Row of Jewish-owned stores near Great Synagogue, Lumobl, Poland (now Ukraine), 1925. (Collection of Photographs and Measurement Drawings, neg. 23441. Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. All rights reserved. Image courtesy the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress). The prevailing image of the shtetl is the one in Fiddler on the Roof: a small, dirt-poor, strictly Jewish village. But shtetls in…
We’re delighted to kick off a series close to our hearts: the story of Molly Picon, for decades a household name in Yiddish theater and vaudeville, then a Broadway star, performer with the USO and radio personality–not to mention Yente the Matchmaker in Fiddler in the Roof. Some called her "the Jewish Charlie Chaplin"; others, “the Jewish Helen Hayes.” We think she stands grandly on her own. Former…
Women in the Performing Arts: Molly Picon by J.D. Arden, M.L.I.S. candidate, Reference Services Research Intern, Center for Jewish History The transition of the performance industry of America from stage to film was difficult for many to manage. One of the most beloved Jewish American actresses who managed that transition successfully was Molly Picon. We all remember her as the elderly but impish Yente in…