Hymie Jacobson
Encyclopedia
Hymie Jacobson was an American Jewish actor and composer in Yiddish vaudeville
, films and theater. Born 1895 in Chicago
to actors Joseph and Bessie Jacobson. His sister, Henrietta, married Yiddish theatre
actor Julius Adler
; his brother, Irving, was also a performer. He and Irving also owned some of the key venues for Yiddish theater in New York City
. He played child roles from the age of 4 in Cincinnati. His first adult role was at the Arch Street Theater in Philadelphia (1917) as the comic in Panie Romani. In 1918 he played in the Peoples Theater and the following year was buff-comic (the company buffoon) at the Second Avenue Theater. In 1921 he played at Boris Thomashevsky's National Theater, in 1927 at the Public Theater
, then in Boston and Chicago.
A coupletist
, Jacobson composed both music and lyrics to many of the comic songs he sang and played piano to accompany himself. In 1925 and 1929 Nahum Stutchkoff's operetta Two Brides aka A Small Town Wedding featured music by Hymie Jacobson. He starred with his wife Miriam Kressyn
in Der purimshpiler.
In the 1940s he organized his own orchestra in which Paul Pinkus and the Ellstein brothers played; they accompanied famous singers like Jennie Goldstein
. He co-wrote, with his brother Irving
, the novelty song A Bisl Fefer, A Bisl Zalts (A little pepper, a little salt). Two of his other songs were Mit Fertsik Yor Tsurik (Forty Years Ago), and Palestina Undzer Heym.
He died in 1952 in Miami, Florida.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
, films and theater. Born 1895 in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to actors Joseph and Bessie Jacobson. His sister, Henrietta, married Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revues; melodrama; naturalist drama; expressionist and...
actor Julius Adler
Julius Adler (actor)
Julius Adler was a Jewish actor, writer, and director in Yiddish theater.-Career:He was born in Biłgoraj, Poland into an orthodox Jewish family. When his father died six years later his mother emigrated to America leaving the children with grandparents. In 1920 the family was reunited in the...
; his brother, Irving, was also a performer. He and Irving also owned some of the key venues for Yiddish theater in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He played child roles from the age of 4 in Cincinnati. His first adult role was at the Arch Street Theater in Philadelphia (1917) as the comic in Panie Romani. In 1918 he played in the Peoples Theater and the following year was buff-comic (the company buffoon) at the Second Avenue Theater. In 1921 he played at Boris Thomashevsky's National Theater, in 1927 at the Public Theater
Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village...
, then in Boston and Chicago.
A coupletist
Coupletist
A coupletist is a poet, singer, or actor who specializes in couplets - wittily ambiguous, political, or satirical songs, usually in cabaret settings, usually with refrains, generally used as a transition between two cabaret numbers....
, Jacobson composed both music and lyrics to many of the comic songs he sang and played piano to accompany himself. In 1925 and 1929 Nahum Stutchkoff's operetta Two Brides aka A Small Town Wedding featured music by Hymie Jacobson. He starred with his wife Miriam Kressyn
Miriam Kressyn
Miriam Kressyn , one of the "First Ladies of the Yiddish Theater", acted and sang on stage, film and radio; she wrote plays as well. -Personal life:...
in Der purimshpiler.
In the 1940s he organized his own orchestra in which Paul Pinkus and the Ellstein brothers played; they accompanied famous singers like Jennie Goldstein
Jennie Goldstein
Jennie Goldstien , Yiddish theater actress and singer.-Early Life:Goldstein was born in New York; her father was a butcher. When she was 6, actress Rosa Margulies noticed her pretty voice and drew her into child roles at the Windsor Theater, including Hanele di neytorin with Bertha Kalish...
. He co-wrote, with his brother Irving
Irving Jacobson
Irving Jacobson , Yiddish theater star, American stage and film actor. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio to actors Joseph and Bessie Jacobson, his brother was Hymie Jacobson and his sister Henrietta Jacobson, who married Julius Adler. Irving played juvenile roles in Pinkhas Thomashefsky's troupe and later...
, the novelty song A Bisl Fefer, A Bisl Zalts (A little pepper, a little salt). Two of his other songs were Mit Fertsik Yor Tsurik (Forty Years Ago), and Palestina Undzer Heym.
He died in 1952 in Miami, Florida.
Filmography
- The Jewish Gypsy, 1930, with Miriam Kressyn, director Sydney Goldin
- The Sailor's Sweetheart, 1933, with Miriam Kressyn, director Sydney Goldin
- Gelebt un Gelakh (Live and Laugh), 1933 footage
- Der Purimshpiler, 1937, with Miriam Kressyn and Zigmund Turkow, director Joseph Green
- Catskill Honeymoon, 1950, conductor, music arranger, and producer