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THE S O U THERN ISRAELITE
—
9
Behind The Make-Up
About the Jewishness of Stage Folks
By DR. I. L. BRIL
It is long since the emergence from the
outside world into active participation in
Jewish affairs has excited me, but I must
admit that when, the other day, I heard
Harry Hershfield—of “Abie Kabibble”
fame, and nationally known entertainer,
satirist and wit—declare himself a Zionist
I was stirred.
I know something of Jewish stage folk
and newspaper people and journalists who
are Jews. I knew them in London; I knew
in Berlin; and I know them here.
Most of them are satisfied that they were
born Jews, and let it go at that.
There was Lewis Waller, the eminent
English actor, for a long time associated
with Beerbohm-Tree. His real name was
Lewis, and when I went to interview him
it was with the greatest difficulty that I
got him to admit that he was a Jew. I
was always under the impression that Con
stance Collier is a Jewess, and in England,
when she appeared with Tree in “Herod,”
die was heralded as one. She never denied
it—then. When she was here in 1911 I
wrote her asking for an interview, and at
that time she replied that she was not of
the Jewish faith. Emanuel Reicher, whom I
taught English in Berlin, was a Jew, al
though he had been converted to Christian
ity and then became a Spiritualist. In later
years, during his stay in this country, he
i to some extent identify himself with
' ws - The late Josef Kainz, Germany’s
greatest actor, was a Jew, though he wrote
“I am a good Protestant. I wish I
* re a Jew.” When I showed that letter
Reicher the latter laughed,
knew David Belasco. He never denied
•Jewishness, nor did Sam Bernard or
ney Bernard. Louis Mann declared his
•ishness. Weber and Fields, whom I
k : < J \V
s when they
‘ re in the old
aid Square The-
said clearly
ot they were
s. But none of
^e I could men-
i had any Jew-
affiliation. The
[ ie was true of
e Jewish news-
'»er-men of other
yvs.
Most of the stage
°lks—and that
/. L. B. (Dr. I. L. Bril), veteran Amer
ican- Jewish journalist, ponders and remi-
nesces about the stage idol of yesterday
and tomorrow. A personal, intimate chat
such as only I. L. B. can write.
MimiimiimniminimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimmiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiitimiiiiMiiiiMimiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiinimiiiiiHt
DR. I. L. BRIL
was also true, to a large extent, of the
writers—married, and still marry, out of
the faith. Few, if any, have Jewish affili
ations or contacts with Jewish affairs.
When they die they may be buried as
Jews, but even this is problematic. The
lure of the outside world, the glare of the
footlights and the constant publicity which
surrounds them seems to have a tendency
to draw them away from everything Jew
ish. Perhaps now that it has become the
fashion to hold elaborate funeral services
at the gorgeous Temple Emanu-El at Fifth
Avenue and Sixty-fifth Streets, New York
City, there may be a return to the Jewish
fold—if for no other reason than to have
these striking and stage-like obsequies.
In recent years there has been some
what of an awakening, due primarily to
the Jewish Theatrical Guild, the member
ship of which is composed of Jews on and
around the Rialto. Through the influence
of the Guild there has been a stirring of
the Jewish consciousness of these folks.
Outside of their profession these people
have private lives, although it is said that
the men who entertain, who sing and dance
and compose and write, are so much ab
sorbed in and by their work that it is the
all-in-all with them. It is true that the the
atre and the newspaper office grip those
who work in them as nothing else does. I
know from personal experience. Give me
an old desk, a battered typewriter and the
smell of printer’s ink and the whirr of the
presses, and I am happy. But there does
come a moment when one asks: What’s
all the shooting about? And then the other
life, which has been lying dormant, calls
and demands a hearing. That’s what hap
pened to Hershfield at the Hotel Edison
the other day.
* * *
There are various avenues along which
the return is made. In the case of Harry
Hershfield, as in so many other instances,
the road has led through Zionism. The
work of rebuilding the waste lands of Zion
is the magic wand that is transforming the
lives of so many of our people who have
hitherto stayed away. It is the magnet that
draws them back so irresistibly to Judaism
and to Jewish life. I have seen the proces
sion of those who have returned and I
watch the procession now. And I see real
ized Herzl’s dictum: “The return to Zion
presupposes the return to Judaism.”
I am no hero-worshiper; so many of
the heroes turn out to be shoddy. I am
no idol-worshiper; so many of the idols
have clay feet. But
the coming back of
these people does
move me strongly.
Slowly but sure
ly the dry bones
are stirring. They
move, and they be
come clothed with
flesh and with sin
ew, and a living
spirit is being
breathed into their
nostrils. They then
become the Jew
reborn.
A. F. s.
in the old
WHEN MERRY-MAKERS ARE SERIOUS
Galaxy of Broadway Jewish stars, snapped at a recent banquet. From left to right: Sam Harris, producer;
Joe Weber, comedian; George Jessel, actor; Mayor Jimmy Walker; William Morris, star-maker; Lew Fields,
comedian; Irving Berlin, composer.
Copyright S.