Molly Picon
by Anna Khomina, Research and Special Projects Intern, Center for Jewish History

In 1903, at five years old, Molly Picon (1898-1992) was on her way to a Philadelphia theater for a contest. On the trolley car, a drunken passenger challenged her to perform her act on the spot, and she complied, adding on an imitation of the drunk at the end, to the delight of passengers. So began the eighty year career of the “petite darling” of Yiddish theater, which spanned radio, television, film, and stage, and took Picon to Palestine, South Africa, Israel, Australia, and Europe. Although she played a variety of roles, the one she reprises most often was perfect for her small stature and comedic nature: Yankele, a young plucky ragamuffin, a role she exaggerates to have played “over 3,000 times,” and well into her fifties. Other works include 1937’s Yidl Mitn Fidl, for which Picon was paid $10,000, making Picon the highest-earning Yiddish film star, and the 1923 film Ost und West (East and West), about which a critic wrote, “it breathes Jewish character, but does not satisfy … thank God … high literary expectations.” To modern audiences, she is perhaps best known for the role of Yente the meddling matchmaker in 1971’s Fiddler on the Roof.

In 1976, a year after husband and creative partner Jacob Karlich’s death, she donated hundreds of her personal works. They give an insight to the actress’ life and include photographs, posters, and eighteen scrapbooks of newspaper clippings and ephemera. Picon’s scrapbooks were the focus of a 2009 exhibit by the American Jewish Historical Society, the highlights of which can be viewed here. The scrapbooks span Picon’s lengthy career and have been completely digitized. You can view them at this link. You can also read a more extensive biography of Molly Picon’s life on the Jewish Women’s Archive.

Above Image: Molly Picon in Circus Girl, 1928, American Jewish Historical Society.