Oysher Freidele
Main achievement
Actress. Star of children in the American Yiddish theater.
About
Fraydele Oysher was born on October 3, 1913, in Lipcani, Bessarabia, into a family of cantors with a seven-generation tradition. At the age of eight, she moved to Montreal with her parents and older brother, Moishe Oysher, who would become the legendary actor and singer known as "The Master of Folk Songs." At a very young age, Fraydele began her theatrical career at the Amphion Theater in Brooklyn, New York, where she quickly gained public attention with her remarkable voice and comedic talent. Recognized as the "child star" of the American Jewish theater scene in the 1920s and 1930s, she established herself on Manhattan's Second Avenue and became a prominent figure in Yiddish theater in the United States. Throughout her impressive career, Fraydele performed in numerous prestigious theaters across America, including Douglas Park and Civic Theatre in Chicago, theaters in Brooklyn, Bronx, and Manhattan, and the Playhouse Theatre in Los Angeles. She skillfully mastered liturgical rhythms and folk songs, and several plays were written specifically to showcase her vocal talents and comedic gift. Among her memorable roles was the character of the young yeshiva student who is revealed to be a woman in the final act, a daring theatrical move for the time. She collaborated with renowned composers and directors such as Oscar Ostroff and Joseph Rumshinsky, and in 1935, she married Harold Sternberg, the bass singer of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with whom she toured South America, Canada, and Cuba. Fraydele Oysher continued to perform on the Yiddish theater stage for several decades, including in plays such as "It's Never Too Late for Happiness" at the Anderson Yiddish Theater in 1968. She was a pioneering figure for women in liturgical music, even before the reform movement that would later open doors for women rabbis and cantors in synagogues worldwide. The mother of Marylyna Michaels, a successful singer and comedian, and the grandmother of a remarkable writer and pianist, Fraydele remained dedicated to her family and her art until her death on January 5, 2004, in New York.
