Menasha Skulnik
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Menasha Skulnik (May 15, 1890-June 4, 1970) was a Jewish American actor, born in Warsaw, Poland, primarily known for his roles in Yiddish theater in New York City. Skulnik was also popular on radio, playing Uncle David on The Goldbergs for 19 years, and made many television and Broadway appearances as well, including successful runs in "The Flowering Peach" by Clifford Odets and Harold Rome's "The Zulu and the Zayda".
Skulnik's first name, Menasha, comes from the Old Testament. The hero Joseph, who had a coat of many colors, had a son named Menasha.
At the age of ten, Skulnik ran away to join a circus. In 1913, he joined a Yiddish stock company in Philadelphia and began getting comic parts. His diminutive stature (5'4"), high nasal voice, mannerisms and appearance, made him a natural for comedy.
Skulnik knew exactly what he was in comedy: "I play a schlemiel, a dope. Sometimes they call me the Yiddish Charlie Chaplin and I don't like this. Chaplin's dope is a little bit of a wiseguy. He's got a little larceny in him. I am a pure schlemiel, with no string attached." [1] Skulnik was dubbed the "East Side's Chaplin" by the New York Evening Journal in 1935. [2]
He collapsed on stage in New Haven, Connecticut during a dress rehearsal of a show he was bringing to Broadway, and died several weeks later on June 4, 1970 in New York City.[3] He is buried in the Yiddish theater section of the Mount Hebron Cemetery.
Contents |
[edit] Stage
- In a Tenement House (1932)
- God Man and Devil (1935)
- The Perfect Fishel (1935)
- Laugh Night (1936)
- Schlemihl (1936)
- Yossel and His Wives (1937)
- The Little Tailor (1938)
- The Wise Fool (1938)
- Mazel Tov, Rabbi (1938)
- Three Men and a Girl (1939)
- The Fifth Season (1953)
- The Flowering Peach (1954)
- The 49th Cousin (1960)
- The Zulu and the Zayda (1965)
- Chu Chem (1966)
[edit] Radio
The Goldbergs
[edit] Television
Menasha the Magnificent (1950)
