(1890-1960)
Born in Sedikor, Russia, Maurice Schwartz came to the United States in 1901 to act in Yiddish theatre in Baltimore. He had considerable touring experience before joining David Kessler's German-language company in 1912. At the outbreak of World War I, such theatres became unpopular, leading Schwartz to take over management of the Irving Place Theatre, rechristened the Yiddish Art Theatre, a company he ran until 1950. Schwartz's flamboyant acting style, coupled with a resonant voice and fierce intellectualism, won him the label of the "John Barrymore of Yiddish Theatre." The Yiddish Art Theatre's productions included Schwartz's adaptations of I. B. Singer's The Brothers Ashkenazi and Yoshe Kalb, and Sholom Aleichem's Tevye the Dairyman, a particular triumph for Schwartz who also played the role in a motion picture. Several YAT productions transferred to Broadway, including If I Were You (1931), Bloody Laughter (1931), Wolves (1932), Yoshe Kalb (1933), The Water Carrier (1936), Borderline (1937), and Conscience (1952).
The Historical Dictionary of the American Theater. James Fisher.