Boris Thomashefsky
| Boris Thomashefsky | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 1866 |
| Died | July 9, 1939 |
| Occupation | Stage actor, creator of Yiddish theatre, publisher, educator |
| Spouse(s) | Bessie Thomashefsky |
| Children |
Esther Thomashefsky 1889-1895 Harry Thomashefsky 1895-1993 Milton (Mickey) Thomasshefsky 1897-1936 Theodore Hertzl Thomashefsky (later Ted Thomas) 1904-1992 |
Esther Thomashefsky 1889-1895 Harry Thomashefsky 1895-1993 Milton (Mickey) Thomasshefsky 1897-1936
Boris Thomashefsky (Russian: Борис Пинхасович Томашевский; 18661–1939, sometimes written Thomashevsky, Thomaschevsky, etc. Yiddish באריס טאמאשעבסקי) was a Ukrainian-born (later American) Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish theatre.
Thomashefsky was born in Ositniashke (or: Asitnyashka), a village in the Kiev Governorate in the Russian Empire, and grew up in the neighboring town Kamianka (today in the Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine). At the age of 11 he left for Berdichev (Berdychiv, Ukraine), where he trained as a meshoyrer (choir singer) in the renowned synagogue choir of cantor Nisan Belzer.
In 1881 he emigrated with his family to the United States, and just a year later, while still a teenager, he was largely responsible for the first performance of Yiddish theatre in New York City, in what was to become the Yiddish Theater District. He has been credited as the pioneer of Borscht Belt entertainment.
Although Thomashefsky left Imperial Russia at a time when Yiddish theater was still thriving there (it was banned in September 1883), he had never actually seen it performed prior to the 1882 performance he brought together in New York. Thomashefsky, who was earning some money by singing on Saturdays at the Henry Street Synagogue on the Lower East Side, was also working as a cigarette maker in a sweatshop, where he first heard songs from the Yiddish theater, sung by some of his fellow workers.
He managed to convince a local tavern owner to invest in bringing over some performers. The first performance was Abraham Goldfaden's Yiddish operetta די מכשפה (The Witch). The performance was a bit of a disaster: pious and prosperous "uptown" German Jews opposed to Yiddish theater did a great deal to sabotage it. Thomashefsky's performing career was launched partly because part of the sabotage consisted of bribing the soubrette to fake a sore throat: Thomashefsky went on in her place.
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