José Maurer ( he, יוסף מאורער; 6 May 1906 – 23 May 1968) was an Israeli-Argentine actor. He was regarded as one of the greatest figures in

Yiddish theatre 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 ...

Early life

He was born Yoshe Maurer Neumann in the town of

Boryslav Boryslav ( uk, Борислав; pl, Borysław) is a city located on the Tysmenytsia (a tributary of the Dniester), in Drohobych Raion, Lviv Oblast (region) of western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Boryslav urban hromada, one of th ...

, then a thriving Oil town in Galicia, Austro-Hungarian Empire. Maurer was the son of the local cobbler, and known as an amateur violinist, actor and singer.

Career

When the famous Vilnius Jewish Theatre (

Vilna Troupe The Vilna Troupe ( yi, Vilner trupe ווילנער טרופע; lt, Vilniaus trupė; pl, Trupa Wileńska; ro, Trupa din Vilna), also known as Fareyn Fun Yiddishe Dramatishe Artistn (Federation of Yiddish Dramatic Actors) and later ''Dramă şi Com ...

), under the direction of Zygmund Turkow visited Boryslav in 1922, the 16-year-old Yoshe was offered a minor role. Two weeks later, as the Theatre left, so did Yoshe, never to return to his home town. As a member of this famous Yiddish Theatre he toured Poland and Romania until 1927, when he emigrated to Argentina. In

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

he became one of the leading actors in the Jewish Yiddish Theatre, playing along such renowned actors as

Joseph Buloff Joseph Buloff (December 6, 1899 – February 27, 1985) was a Jewish actor and director known for his work in Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He received the Itzik Manger Prize for contributions to Yiddish letters in 1974. Life and care ...

Maurice Schwartz Maurice Schwartz, born Avram Moishe Schwartz (June 18, 1890 – May 10, 1960),Jacob Ben-Ami Jacob Ben-Ami (November 23 or December 23, 1890, Minsk, Russian Empire – July 2, 1977, New York City, New York, United States) was a noted Belarusian-born Jewish stage actor who performed equally well in Yiddish and English. Biography Ben-Ami ...

. He was regarded as a first class "character" (drama) actor and as a "tour de force" used to change leading roles, for example, playing with Ben Ami both parts of Man and Devil in ''Got, Mentsch Und Taivel'', the famous Yiddish version of

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...

Jacob Gordin Jacob Michailovitch Gordin (Yiddish: יעקב מיכאַילאָװיטש גאָרדין; May 1, 1853 – June 11, 1909) was a Russian-born American playwright active in the early years of Yiddish theater. He is known for introducing realism an ...

, night after night. On the other hand, he had a gift for comedy and took part in many musical comedies. In the late nineteen-forties, he was elected President of the Jewish Actors Guild in Argentina and served in this post for more than 20 years, until his emigration to Israel. He was a notable co-star in 28 Argentine films, specializing in "foreign" accents and played the Spanish Argentine stage, among others, with

Berta Singerman Berta Singerman Begun ( be, Берта Сінгерман; 9 September 1901 – 10 December 1998), better known as Berta Singerman, was a Belarusian- Argentine singer and actress. Biography Singerman was born in Minsk, then part of the Russian ...

. In 1963, he moved to Israel where he played the Yiddish stage and was elected there too as President of the Yiddish Actor's Guild until his death.

Death and legacy

His lifelong wish was to die on stage and this he did. In 1968, shortly after the curtain went down, and still wearing makeup on his face, he had a stroke and died shortly afterwards, aged 62. His collection of manuscript plays, including translations into Yiddish of modern Argentine drama, was donated to the

Bar Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...

and is now part of the Rena Costa Center for Yiddish Studies.

Filmography

* '' 24 horas en la vida de una mujer'' (1944) * '' Apasionadamente'' (1944) * ''

La Verdadera victoria ''La Verdadera victoria'' (English: Passionately) is a 1944 Argentine romantic comedy film directed by Carlos F. Borcosque and starring Pedro López Lagar. Music by Franz Schubert was used in the film together with compositions by Alejandro Gutié ...

'' (1944) * '' Madame Sans-Gêne'' (1945) * '' Albéniz'' (1947) * ''

A sangre fría A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'' (1947) (a.k.a. ''In Cold Blood'') * '' María de los Ángeles'' (1948) * ''

Tierra del fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...

'' (1948) * ''

Captura recomendada ''Captura recomendada'' is a 1950 Argentine film. Cast * Julián Bourges * Pedro Buchardo * Margarita Corona * Elda Dessel * Lucio Deval * Gloria Ferrandiz * Carmen Giménez * Carlos Ginés * Julia Giusti * José Guisone * R ...

'' (1950) * ''

Piantadino ''Piantadino'' is a 1950 Argentine Spanish language comedy film directed by Francisco Múgica. The film is based on the cartoon character of the same name created by Adolfo Mazzone. Comic strip character Piantadino was a classic comic strip cha ...

'' (1950) * ''Vivir un instante'' (1951) (a.k.a. ''Julia'') * '' The Path to Crime'' (1951) *'' Suburb'' (1951) * '' Payaso'' (1952) (a.k.a. ''The Clown'') * '' El Amor nunca muere'' (1955) (a.k.a. ''Love Never Dies'') * '' Pecadora'' (1955) * ''Oro bajo'' (1956) * ''Que me toquen las golondrinas'' (1957) (a.k.a. ''La Despedida'') * '' Angustia de un secreto'' (1959) * ''

El Dinero de Dios ''God's Money'' ( es, El dinero de Dios) is a 1959 Argentine film directed by Román Viñoly Barreto. It stars Carlos Estrada and Fina Basser. Plot A man is led to commit a robbery by the woman he falls in love with later when he is release ...

'' (1959) * '' La Procesión'' (1960) * '' Héroes de hoy'' (1960) * ''

Yo quiero vivir contigo ''Yo'' is a slang interjection, commonly associated with North American English. It was popularized by the Italian-American community in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the 1940s. Although often used as a greeting and often deployed at the ...

'' (1960) (a.k.a. ''Ich möchte mit Dir leben'' (West Germany)) * ''Quinto año nacional'' (1961) * '' Detrás de la mentira'' (1962) * ''Mate Cosido'' (1962) * ''Las Ratas'' (1963) (a.k.a. ''The Rats'') * '' Alias Flequillo'' (1963) (a.k.a. ''La Pantera del Gatillo'')

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurer, Jose 1906 births 1968 deaths People from Boryslav Ukrainian Jews Israeli male stage actors Israeli male film actors Argentine male stage actors Argentine male film actors Polish emigrants to Argentina Argentine emigrants to Israel Argentine people of Austrian-Jewish descent Argentine people of Polish-Jewish descent Israeli people of Austrian-Jewish descent Austro-Hungarian Jews Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Argentine Ashkenazi Jews Israeli Ashkenazi Jews People from Buenos Aires Israeli people of Argentine-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli male actors