Menasha Skulnik (1890-1970) was a star of both known for his Yiddish comedy performances, as well as his work on the Broadway stage.

Skulnik was "a sad-eyed, undersize comic who was acclaimed as a Jewish version of Charlie Chaplain in the 35 years he played in Yiddish musicals on the Lower East Side.....The actor, who was an accomplished mime, had a genius for convulsing an audience and moving it to sorrow simultaneously. A shift of facial expression or a movement of his hands was enough to convey the emotion he sought to express."

"On the Yiddish stage, Mr. Skulnik wore a distinctive hat, which accentuated his character as a baffled clown. It was a tight-brimmed affair, several sizes too small, which he perched atop his head. Over the years, it became a trademark."
 

                                                                           
                                                                              
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Menasha Skulnik


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Text adapted from the New York Times.









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