Mina Bern (May 5, 1911 â€" January 10, 2010) was a Polish-born
American actress. She was a star of the Yiddish theater.Mina Bernholtz
was born in Bielsk Podlaski in Poland. Her theatrical debut was in
Bialystock under the director Yehuda Greenhoyz. In 1930, through her
relative Moishe Broderzon, she shortened her name and auditioned
successfully to join the Ararat Yiddish cabaret theater in Šódź,
and then played at the Warsaw Scala and later, the Kaminska theaters
and the local folk theater. With Dina Halperin and Sam Bronetski she
worked in the collective Our Theater, and later with Zygmunt Turkov. A
few years later, she established a small cabaret theater in
Białystok.Bern fled to Russia with her daughter after the Nazi
invasion of Poland; there she played with the "Bialistocker yidishn
miniatur-teatr" (miniature revi-teater) of Shimon Dzigan and Israel
Shumacher. In 1944 she was sent to a camp in Uganda where she did
children's theater for Poles stationed there. Through Jewish family
connections she went to Kenya in 1945 and from there to Israel where
she worked with Jenny Lavitz in the revue Rozhinkes mit mandlen,
favorably reviewed and subsequently staged at the Hebrew Li-La-Lo
revue theater. In 1949, after an incident in which she was accused of
sending a thug to beat up theater critic Haim Gamzu, who had written a
bad review of her performance, she emigrated to the United States. She
married actor and producer Ben Bonus. Living in New York City, she and
her husband operated the Village Theater, which ran Yiddish
performances. She recorded songs in Hebrew.[citation needed]Bern
received an Obie Award in 1999, for her performance in Sweet Dreams
(Zise khaloymes), at the Folksbiene.
American actress. She was a star of the Yiddish theater.Mina Bernholtz
was born in Bielsk Podlaski in Poland. Her theatrical debut was in
Bialystock under the director Yehuda Greenhoyz. In 1930, through her
relative Moishe Broderzon, she shortened her name and auditioned
successfully to join the Ararat Yiddish cabaret theater in Šódź,
and then played at the Warsaw Scala and later, the Kaminska theaters
and the local folk theater. With Dina Halperin and Sam Bronetski she
worked in the collective Our Theater, and later with Zygmunt Turkov. A
few years later, she established a small cabaret theater in
Białystok.Bern fled to Russia with her daughter after the Nazi
invasion of Poland; there she played with the "Bialistocker yidishn
miniatur-teatr" (miniature revi-teater) of Shimon Dzigan and Israel
Shumacher. In 1944 she was sent to a camp in Uganda where she did
children's theater for Poles stationed there. Through Jewish family
connections she went to Kenya in 1945 and from there to Israel where
she worked with Jenny Lavitz in the revue Rozhinkes mit mandlen,
favorably reviewed and subsequently staged at the Hebrew Li-La-Lo
revue theater. In 1949, after an incident in which she was accused of
sending a thug to beat up theater critic Haim Gamzu, who had written a
bad review of her performance, she emigrated to the United States. She
married actor and producer Ben Bonus. Living in New York City, she and
her husband operated the Village Theater, which ran Yiddish
performances. She recorded songs in Hebrew.[citation needed]Bern
received an Obie Award in 1999, for her performance in Sweet Dreams
(Zise khaloymes), at the Folksbiene.
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