Menasha Skulnick

Menasha Skulnik (May 15, 1890 – June 4, 1970) was a Jewish American actor, primarily known for his roles in Yiddish theater in New York City. Skulnik was also popular on radio, playing Uncle David on The Goldbergs for 19 years. He made many television and Broadway appearances as well, including successful runs in Clifford Odets's The Flowering Peach and Harold Rome's The Zulu and the Zayda.

Born in Warsaw, Poland, Skulnik reportedly ran away at the age of 10 to join a circus. In 1913 he immigrated to the United States, and sometime after his arrival joined a Yiddish stock company in Philadelphia, where his fellow actors included Molly Picon. His diminutive stature (5'4"), high nasal voice, mannerisms and appearance, made him a natural for comedy.

Skulnik knew exactly what he was in comedy: "I play a schlemiel, a dope. Sometimes they call me the Yiddish Charlie Chaplin, and I don't like this. Chaplin's dope is a little bit of a wiseguy. He's got a little larceny in him. I am a pure schlemiel, with no string attached." Skulnik was dubbed the "East Side's Chaplin" by the New York Evening Journal in 1935.

He collapsed on stage in New Haven, Connecticut during a dress rehearsal of a show he was bringing to Broadway, and died several weeks later on June 4, 1970 in New York City. He is buried in the Yiddish theater section of the Mount Hebron Cemetery.

Menasha the Magnificent (1950)

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