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1-5 of 5
- Actor
- Soundtrack
The actor and Broadway director Luther Adler was born into a Yiddish theatrical dynasty. One of the six children born to Jacob P. and Sara Adler, he made his debut in the world in New York City, originally billed as Lutha J. Adler. His full siblings Charles, Jay, Julia, and Stella (the famous acting teacher) as well as his half-siblings Celia and Abram Adler all appeared on Broadway, and his father Jacob, the biggest star of the Yiddish-language theater, was considered one of the great American actors.
The Yiddish theater was an important cultural venue in the days when the millions of Jewish immigrants in the greater metropolitan New York area spoke Yiddish as their first (and sometimes only) language. People who trained and appeared in the Yiddish theater were instrumental in the development of the modern American theater and film, and some, including Sidney Lumet, are still active in the 21st century. It was in this cultural milieu that Luther and his siblings got their grounding in acting and the theater.
Jacob Adler owned and operated his own stage in New York's Lower East Side, and Luther began appearing in the family productions at the age of five with the Adler production of "Schmendrick." He made his official debut as an actor at the age of 13 at his father's theater and his Broadway debut at the the age of 18. Billed as Lutha Adler, he appeared in the Provincetown Players' production of Theodore Drieser's "The Hand of the Potter" in December 1921 at the Provincetown Playhouse,
Adler's first Broadway hit was "Humoresque" in 1923, and he appeared regularly in top productions throughout the '20s, including "Street Scene" (1929) and "Red Dust" (1929). Along with his sister 'Stella Adler", Luther Adler was one of the original members of the Group Theatre acting company, which was formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman (his future brother-in-law), Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasberg. Others who would make their bones in the company were Elia Kazan, Julius "John" Garfield, Howard Da Silva, Franchot Tone, John Randolph, Will Geer, Clifford Odets and Lee J. Cobb.
The Group Theatre was dedicated to bringing realism to the American stage and was instrumental in introducing the Stanislavsky technique into American acting. Most members were leftists if not communists, and the collective wanted to produce plays dealing with social issues. For the Groupe Theatre, Adler appeared in "Night Over Taos" (1932), "Success Story" (1933), "Alien Corn" (1933) and two seminal works of the American stage written by Odets: "Awake and Sing!" (1935) and "Golden Boy" (1937). He played opposite leading ladies Katharine Cornell in "Alien Corn" (1933), his sister Stella in "Gold Eagle Guy "(1934), "Awake and Sing!" and "Paradise Lost" (both 1935), and Frances Farmer in "Golden Boy" (1937).
His appearance as the urban ethnic boxer Joe Bonaparte in Odets' "Golden Boy" arguably was his greatest role, but when the film was made in 1939, he was passed over for the improbably cast Wlliam Holden, a white-bread WASP. Although Adler appeared in many motion pictures, his reputation would remain primarily that of a stage actor.
Adler became a director on Broadway in 1942, though his first staging, "They Should Have Stayed in Bed", was a flop, lasting but 11 performances. He next directed Ben Hecht's pro-Israel propaganda play "A Flag is Born" in 1946, starring the great Paul Muni, a graduate of the Yiddish theater, and newcomer Marlon Brando, an Irish-American born-Protestant who had been trained by his sister Stella. The play, which raised money for Jewsh refugees from the Holocaust seeking sanctuary in Palestine, was a hit, running for 120 performances. He also directed "Angel Street" (1955) and "A View from the Bridge" (1960). He last appeared on Broadway as a replacement in the long running "Fiddler on the Roof."
Adler made his movie debut in Lancer Spy (1937), but he never became a star in that medium. His best roles like "Golden Boy" and "Humoresque" were taken by other actors, including Group Theatre alumnus John Garfield. He had memorable supporting turns in the noir classic D.O.A. (1949), in Joseph Losey's remake of M (1951), in Paul Muni's last film The Last Angry Man (1959), in the Holocaust drama The Man in the Glass Booth (1975), and as Paul Newman's mobster uncle in Absence of Malice (1981). He also worked frequently on television.
From 1938 until 1947, Adler was married to the actress Sylvia Sidney. They had one child, a son, Jacob. Luther Adler died in Kutztown, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1984. He was 81 years old.- Writer
- Actor
- Additional Crew
Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky was born on January 24, 1893, in St. Petersburg, Russia. His father, named Boris Shklovsky, was a teacher. Shklovsky himself described his family as Jewish-German Russians. Young Shklovsky showed a strong and unusual character. He dropped out of school, but later graduated with honors from a Gymnazium in St. Petersburg.
