Celia Adler

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(s) Lazar Freed
Jack Cone
Nathan Forman
Celia Adler as a child

Celia Feinman Adler (December 6, 1889 – January 31, 1979) was an American actress, known as the "First Lady of the Yiddish Theatre".[1]

Early life

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]

Career

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]

Personal life

She was married three times,[7] to actor Lazar Freed, theatrical manager Jack Cone, and businessman Nathan Forman.[1]

Death

She is buried in the Yiddish Theatre Section of Mount Hebron Cemetery having died from a heart attack

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Celia Adler at the Internet Movie Database
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Adler, Jacob (1999). A Life on the Stage: A Memoir, translated with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld. New York: Knopf. p. 381 (commentary). ISBN 0-679-41351-0.
  3. ↑ Medoff, Rafael (2004-07-07). "When Marlon Brando Spoke Up for the Jews". Israel Resource Review. Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2007-04-09.
  4. ↑ David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies
  5. ↑ Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), pages 36,51,111n,209,212,253,306, J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations
  6. ↑ Bridge of Light (Yiddish Film Between Two Worlds), page 358n, J. Hoberman, Museum of Modern Art, Published by Shocken Books, 1991, YIVO translations
  7. ↑ "Adler, Celia (1890–1979)". Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Gale Research Inc. Retrieved 9 January 2013.(subscription required)

External links