Fraydele Oysher (October 3, 1913 – January 5, 2004) was an American

Yiddish theater Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...

actress and musical performer. She was one of the first female singers to publicly perform cantorial music. She was the mother of American actress and comedian

Marilyn Michaels Marilyn Michaels (born Marilyn Sternberg, February 26, 1943) is a comedian, singer, actress, impressionist, author, and composer. Family Marilyn Michaels was born in Manhattan to Russian Jewish émigré parents. Her mother was cantoress and actr ...

and Michael Sternberg, the sister of American actor and cantor

Moishe Oysher Moishe Oysher () (March 8, 1906 – November 27, 1958) was an American cantor, recording artist, and film and Yiddish theatre actor.Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book 3, 2407. During the 1940s and 1950s he was one of the to ...

, and the wife of Harold Sternberg, a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

and

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

performer. Throughout her career, she performed in the United States, Canada, South America, and Cuba.

Life and work

Early life

Oysher was born in Lipkon,

Bessarabia Bessarabia (; Gagauz: ''Besarabiya''; Romanian: ''Basarabia''; Ukrainian: ''Бессара́бія'') is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Be ...

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, which is now part of

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The List of states ...

. She was the daughter of a cantor. As a child, Fraydele and her brother Moishe were taught synagogue chants by their father, Selig Oysher, and were immersed in religious music. The Oysher family immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

when Fraydele and Moishe were children.

Performance career

Oysher worked as a child actress, performing in musicals written specifically for her at Yiddish theaters in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, among them ''The Little Queen'', ''The Golden Girl'', and ''Fraydele's Wedding.'' Frequently, she played the role of the Yeshiva boy who is later revealed to be a girl. After moving to New York, Oysher performed in Louis Kramer's acting troupe at the Amphion Theatre, on radio, and in concerts.

Personal life

She and Harold Sternberg married in 1935. Sternberg performed at the Metropolitan Opera as a

basso profundo Basso profondo (Italian: "deep bass"), sometimes basso profundo, contrabass or oktavist, is the lowest bass voice type. While ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'' defines a typical bass as having a range that is limited to the second E below ...

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

singer. Oysher had two children, daughter Marilyn Michaels and son Michael Sternberg.

References

External links

Guide to the Papers of Fraydele Oysher
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York {{DEFAULTSORT:Oysher, Fraydele 1913 births 2004 deaths People from Briceni District People from Khotinsky Uyezd Moldovan Jews Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Moldovan-Jewish descent Jewish American actresses Yiddish theatre performers 20th-century American women 20th-century American people 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women