José Maurer (; 6 May 1906 – 23 May 1968) was an Austro-Hungarian-Argentine actor. He was regarded as one of the leading actors in

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

Early life

He was born Yoshe Maurer Neumann in the town of

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

, then a thriving Oil town in Galicia,

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. 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), 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 hometown. As a member of this famous Yiddish Theatre, he toured Poland and Romania until 1927, when he immigrated to Argentina. In

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

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 theatre, Broadway and Yiddish theatre. He received the Itzik Manger Prize for contributions to Yiddish letters in 19 ...

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 (state), New York, United States) was a noted Belarusian-born Jewish stage actor who performed equally well in Yiddish and English. ...

. 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 folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

by Jacob Gordin, 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 (; 9 September 1901 – 10 December 1998), better known as Berta Singerman, was an Argentine singer and actress. Biography Singerman was born in Minsk, then part of the Russian Empire into a Jewish family. She emigrated t ...

. 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 afterward, 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, , ''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 university institution. It has 20,000 ...

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

Filmography

* ''

Apasionadamente ''Apasionadamente'' (English language:Passionately) is a 1944 Argentina, Argentine romantic comedy film of the Argentine classical cinema, classical era of Argentine cinema directed by Luis César Amadori and written by Enrique Vico Carré. Cast ...

'' (1944) * '' 24 horas en la vida de una mujer'' (1944) * '' Madame Sans-Gêne'' (1945) * '' La Verdadera victoria'' (1945) as Fisher * '' Albéniz'' (1947) * '' A sangre fría'' (1947) (a.k.a. ''In Cold Blood'') as Doctor * ''

María de los Ángeles Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

'' (1948) * ''

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

'' (1948) * '' Captura recomendada'' (1950) * '' Piantadino'' (1950) * ''

Suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

'' (1951) * '' The Path to Crime'' (1951) * '' To Live for a Moment'' (1951)) as Walaska * '' Payaso'' (1952) (a.k.a. ''The Clown'') as Payaso (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) as Defensor * '' El Dinero de Dios'' (1959) as Monk in the Monastery * '' Yo quiero vivir contigo'' (1960) (a.k.a. ''Ich möchte mit Dir leben'' (West Germany)) * '' La Procesión'' (1960) * '' Héroes de hoy'' (1960) * ''Quinto año nacional'' (1961) * ''Mate Cosido'' (1962) * '' Detrás de la mentira'' (1962) * ''Las Ratas'' (1963) (a.k.a. ''The Rats'') * '' Alias Flequillo'' (1963) (a.k.a. ''La Pantera del Gatillo'') as Sergio (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maurer, Jose 1906 births 1968 deaths People from Boryslav Jewish Ukrainian actors 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 Jews from Austria-Hungary Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Actors from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Argentine Ashkenazi Jews Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Male actors from Buenos Aires Israeli people of Argentine-Jewish descent Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent 20th-century Israeli male actors Burials at South Cemetery in Israel