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Berta Gersten

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Berta Gersten
Gersten, c. 1925
Born
Berta Gerstenman

(1893-08-20)August 20, 1893
Kraków, Grand Duchy of Kraków, Austria-Hungary (now Poland)
DiedSeptember 10, 1972(1972-09-10) (aged 79)
Montefiore Hospital, New York City, New York, US
Occupationactor
Known forYiddish theatre
Spouse
Irwin H. Fenn
​
​
(m. 1911; died 1960)​
Children1
Relatives

Berta Gersten (née Gerstenman; August 20, 1892 – September 10, 1972), was a Polish-American Yiddish theatre and film actress.[1][2] In 1954, Gersten made her English-language film debut in The Benny Goodman Story and her Broadway debut in The Flowering Peach.[3]

Biography

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Gersten was born Berta Gerstenman on August 20, 1893[a] in Kraków, Grand Duchy of Kraków (present-day Poland) to Orthodox Jewish parents Abraham Gerstenman[b], a religious and Hebrew teacher, and Mesha Gerstenman (née Timberg).[1][2][5]

In 1899, the family immigrated to New York City where Gersten's father worked as a courthouse translator and her mother as a dressmaker for actresses.[1][2][6] Her acting debut happened because her mother was working for an actor who needed a child for a production.[1] In 1918 she was recruited by Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troup performing notable Yiddish works and dramatic classics like Chekhov Ibsen and Shakespeare in Yiddish.[6] Stayed with the theatre for 25 years frequently in leading roles with Jacob Ben-Ami.[7]

A film adaptation of the play Mirele Efros was made in the United States in 1939. It was directed by Josef Berne with Gersten in the title role and Ruth Elbaum as Shaindl. It was made in Yiddish with English subtitles.[8]

Gersten acted in Yiddish plays, but in 1954 she took a role in an English-speaking play "The World of Sholom Aleichem" on Broadway. She was known for acting in the theatre, but she played Benny's mother in the 1956 film The Benny Goodman Story. This was her only Hollywood film appearance.[1] Other significant Broadway productions of The Flowering Peach (1955), A Majority of One (1959), and Sophie (1963) included Gersten in the cast. Her lasting acting role was in My Father's Court in 1971.[7]

Death and legacy

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Berta Gersten with the Yiddish Art Theatre troupe in London in 1935

On July 10, 1911 Gersten married to Irwin H. Fenn (né Isaac Hershel Finkel; died 1960), a professor of mathematics and physics at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.[1][2][4][9] The couple had one son, the photojournalist Albert Fenn.[1][2][10] Gersten was the daughter-in-law of the Yiddish theater actress Annetta Schwartz and Moishe Finkel, an actor, theatre director and manager.[1][11][12][13][14]

During the last years of her life Gersten lived with Ben-Ami.[1] On September 10, 1972 Gersten died at Montefiore Hospital.[1][2][6] Gersten is included in the 1971 work Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary.[15]

Stage and screen

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Screen

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1932 Yiskor [16]
1938 A Brivele der mamen [17]
1939 Mirele Efros Mirele Efros [18]
1950 God, Man and Devil Pesye [19]
1954 The Benny Goodman Story Dora Goodman English-language film debut [3]

Stage

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Year Title Role Venue Notes Ref.
1954–1955 The Flowering Peach Esther Belasco Theatre [20]
1959–1960 A Majority of One Shubert Theatre (1959); Ethel Barrymore Theatre (1959–1960) Understudy for Gertrude Berg [21]
1963 Sophie Mama Winter Garden Theatre Based on the life of Sophie Tucker [22]
1971 My Father's Court [1]

Notes

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  1. ↑ Also cited as 1892[4], 1894[2] and 1896.[1]
  2. ↑ Also cited as Avrom.[1]

References

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  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Nina, Warnke. "Berta Gersten". The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women. Brookline, Massachusetts: Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Goldfarb, Alvin (February 2000). "Gersten, Berta (1894-1972), actress in American Yiddish theater". American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1800447. Retrieved July 14, 2026. (subscription required)
  3. 1 2 "The Benny Goodman Story (1954)". AFI Catalog. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "No.373818 Bertha Fenn". Passport Applications, January 2, 1906 – March 31, 1925. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. February 26, 1924.
  5. ↑ "Bertha Gersten Fenn". Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Immigration Cards, 1900–1965 [database online]. Lehi, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc. 1947.
  6. 1 2 3 "Berta Gersten, a Leading Lady Of Yiddish Stage, Is Dead at 78". The New York Times. September 11, 1972. p. 40. Archived from the original on December 16, 2024. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Berta Gersten". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  8. ↑ "Mirele Efros". National Center for Jewish Film. jewishfilm.org. Retrieved 2017-04-14.
  9. ↑ "Irwin H Fenn and Bertha Gerstenman". Index to Marriages; Manhattan; 1911. 4. New York City: New York City Municipal Archives.
  10. ↑ "Albert Fenn, Photographer, 82". The New York Times. June 13, 1995. p. 7. Archived from the original on October 3, 2025. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  11. ↑ Adler, Jacob (2001). "The Great New Club on Prince's Street". Jacob Adler: A Life on the Stage, A Memoir. Translated by Rosenfeld, Lulla. New York: Applause. pp. 54–70. ISBN 155783458X. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Zylbercweig, Zalmen (1963). "Morris (Moshe) Finkel". Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre. Volume 4. p. 2668. Retrieved July 12, 2026 – via Museum of Family History.
  13. ↑ Jones, Faith (October 13, 2006). "Stage Killing: Solving an Attempted Murder-Suicide". The Forward. Archived from the original on March 17, 2026. Retrieved July 12, 2026.
  14. ↑ Dorot Jewish Division Staff (February 6, 2015). "Yiddish Theater Posters of the 1890s". New York Public Library Blog. New York City: New York Public Library. Retrieved 12 July 2026.
  15. ↑ James, Edward T.; James, Janet Wilson; Boyer, Paul S., eds. (1971). Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
  16. ↑ "Yiskor (1932)". AFI Catalog. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  17. ↑ "A Letter to Mama (1938)". Mubi. London. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Mirele Efros (1939)". AFI Catalog. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  19. ↑ "God, Man and Devil (1950)". AFI Catalog. Los Angeles, California: American Film Institute. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  20. ↑ "The Flowering Peach". Internet Broadway Database. New York City: The Broadway League. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  21. ↑ "A Majority of One". Internet Broadway Database. New York City: The Broadway League. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
  22. ↑ "Sophie". Internet Broadway Database. New York City: The Broadway League. Retrieved July 14, 2026.
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