Shklovsky was fond of literature since his young years. In 1911 he published his first poems and stories. From 1912-1914 he studied at the Department of Philology of St. Petersburg University. In 1914 he met Vladimir Mayakovsky and they became life-long friends. In 1916 Shklovsky together with Yuri Tynyanov and Osip Brik became one of the founders of Society for study of poetic language (OPOYAZ). At the same time he was drafted in the Imperial Army and served in the First World War. Shklovsky was wounded in action and was decorated with the Cross of the Order of St. George for his courage. In 1917 he was a representative of the Provisional Government in Persia. After the Russian Revolution of 1917, Sklovsky took part in the anti-Communist treason.
From 1918-1922 Shklovsky lived in St. Petersburg. He joined the literary group Serapionovy Bratya (The Serapion Brothers). The group was initiated by Yevgeni Zamyatin who professed that "true literature can be created only by madmen, hermits, heretics, dreamers, rebels, and skeptics" at his literary seminars with aspiring writers. They took their name from the story of E.T.A.Hoffmann titled 'Serapion Brothers', about artistic freedom. The group included Mikhail Zoschenko, Lev Lunts, Konstantin Fedin, Nikolai Tikhonov, Mikhail Slonimsky, Vsevolod Ivanov, and Veniamin Kaverin. The Serapion Brothers was under patronage of critic and writer Yuri Tynyanov. They also attended seminars of Korney Ivanovich Chukovskiy. They lived in the famous artistic community known as 'Dom Iskusstv' (House of Arts) in a former aristocratic palace on the Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg. The writers of the group were non-conformists and were in opposition to the official Moscow-based Soviet literature. Their leader Yevgeni Zamyatin fearlessly criticized the Soviet policy of "Red Terror" and intimidation of intellectuals. Some writers of the Serapion Brothers' group were under severe criticism and were censored.
Shklovsky was initially under pressure from Soviet officials during the ideological struggle of the 1920's. In the winter of 1922 Shklovsky walked on ice across the Baltic Sea and escaped to Finland, then emigrated to Germany. In Berlin he was in the circle of 'Ilya Erenburg' and Vsevolod Meyerhold. He experienced hard times trying to make a living as a writer in Germany. He described that time in 'Zoo. Pisma ne o lyubvi ili tretya Eloiza' (Zoo. Letters not about love, or the third Eloiza) an erotic novel about Brik's sister, Elsa Triolet, and the author's romance with her. In 1924, with the help of his friend Vladimir Mayakovsky, Shklovsky obtained permission to return to Russia.
Shklovsky moved to Moscow and joined the circle of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lilya Brik, whom he knew earlier in St. Petersburg. During the 1920's he collaborated in the magazine "LEF" and publisher Osip Brik. During the 1930's Shklovsky had to comply with the official system under the dictatorship of Joseph Stalin. He survived by adopting the methods of "socialist realism" in his writings. He eventually made an impressive career as a literary critic and film-writer, rising to Member of the Board of the Soviet Writers' Union at the time of "Thaw" that was initiated by Nikita Khrushchev.
Viktor Shklovsky was among the leaders of cross-cultural studies in Russia. His best known works are his memoirs and his literary biographies of Vladimir Mayakovsky and Lev Tolstoy. He was a host of a popular TV-show about Russian literature and cinematography. He was awarded the State Prize of the USSR (1979) for his comprehensive book about Sergei Eisenstein. Shklovsky died on December 8, 1984, in Moscow, Russia.- Gene Ramey was born on 4 April 1913 in Austin, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for The Last of the Blue Devils (1979). He died on 8 December 1984 in Austin, Texas, USA.
- Cinematographer
- Writer
- Camera and Electrical Department
Maurice Barry was born on 17 March 1910 in Paris, France. He was a cinematographer and writer, known for Mina de Vanghel (1953), Les crimes de l'amour (1953) and Amours, délices et orgues (1947). He died on 8 December 1984 in Paris, France.- Razzle was born on 2 December 1960 in Leamington, Warwickshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Hanoi Rocks: Malibu Beach Nightmare (1983), Hanoi Rocks: Don't You Ever Leave Me (1984) and Hanoi Rocks: Up Around the Bend (1984). He died on 8 December 1984 in Redondo Beach, California, USA.