Joseph Buloff

Joseph Buloff (December 6, 1899 – February 27, 1985) was a Russian Empire-born American actor and director known for his work in Broadway and Yiddish theatre.[1] He received the Itzik Manger Prize for contributions to Yiddish letters in 1974.[2]

Joseph Buloff in 1960

Buloff was born in Vilna, Lithuania, on December 6, 1899.[3]

Buloff debuted on stage with the Jewish State Theatre in Vilna.[4] He joined the Vilna Troupe when he was a teenager, and "his first major success" came in that company's production of Day and Night by S. Ansky.[5] While with the troupe, he also met Luba Kadison, whom he married and remained with until his death six decades later.[5]

Buloff immigrated to the United States in 1927 and worked with Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish theatre company. Buloff and Kadison toured Europe and the Western Hemisphere in the early 1930s, acting with Yiddish troupes in the countries that they visited. Their productions included adaptations of works by Dostoevski and Tolstoy and translated versions of works by Chekhov, Moliere, and Pirandello.[5]

Broadway productions in which Buloff appeared included The Price (1979), The Fifth Season (1975), The Wall (1960), Moonbirds (1959), Once More, With Feeling (1958), Mrs. McThing (1952), The Whole World Over (1947), Oklahoma! (1943), Spring Again (1941), My Sister Eileen (1940), Morning Star (1940), The Man from Cairo (1938), To Quito and Back (1937), Call Me Ziggy (1937), and Don't Look Now (1936).[6]

On February 27, 1985, Buloff died at his Manhattan home, aged 86.[1] He left a memoir, written in Yiddish, which was translated by Joseph Singer and published by Harvard University Press in 1991 as From the Old Marketplace.[7]

Some of Buloff's papers are preserved at YIVO[2] and at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.[8]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1941	Let's Make Music	Joe Bellah
1941	They Met in Argentina	Santiago, O'Shea's Trainer
1947	Carnegie Hall	Anton Tribik
1948	To the Victor	Bolyanov
1948	The Loves of Carmen	Remendado
1949	A Kiss in the Dark	Peter Danilo
1950	Monticello, Here We Come
1956	Somebody Up There Likes Me	Benny
1957	Silk Stockings	Ivanov
1981	Reds	Joe Volski

References

1. Berger, Joseph (February 28, 1985). "Joseph Buloff, an Actor, Dies; Mainstay of Yiddish Theater". The New York Times. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
2. Rabinowitz, Solomon; Harrison, Rachel S. (2009). "Guide to the Papers of Joseph Buloff (1899-1985) and Luba Kadison (1906-2006)". YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
3. "Joseph Buloff". San Francisco Chronicle. March 1, 1985. p. 30. Retrieved December 5, 2020 – via ProQuest.
4. Schack, William (November 23, 1930). "Introducing Joseph Buloff of Russia". The New York Times. p. 112. Retrieved December 5, 2020 – via ProQuest.
5. Howe, Irving (March 31, 1985). "The Art of Joseph Buloff". The New York Times. p. H 4. Retrieved December 5, 2020 – via ProQuest.
6. "Joseph Buloff". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on December 5, 2020. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
7. Wisse, Ruth R. (June 24, 1991). "The Survivor's Voice -- From the Old Marketplace by Joseph Buloff and translated by Joseph Singer". The New Republic. p. 40. Retrieved December 5, 2020 – via ProQuest.
8. Yurevich, Liavon. "Joseph Buloff papers". New York Public Library. Retrieved November 25, 2017.

External links

• Joseph Buloff at the Internet Broadway Database
• Joseph Buloff at IMDb
• Joseph Buloff papers, 1925-1993, held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• Joseph Buloff's Acting from the Yiddish Book Center
• Performing alongside Joseph Buloff in "Yoshke Muzikant" from the Yiddish Book Center