Lives in the Yiddish Theatre
SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OF THOSE INVOLVED IN THE yIDDISH THEATRE
aS DESCRIBED IN zALMEN zYLBERCWEIG'S "lEKSIKON FUN YIDISHN TEATER"

1931-1967
 

Morris Belavsky
 

 


Born 27 December, 1881 in Kutno, Poland. His parents were merchants. Belavsky studied in a cheder and yeshiva in Kutno and Włocławek, in the state school and he also had private tutoring.

Already in the cheder he used to dress up and act as “David”, ”Goliath“, “Saul”, imitating his father, who as well as being a merchant was also a shadkhen [a matchmaker], and he also used to dress up on Purim.

At the age of fifteen he played the part of “Eliezer” in “The Jews” with a group of  amateurs. When he was sixteen, an aunt took him to London where he joined Samuel Goldenburg’s Drama Club. Next he went to Paris, returning  to London to act in a Yiddish theatre with professional actors.

In 1907 Belavsky returned to Poland and joined a professional troupe. Here he met Glicke Degenstein and, since he was a Bund member, he had to leave Poland. So they both left for Denmark.

In Denmark he set up an amateur drama society[?], some of whose members became professional actors later on. Belavsky joined them and played Asch, Hirshbein, and other Yiddish playwrights – for the first time in Denmark. For the first time he also went on tour within Sweden and Norway with a Yiddish theatre group.

In Copenhagen he studied at the Royal Theatre Drama School headed by Torklad Roza [?] and played for a while in Danish at the Dagmar[?] Theatre. He also participated in a few films of the Nordish Film Company [Nordisk Film].

In October 1921 he arrived in America. He acted in a few theatres. Next he played in the province, one season in Winnipeg and Toronto (Canada), and beginning in 1925 until 1928, he acted and was also stage manager at the Irving Place Theatre. In 1929-30 he was at Satz’s Public Theatre [Folks Theatre].


M. E.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 1, page 163.
 

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