Ben-Zion Wittler
Ben-Zion Wittler , also Bernhard Wittler , Ben-Tsion Vitler , BenZion Witler (* 1907 , † 1961 ) was an Austrian-American-Jewish actor , singer and composer .
Life
Wittler came to Vienna with his family from Bels in Galicia at the age of six . Here he received a strictly Hasidic religious education. In 1919, at the age of twelve, he joined the " Freie Jüdische Volksbühne " ( Free Jewish People's Theater ) under a pseudonym, because he feared the reaction of his family . For a while he worked as a journalist for the Zionist " Wiener Morgenzeitung ". In 1926 he returned to the stage. He appeared in comedies and operettas at the " Jewish Artists' Games " in Vienna and studied the opera repertoire. In the mid-1930s he spent three years in Poland, where he became a star. From 1940 he lived in the USA, played on stages in New York and Chicago, toured Argentina, and in the 1950s toured all of North and South America, Israel and South Africa. He also recorded hundreds of Yiddish songs. His hits include:
- Beloved
- Dzhankoye
- Varshe
- Akhtsik he, zibetsik zi
- Byalostok
- Mayn old heym
- Oyfn veg shteyt a boym
- Live un lakh
- Krokhmalne gas
- Zing, Brider, Zing!
- Belz
literature
- Dr. Khariton Berman, Yiddish Forward April 14, 1995, "The Groyser Yiddisher Actor, Ben Tsion Witler; Tsu Zayn Nintsikstn Geboyrn Yor".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Brigitte Dalinger: Extinct stars. History of the Jewish theater in Vienna, Picus Verlag Vienna 1998
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wittler, Ben-Zion |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wittler, Bernhard; Vitler, Ben-Tsion; Witler, BenZion |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian-American actor, singer and composer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bels |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1961 |