Jacob Pavlovich Adler (born Yankev P. Adler; February 12, 1855 – April 1, 1926) was a Jewish actor and star of Yiddish theater, first in Odessa, and later in London and in New York City's Yiddish Theater District.Nicknamed "nesher hagodl", ("the Great Eagle"), Adler being the Yiddish for "eagle", he achieved his first theatrical success in Odessa, but his career there was rapidly cut short when Yiddish theater was banned in Russia in 1883. He became a star in Yiddish theater in London, and in 1889, on his second voyage to the United States, he settled in New York City. Adler soon started a company of his own, ushering in a new, more serious Yiddish theater, most notably by recruiting the Yiddish theater's first realistic playwright, Jacob Gordin. Adler scored a great triumph in the title role of Gordin's Der Yiddisher King Lear (The Jewish King Lear), set in 19th-century Russia, which along with his portrayal of Shakespeare's Shylock would form the core of the persona he defined as the "Grand Jew".Nearly all his family went into theater; probably the most famous was his daughter Stella, who taught method acting to, among others, Marlon Brando.
Sara Adler (m. 1891–1926), Sonya Adler (m. 1880–1886)
Children
Stella Adler, Luther Adler, Jay Adler, Celia Adler
Parents
Hessye Halperin, Feivel Abramovitch Adler
Star Sign
Aquarius
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Only dipped in blood and lit with tears of a living witness can the world understand how, with out blood, with out nerves, with the tears of our sleepless nights, we built the theater that stands today as a testament to our people.
Adler's son-in-law Harold Clurman, co-founder of the Group Theater with Lee Strasberg, described Adler as "an extraordinary personality, always larger than life." His early memoir, "A Life on the Stage", was translated from the Yiddish by his granddaughter Lulla Rosenfeld and re-published in 1999 by Knopf. Includes intro by daughter Stella Adler.
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Russian immigrant who transformed Yiddish theater in America as actor and producer.
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