BERTHA KALICH - AUTOGRAPH SENTIMENT SIGNED - HFSID 343814

BERTHA KALICH
The actress and singer sometimes referred to as the "Jewish Bernhardt" signs her name with a sentiment
Autograph sentiment signed: "Sincerely Yours/Bertha Kalich" in black ink. 5½x2¼. Bertha Kalich (1874-1939) was a Jewish actress from what is now the Ukraine. Though she was well-established as an entertainer in Eastern Europe, she is best remembered as one of the several "larger-than-life" figures that dominated New York stages during the "Golden Age" of American Yiddish Theatre during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Historians estimate that, during her career, Kalich performed more than 125 different roles in seven different languages. Beginning her musical career early, she joined the chorus of the local Polish theater at age 13 and later attended the prestigious Lemberg Conservatory. While still barely a teen, Max Gimpel offered her a job at his pioneering Yiddish-language theater group, Yankev Ber Gimpel. When Gimpel's leading lady left for America, Kalich became his prima donna, winning the title role in Avrom Goldfaden's operetta "Shulamis". During her "Shulamis" tour, she was introduced to Joseph Edelstein of the People's Theatre who offered to sponsor her to New York. His newly founded Thalia Theater was looking for fresh talent, and there Kalich appeared in "Di Vilde Kenigin" (The wild queen) and a Yiddish production of "La Belle Hélène". The company was noted for its Yiddish-language translations of Shakespeare. Kalich played a number of roles in these landmark works, even beating out the other male stars for a chance to play the coveted role of Hamlet. Toned. Corners rounded. Lightly soiled. Adhesive and mounting residue on verso. Otherwise, fine condition.