Fyvush Finkel Tells His Grandfather’s Best Joke
By Jordan Kutzik August 31, 2017
This article originally appeared in the Yiddish Forverts.
The legendary actor Fyvush Finkel, who got his start in Yiddish theater and later made the transition to the English stage and television, died a little over a year ago. The last surviving star of the heyday of America’s Yiddish theater, he was still performing only weeks before his passing.
Like many of the most important Yiddish cultural figures of our time, Finkel was interviewed as part of the Yiddish Book Center’s Wexler Oral History Project. In the interview, Finkel discusses his many years on the Yiddish stage, the famous actors and directors he worked with, and his thoughts on the future of Yiddish theater. The full interview can be watched here.
In this charming excerpt, told in Yiddish with English subtitles, Finkel recalls his grandfather, who taught him to read and write Yiddish and from whom he inherited his famous sense of humor.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
