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
 

Itzhak (Irving) Honigman
 

Born 24 December 1886 in Kodyma, Podolia Gubernia, Ukraine. For thirty-four years his father was in charge of the meat tax and also owned a liquor distillery.

Honigman fell in love with a cobbler’s daughter, which wasn’t prestigious enough for his parents, so they sent him to America, to his older brother in 1904.He stayed with his brother for two years working as a milkman.

In 1907 he met the actor Nathan Rosenthal by sheer chance and he  took him to Trenton to play “Moshe Hussid” in Gordin’s "King Lear”.  About a year later he was invited to play with David Levenson and Frank Par’s troupe in Baltimore where he was paid twelve dollars a week. In 1909 he played with Jacob Silbert in Boston, in 1910 in Boston with Levenson as director, in 1911 with Mike Thomashefsky in Newark as well as in 1912 in Philadelphia and in 1913 in Baltimore. In 1914 Honigman was asked by the “Yankee Film Company” to play in a film. In 1915 he participated in the film for the “Universal Company”. In 1917-18 Honigman acted again and also directed for Sarah Adler’s troupe in Boston; in 1919, in Newark, in 1920 in Philadelphia, from 1921-22 with the Yiddish Art Theatre where he was also assistant director. In 1923 he appeared in Chicago with Malvina Lobel, in 1924 he was the co-director of a troupe in Toronto. 

 

In 1925 he acted and directed at the Lyric Theatre, Brooklyn. In 1926 he acted at the Lennox Theatre, in 1927-8 he spent a short time on the English stage; in 1928-9 at the National Theatre and in 1929-30 at Gabel's Public Theatre.


Sh. 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 582.
 

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