Fraydele Oysher

[Marvin Margoshes <physchem...>]

Fraydele Oysher, Actress Who Starred in Yiddish Theater, Dies at 90This is in 
the NY Times today, Jan. 10.

       

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      January 10, 2004
      Fraydele Oysher, Actress Who Starred in Yiddish Theater, Dies at 90
      By STUART LAVIETES
           
      raydele Oysher, a star of the Yiddish theater and a member of a musical 
dynasty, died on Monday at her home in Manhattan, said her daughter, the singer 
and comedian Marilyn Michaels. She was 90.

      The daughter of a cantor, Ms. Oysher began her career as a child actress 
in the Yiddish theaters that once dotted Second Avenue on the Lower East Side. 
She starred in musicals written for her, including "The Little Queen," "The 
Golden Girl" and "Fraydele's Wedding." 

      She also specialized in one of the Yiddish theater's staple roles: the 
Yeshiva boy who - it is revealed in the final, showstopping number - is really 
a girl.

      "I was cute, I was flat and I was a terrific piece of work," she 
explained in a 1996 interview with The Daily News.

      As an adult, she became one of the first women to sing cantorial music 
onstage, long before women were allowed to assume that role in Reform and 
Conservative synagogues. She also toured the United States, South America and 
Cuba, performing folk songs, theater songs and liturgical chants with her 
husband, Harold Sternberg. 

      Mr. Sternberg, who appeared on Broadway in a number of George Gershwin's 
shows, was also a basso profundo in the Metropolitan Opera chorus for 40 years.

      Ms. Oysher's brother, Moishe, was a major star in Yiddish theater and 
films and a cantor known as "the master singer of his people."

      Fraydele Oysher was born on Oct. 3, 1913, in Lipkon, Bessarabia, which 
was then a Russian province. (It is now part of Moldova.)

      In addition to Ms. Michaels, who lives in Manhattan, Ms. Oysher is 
survived by her son, Michael Sternberg, also of Manhattan, and two 
grandchildren.



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