Anna Appel
Anna Appel was known for her performance of motherly characters in Yiddish and English roles on stage and screen. When Appel joined a Yiddish vaudeville company in 1904, her family sat shiva for her. She played several different roles before her big break in 1918, when she joined the cast of Morris Schwartz’s popular Yiddish Art Theater. She was a cast member for the next ten years and was praised for her performances. In the 1920s and 1930s, she began playing parts in Yiddish films, including Yizkor, Broken Hearts, and The Symphony of Six Million in 1932. In 1928, she played her first English-language role as the star of Poppa, starting a successful Broadway career. Her final Broadway appearance was in 1959’s The Golem.
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Appel, Anna. Archival materials. Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library, Lincoln Center, NYC, and Yiddish Theatre and Photo Collection, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, NYC.
Ehrenreich, Chaim. “Khane Apel: Ire Groyse Mayles: A Vort af Ir Frishn Keyver” [Anna Appel: her great qualities: A word at her fresh grave]. Forverts (November 29, 1963): 8.
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