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Post by marshamae on Feb 9, 2020 4:12:47 GMT
Just saw a film clip from the Forward, the Yiddish language news service that started as a newspaper. It showed Kirk Douglas after his stroke , receiving an award and singing a Yiddish song, Mayn Yidishe Meydele”. They mentioned that Kirk spoke Only Yiddish until he started school.He told a story about applying for a part at the Yiddish theater and was told they would call him if they had a part for a Nazi soldier.
What other actors speak or spoke Yiddish? I will throw 8n some names later.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 9, 2020 4:33:33 GMT
"James Cagney spoke fluent Yiddish, and in TAXI he got the opportunity to demonstrate it.
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Post by marshamae on Feb 9, 2020 4:42:34 GMT
I adore this clip. Cagney just learned on the streets of New York. His family was Irish and Norwegian.
Director Sidney Lumet made his stage debut at the Yiddish Theater at age 5 . His parent were polish Jewish performers, his father an actor and director.
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 9, 2020 4:42:58 GMT
Danny Kaye"Since his parents were Jewish immigrants, Yiddish was the first language Danny learned. He didn't learn English until he started school." "His father, Jacob Kaminski; his mother, Clar; and his two older brothers, Mack and Larry, emigrated from Ukraine to the United States in 1910. Jacob had to work two years before he could pay off those steamer tickets. Three years after this journey, their third and last child was born, and the only one born in America: David Daniel, or as his parents called him: Duvidelleh. "
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 9, 2020 4:56:49 GMT
Just saw a film clip from the Forward.... Here 'tis from 2002
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Post by Johnny-Come-Lately on Feb 9, 2020 4:58:45 GMT
Topol
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 9, 2020 5:19:53 GMT
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Paul Muni (1895-1967) considered the greatest actor of the early sound era, winner of Best Actor Oscar for 1936, nominated four other times. Won a Best Actor Tony in 1955 for Inherit The Wind. Born to a Jewish family in what was the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Raised in Chicago. Known to classic film fans but forgotten by the general public. Yiddish was his first language. He got his start as an actor in Yiddish Theater.  |
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Post by BATouttaheck on Feb 9, 2020 5:22:30 GMT
Theodore Bikel was fluent in more than half a dozen European and Middle Eastern languages (including Yiddish) , and sang folk songs in nearly 20 languages, skillfully accompanying himself on guitar, mandolin, balalaika and harmonica. His parents, Miriam Gizella (Riegler) and Josef Bikel-Hasenfratz, were Jewish immigrants from Bukovina, in Central Europe. I went to some Theodore Bikel concerts at Town Hall in NYC and he would tell stories and jokes in English and then tell the punch line in Yiddish !  but I was a major fan of his singing and his films so I forgave him ! (kinda  )
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Feb 9, 2020 5:25:22 GMT
Just saw a film clip from the Forward, the Yiddish language news service that started as a newspaper. It showed Kirk Douglas after his stroke , receiving an award and singing a Yiddish song, Mayn Yidishe Meydele”. They mentioned that Kirk spoke Only Yiddish until he started school.He told a story about applying for a part at the Yiddish theater and was told they would call him if they had a part for a Nazi soldier.
What other actors speak or spoke Yiddish? I will throw 8n some names later. 
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Post by mikef6 on Feb 9, 2020 5:26:50 GMT
Theodore Bikel was fluent in more than half a dozen European and Middle Eastern languages (including Yiddish) , and sang folk songs in nearly 20 languages, skillfully accompanying himself on guitar, mandolin, balalaika and harmonica. His parents, Miriam Gizella (Riegler) and Josef Bikel-Hasenfratz, were Jewish immigrants from Bukovina, in Central Europe. I went to some Theodore Bikel concerts at Town Hall in NYC and he would tell stories and jokes in English and then tell the punch line in Yiddish ! I saw Bikel perform in Milwaukee in 1967 so I don't remember much about it except that I enjoyed it and was amazed that I was gazing upon a real movie celebrity. I was young and naïve .
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Post by bravomailer on Feb 9, 2020 5:33:18 GMT
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Post by bravomailer on Feb 9, 2020 5:35:14 GMT
I would think that most Jewish-American actors born before WW2 knew a good deal of Yiddish.
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Post by bravomailer on Feb 9, 2020 5:42:17 GMT
Yiddish words that pop up:
Ganif (crook) - Goodbye Columbus
Vontz (nuisance) - Wag The Dog
Schmatta (rag, old man) - Miller's Crossing
Gunsel - The Maltese Falcon
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Post by Prime etc. on Feb 9, 2020 19:00:00 GMT
IMDB: "Ross Martin grew up on New York City's Lower East Side. He spoke Yiddish, Polish, and Russian before even learning English and later added French, Spanish, and Italian to his amazing repertoire."
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Post by snsurone on Mar 3, 2020 22:55:20 GMT
Rudolph Schildkraut, father of the Oscar winner Joseph, was proficient in the Yiddish Theater when he and his family emigrated to the US.
He was in a few silent films, but I am not sure if he made any talkies, especially in Yiddish.
BTW, I just read a filthy, anti-Semitic thread, so I really appreciate your kind posting, Marshamae.
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Post by marshamae on Mar 3, 2020 23:31:11 GMT
A ti Semitic thread on this site? Better not be.
I love the Yiddish Theater and the films that were made in the 30’s, using Yiddish Theater actors, a couple directed by Edgar Ulmer.
Aside from its inherent interest, it has interesting things to say about ethnic identity in Hollywood films . Here you have a huge wealthy industry, dominated by moguls of Jewish descent, most of whom came from Eastern Europe. They grew up with Yiddish Theater, in Poland and Russia as well as New York, and Klezmer music . And yet their experience with anti sémitismes led them to hesitate to present Jewish characters on screen, with some exceptions .
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Post by snsurone on Mar 4, 2020 11:35:01 GMT
It's true, Marshamae.
I believe it's from the "Religion and Spirituality" forum, and is titled "What is the Worst Religion?"
There is then a filthy diatribe against the Torah, especially using the term "kike god".
Most, if not all, of the replies were extolling different factions of Christianity.
My own response was to call the OP a filthy piece of SHIT.
Reckon I should have reported the POS to Administration, but...
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Post by marshamae on Mar 4, 2020 13:10:47 GMT
Rotten. Sounds like something to stay out of.
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Post by snsurone on Mar 4, 2020 14:02:42 GMT
I happened upon it because I've been staying at hotels the past few weeks (I don't want to explain why) and had to recharge the battery of my laptop.
When I logged into IMDb, that thread popped up, and I guess my curiosity got the best of me.
To be honest, I believed the "worst religion" would be Islam, but no--there popped up that disgusting hate-filled post about Judaism!
Bless you for your compassion, Marshamae and other posters.
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Post by RiP, IMDb on Mar 4, 2020 14:36:50 GMT
I happened upon it because I've been staying at hotels the past few weeks (I don't want to explain why) and had to recharge the battery of my laptop.
When I logged into IMDb, that thread popped up, and I guess my curiosity got the best of me.
To be honest, I believed the "worst religion" would be Islam, but no--there popped up that disgusting hate-filled post about Judaism!
Bless you for your compassion, Marshamae and other posters.
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but I was a major fan of his singing and his films so I forgave him ! (kinda 
) 
