Nellie Casman (1896?â€"1984) was an actress and singer in Yiddish
theater. She was born in Proskurov, Russia, and moved to the United
States in the early 1900s.; She lived in Philadelphia where her father
was a hazzan. Casman showed such talent as an actress when a child,
the actress Rose Rubin took her into a professional Yiddish theater,
where she began to play child roles in 1910.Playing Gitele in Zalmen
Libin's Gebrokhene hertser (Broken Hearts), she came to the attention
of Regina Prager's husband, a theater manager, who hired her for his
company in New York. She played several years as a soubrette in
vaudeville houses and became successful enough to be hired to replace
Bessie Thomashevsky in Edelstein's People's Theater where she played
opposite David Kessler in Mish Mash. She then abandoned "legitimate
theater" and went back to vaudeville (in English as well as Yiddish).
She recorded Yiddish songs and couplets for the Victor and Columbia
labels. In 1913, Casman married playwright Shlomo “Samuelâ€
Steinberg and collaborated with him in writing songs and shows; their
biggest hit, written in 1923, was Yossel, Yossel, popularized in
English as “Joseph Joseph†by the Andrews Sisters in 1938.She went
to Warsaw in 1929, concertizing and appearing in her husband's play A
khasndl oyf shabos. The couple went to Russia as well, where she
performed in Dos vaybele. They then went to Argentina and toured with
equal success. She played at the Odeon Theater in New York and then
went back to Argentina where she performed Spanish songs and appeared
in Steinberg's Di Komediantke. In 1932 she performed in London, Paris,
Berlin, and Riga, then back to Warsaw. Her most popular character was
a "Little Cantor" in the Aron Nager's play "Dos Khazndl".In 1937 she
played Di zingerin at the Roxbury and then left again for Argentina,
where she toured the provinces in Lilian's operetta A shif mit
kabtsonim (A ship with paupers) She performed on radio and later on
TV, in English, and did some film work at Paramount Studio.
theater. She was born in Proskurov, Russia, and moved to the United
States in the early 1900s.; She lived in Philadelphia where her father
was a hazzan. Casman showed such talent as an actress when a child,
the actress Rose Rubin took her into a professional Yiddish theater,
where she began to play child roles in 1910.Playing Gitele in Zalmen
Libin's Gebrokhene hertser (Broken Hearts), she came to the attention
of Regina Prager's husband, a theater manager, who hired her for his
company in New York. She played several years as a soubrette in
vaudeville houses and became successful enough to be hired to replace
Bessie Thomashevsky in Edelstein's People's Theater where she played
opposite David Kessler in Mish Mash. She then abandoned "legitimate
theater" and went back to vaudeville (in English as well as Yiddish).
She recorded Yiddish songs and couplets for the Victor and Columbia
labels. In 1913, Casman married playwright Shlomo “Samuelâ€
Steinberg and collaborated with him in writing songs and shows; their
biggest hit, written in 1923, was Yossel, Yossel, popularized in
English as “Joseph Joseph†by the Andrews Sisters in 1938.She went
to Warsaw in 1929, concertizing and appearing in her husband's play A
khasndl oyf shabos. The couple went to Russia as well, where she
performed in Dos vaybele. They then went to Argentina and toured with
equal success. She played at the Odeon Theater in New York and then
went back to Argentina where she performed Spanish songs and appeared
in Steinberg's Di Komediantke. In 1932 she performed in London, Paris,
Berlin, and Riga, then back to Warsaw. Her most popular character was
a "Little Cantor" in the Aron Nager's play "Dos Khazndl".In 1937 she
played Di zingerin at the Roxbury and then left again for Argentina,
where she toured the provinces in Lilian's operetta A shif mit
kabtsonim (A ship with paupers) She performed on radio and later on
TV, in English, and did some film work at Paramount Studio.
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