Anna Appel (actress)


Anna Appel, was a Romanian-born American stage and film actress, known for her works in the Yiddish language. She was active in New York City for over 50 years in Yiddish theatre, and Yiddish cinema.

Biography

Anna Bercovici was born on May 1, 1888 in Bucharest, Kingdom of Romania. Her parents Jeanette and Bernard Bercovici, owned a hotel.
Her career started in 1902, when her family moved to Montreal, Canada where she worked with amateur theatre groups. She moved to New York City to marry Isadore Appel, who died in 1908. In 1904, she joined a Yiddish vaudeville company in New York City; and in 1918, she joined Maurice Schwartz’s Yiddish Art Theatre in New York City. In 1915, she married Sigmund Ben Avi.
Appel continued to act in vaudeville until 1916, followed by work on Broadway and off-Broadway stage productions. She was in the cast of Did I Say No? at the 48th Street Theatre; Good Neighbor at the Windsor Theatre; All You Need Is One Good Break at the Mansfield Theatre; Highway Robbery at the President Theatre; Comic Strip at the Barbizon-Plaza; and Abie's Irish Rose at the Holiday Theatre.
She died on November 19, 1963 at the age of 75 of a heart attack at Bellevue Hospital in New York City.

Filmography

Yizker, silent film directed by Sidney M. Goldin; as Zsusi, Leybke's foster motherBroken Hearts, silent film directed by Maurice Schwartz; as ShprintzeThe Heart of New York, directed by Mervyn LeRoy; as Mrs. Zelde MarantzSymphony of Six Million, directed by Gregory La Cava; as Hannah KlauberFaithless, directed by Harry Beaumont; as Mrs Mandel, second landladyJolly Paupers, directed by Leon Jeannot and Zygmunt TurkowGreen Fields, directed by Edgar Georg Ulmer; as RochelThe Singing Blacksmith, directed by Edgar Georg Ulmer, Ben–Zvi Baratoff, Ossip Dymow; as Chaye-Peshe

Television

Lux Video Theatre, television anthology series; as Frau SchmidtGoodyear Television Playhouse, television anthology series; as MamaKraft Theatre, television anthology series; as MomNaked City, television police procedural series; as Mrs. Levinsky