Debs. H ...
, a Yiddish radio station in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. Every Sunday, from the 1930s until his death, Scooler presented a ten-minute segment on the radio show, ''Forward Hour'', which was news and commentary in rhyme.Yiddish Radio Project "Vacation in the Mountains"
/ref> He died in New York City on March 25, 1985, at age 85, and was buried at Cedar Park Cemetery, in
Paramus Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...
, New Jersey.


Filmography


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* * American male film actors American people of Russian-Jewish descent American male stage actors Jewish American male actors Yiddish theatre performers Radio personalities from New York City Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jews from the Russian Empire 1899 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American Jews {{US-radio-bio-stub