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

1931-1969
 

Isidore Hollander

 

G. was born on 21 June 1889 in the village of Luzhna near Gorlice, Western Galicia. His father was a lessee (of an estate). Until the age of ten he learned in a cheder, with a rabbi and Polish with a teacher.

Due to material conditions he immigrated in 1900 with his family to America. Here H. attended cheder and a school and became a errand boy for a business, then a vendor, a compositor and worked in other various trades.

Seeing at times Thomashefsky act in "Romeo and Juliet", H. became excited about the theatre, often attending since then the theatre and made after in the home the actor's house(?) Sitting in at a production of Schiller's "Robbers", he wrote by ear the entire play and directed it later (with Maurice Schwartz and Nathan Goldberg", known as "Di royber fun shiler (The robber from Schiller)" for Goldberg and Hollander.

For several years H. acted with "amateurs", traveling around as a declamator of modern Yiddish poetry during literary evenings and courses for various immigrant members, and he participated in a dramatic club in one-acters of Gordin and Reyzen. Later H. traveled around with "amateurs" under the direction of actor Aba Shoengold.

 

 

His professional activity began in the troupe of Fannie Reinhard-Brown in Boston and its environs, where he took on the missions of an actor, prompter, wardrobe person, role player and assistant manager.

After traveling around for several years across the province, H. returned to New York, where he entered (together with Nathan and Rose Goldberg) into the Yiddish Variety theatre. A short time later H. went over to Gabel, for whom he came on early in plays, and acted with him with breaks for seven seasons. then several seasons with Goldberg at the Lennox Theatre, in Boston with Charles Nathanson, and as the first actor and regisseur at the Hopkinson Theatre.

One season H. co-directed (with Menasha Skulnik and Yekhiel Goldshmidt) in Montreal, where he also directed the better repertoire and organized the "Hollander troupe", with whom he acted in 1926-7 in Toronto, Buffalo and its environs.

In 1927-8 he acted with Glickman in Chicago, and in 1929-30 was manager and regisseur in Boston, where he also acted in the major roles.


M. E.

B. Botvinik -- Yunge talanten oyf der idisher bine, "Forward", 11 February 1919.


 

 

 

 


 

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Adapted from the original Yiddish text found within the  "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre" by Zalmen Zylbercweig, Volume 1, page 577.
 

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