Jewish Actors Association (New York City)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hebrew Actors' Union (abbreviated to HAU, German  Jüdische Schauspielervereinigung ) was an association of Jewish and Yiddish stage artists and, as a union organization for artists, the first of its kind in America.

It was founded in 1899 and for the following decades was the association in which most of the famous Yiddish stage performers were organized. During its existence, it campaigned for decent pay and decent working conditions.

In 2002, at the age of 94, its last president, singer and stage artist Seymour Rexite, died . In October 2005, the Hebrew Actors' Union was declared dissolved by the umbrella union Associated Actors and Artistes of America because of its low membership and unclear leadership as an association.

The estate of the Hebrew Actors' Union was bequeathed to the Yidisher visnshaftlekher institut (YIVO) in 2006 , which thus owns the world's largest collection of objects from Yiddish theater.

Individual evidence

  1. a b History of the HAU in the virtual museum of the Yiddish theater (English); Retrieved June 26, 2017
  2. Where Have You Gone, Molly Picon? - Article of March 19, 2006 in the New York Times on the fate of HAU after its dissolution; accessed on June 27, 2017