Samuel Goldenberg
Samuel Goldenberg portrait from Klangen fun mayn lebn by Zalmen Zylbercweig
Born1883 or 1884
Died (aged 61)
OccupationActor

Samuel Goldenberg (1883/1884–1945) was an actor in Yiddish theatre on stage and screen.

Career

Goldenberg worked as a tailor[1] before becoming a leading Yiddish-language actor-singer-pianist.[2][3] He was known to incorporate piano solos into dramatic scenes, such as the gimmick of hiding a piano behind tombstones props to raise music from the dead.[4] Goldenberg's performances included the title role in the Yiddish Art Theatre's Jew Suess, Svengali in Trilby, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He also appeared in English-language Broadway productions. His English-language roles, included in the Theatre Guild's American Dream, The Eternal Road, and The Cherry Orchard.[2] He headlined the 1935 Yiddish film Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs), which ran in the Union Square Acme Theatre. The New York Times described his performance as effective.[5]

He played in Yiddish road shows. In early 1922, his five-week engagement with the Yiddish Toronto National Company, which went through Buffalo's Teck Theatre, grossed what Variety described as exceptional for Yiddish theatre.[6] The magazine described him as among "the surest money-getters on the Yiddish stage".[7] In 1924, The Philadelphia Inquirer said Goldenberg to have "unusual talent" and adaptability in both comedy and tragedy.[8]

Goldenberg had been cast as Leon Trotsky in the 1943 film Mission to Moscow but his scenes were edited out in the final release. Incidentally, Goldenberg had previously played Trotsky in a drama about the Russian Revolution 20 years prior.[9]

Personal life

Goldenberg graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory and spoke about six languages. At some point, he managed a theater in New York's Irving Place.[4]

Goldenberg had a wife and two daughters. He died October 31, 1945, at the age of 61 in Brooklyn's Unity Hospital following a heart attack a week prior. The heart attack had occurred on stage during his performance of Apartment 7.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Fishman, William J. (1975). Jewish Radicals: From Czarist Stetl to London Ghetto. New York: Pantheon Books. p. 265. ISBN 978-0-394-49764-8.
  2. 1 2 3 "Samuel Goldenberg; One of Leading Actors of City's Yiddish Stage Dies at 61". The New York Times. November 1, 1945. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  3. ↑ Hoberman 1991, p. 207.
  4. 1 2 Hoberman 1991, p. 208.
  5. ↑
  6. ↑ Burton, Sydney (April 21, 1922). "Buffalo". Variety. Vol. 66, no. 9. p. 32. ISSN 0042-2738. ProQuest 1505585971.
  7. ↑ Burton, Sydney (June 9, 1922). "Buffalo". Variety. Vol. 67, no. 3. p. 54. ISSN 0042-2738. ProQuest 1505612907.
  8. ↑ "The Playgoers Guide: The Call Boy's Chat". The Philadelphia Inquirer. December 14, 1924. p. 32. ProQuest 1830913097.
  9. ↑ Low, Matthew (May 1, 1943). "Inside and Out". The New Leader. Vol. 26, no. 18. p. 3.

Bibliography


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