| Celia Adler | |
|---|---|
The young Celia Adler |
|
| Born | Celia Feinman Adler December 6, 1889 New York, New York, U.S. |
| Died | January 31, 1979 (aged 89) Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Mount Hebron Cemetery Yiddish Theatre Section |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1937–1961 |
| Spouse | Lazar Freed Jack Cone Nathan Forman |
Celia Feinman Adler (December 6, 1889 – January 31, 1979) was an American Jewish actress, known as the "First Lady of the Yiddish Theatre".[1]
She was the daughter of Jacob Adler and Dinah Shtettin, and the older half-sister of Stella, Luther Adler and Jacob Adler's five other children.[1][2] Unlike Stella and Luther, who became well known for their work with the Group Theater, their film work and as theorists of the craft of acting, she was almost exclusively a stage actress.[2]
Mainly known for her work in Yiddish theater, where she was associated with the Yiddish Art Theater movement of the 1920s and 1930s,[2] she also gave one of the first theatrical portrayals of a Holocaust survivor, in Luther Adler's 1946 Broadway production of A Flag Is Born (written by Ben Hecht and featuring a 22-year-old Marlon Brando, Stella Adler's prize pupil in method acting).[3] Adler, along with co-stars Paul Muni and Marlon Brando, refused to accept compensation above the Actor's Equity minimum wage because of her commitment to the cause of creating a Jewish State in Israel.[4]
In 1937, Celia Adler starred in the Henry Lynn Yiddish film, Where Is My Child. From 1937-1952, she appeared in several films and television programs.[5] Her last film was a 1985 British documentary with archive footage, Almonds and Raisins,[6] narrated by, among others, Orson Welles, Herschel Bernardi and Seymour Rechzeit.[1]
She was married three times, to actor Lazar Freed, theatrical manager Jack Cone, and businessman Nathan Forman.[1] All three marriages ended in divorce. One of her sons by Lazar Freed, Dr. Selwyn Freed, was a renowned urologist in New York City.
She is buried in the Yiddish Theatre Section of Mount Hebron Cemetery, Flushing, New York.[7]