Berta Gersten

Berta Gersten born Berta Gerstenman (1894 – September 10, 1972) was an American actor in Yiddish theater and later in Broadway productions. She took a major role in The Benny Goodman Story film in 1954.

Berta Gersten
Born1894
Kraków
DiedSeptember 10, 1972
The Bronx
NationalityAmerican
Occupationactor
Known forYiddish theatre

Life

Gersten was born in Kraków in 1894 or maybe 1896. Her family moved to New York in 1899 where her father, Avrom Gerstenman, was a translator and her mother, Meshe (née Kopps) was a dressmaker. Her acting debut happened because her mother was working for an actor who needed a child for a production.[1] In 1918 she was recruited by Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troup performing notable Yiddish works and dramatic classics like Chekhov Ibsen and Shakespeare in Yiddish.[2] Stayed with the theatre for 25 years frequently in leading roles with Jacob Ben-Ami.[3]

Berta Gersten with the Yiddish Art Theatre troupe in London in 1935

A film adaptation of the play Mirele Efros was made in the United States in 1939. It was directed by Josef Berne with Gersten in the title role and Ruth Elbaum as Shaindl. It was made in Yiddish with English subtitles.[4]

Gersten acted in Yiddish plays, but in 1954 she took a role in an English-speaking play "The World of Sholom Aleichem" on Broadway. She was known for acting in the theatre, but she played Benny's mother in the 1956 film The Benny Goodman Story. This was her only Hollywood film appearance.[1] Other significant Broadway productions of The Flowering Peach (1955), A Majority of One (1959), and Sophie (1963) included Gersten in the cast. Her lasting acting role was in My Father's Court in 1971.[3]

Death and legacy

Gersten died in hospital in The Bronx aged 78.[2] Gersten is included in the 1971 work Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary.[5]

References
  1. "Berta Gersten". Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  2. "Berta Gersten, a Leading Lady Of Yiddish Stage, Is Dead at 78". The New York Times. 1972-09-11. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  3. "Berta Gersten". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  4. "Mirele Efros". National Center for Jewish Film. jewishfilm.org. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  5. James, Edward T.; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S., eds. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
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