Yankel Kalich

Yankel Kalich
Kalich, second from left, in Mezrach und Maarev (1921)
BornNovember 18, 1891
DiedMarch 16, 1975(1975-03-16) (aged 83)
Mahopac, New York, US
Other namesJacob Kalich, Joseph Kalich

Yankel "Jacob" Kalich (Yiddish: יעקב קאַליך, 18 November 1891 – 16 March 1975) was a Yiddish theater actor, director, and producer.

Kalich was born in Rymanów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary in what is now Poland. He immigrated to America in 1914. He opened a theater in Philadelphia. He would go to New York to see Joseph Rumshinsky and would ask him for use of his operettas.

Kalish met actress Molly Picon when she was on the vaudeville circuit, stranded in Boston after an influenza epidemic had closed all the theaters. He hired her to work his Yiddish Theater Season at the Boston Opera House for two years. The couple married on June 29, 1919 in Philadelphia and then took a tour of Europe returning three years later with Picon being a woman "of international reputation." The couple began doing a daily radio show in 1934.: 59  Kalich later went on to produce and direct many productions that she was in including a biographical piece about Picon called Oy Is Dus a Lieben. The two of them toured doing Yiddish theater in Europe after World War II going "anywhere they could find an audience of survivors."

He made the transition from doing Yiddish theater to being in Hollywood films, playing the role of "Yankel" in Fiddler on the Roof.

Personal life

Kalish and his wife Molly Picon lived on a 12-acre farm in Mahopac, New York. He died in 1975 in Mahopac. He is buried in the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance Plot within the Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, New York.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Perl, Lila (1990). Molly Picon: a gift of laughter. Jewish Publication Society of America. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-8276-0336-3. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  2. ↑ "Joseph Rumshinsky Tells About 50 Years in Yiddish Theatre". Welcome to the Museum of the Yiddish Theatre!. 1952-12-01. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  3. 1 2 3 Johns, Eric (April 1960). "A Yiddisher Momma in Miniature". Theatre World. 56 (423): 9. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Molly Picon". Asbury Park Press. April 26, 1970. p. 79. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  5. ↑ Mantle, Burns (October 13, 1942). "Molly Picon Tells Life Story in 'Oy IsDue a Leben'". Daily News. New York. p. 463. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Pekar, Harvey; Buhle, Paul M.; Hartman, Hershl; Gabler, Neal (2011). Yiddishkeit: Jewish vernacular & the new land. New York: Abrams ComicArts. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-8109-9749-3. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  7. ↑ Quin, Eleanor (2024-11-12). "Fiddler on the Roof". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
  8. ↑ Wilson, Scott (2001). Resting Places: the burial sites of over 7,000 famous persons. Jefferson, N.C: McFarland. p. 289. ISBN 0-7864-1014-0. Retrieved 12 November 2024.