Aaron Lebedeff

Aaron Lebedeff (1873–1960)

In the years when the Yiddish theatre flourished in the United Stales one of the most cheerful and original personalities in Yiddish musical comedy was Aaron Lebedeff, Gifted with a lyric voice, an engaging stage presence, a unique zest for improvisation, clowning and dancing, he undoubtedly had the longest career as a juvenile song-and-dance man in the history of the New York theatre, Yiddish or English. In 1936, Variety cited him, at the age of sixty-two, as "the world's oldest juvenile"; in 1955, at eighty-two, he was still appearing in musicals in what then remained of the Yiddish theatre.

The ever-young Aaron Lebedeff was born in Homel, White Russia in 1873. As a boy he sang in the local choir, but since he showed no interest in study, his parents, who kept a clothing shop, early apprenticed him to learn a trade. The boy ran away from home to join a Russian theatre troupe touring Bohroisk. Minsk and other cities. After hard times disbanded the group, he returned to Homel, where he opened a dancing school and dabbled in amateur Yiddish theatricals. When one of the early professional Yiddish troupes, headed by Lazar Bernstein, passed through the town, Lebedeff begged for a job with the company and promptly got one - combination chorus boy, porter, wardrobe assistant and prompter. It was not long before he became a character actor, making his debut as the Pipkincr Rav in Shomer's Baal Tshuva. Then he moved over to operetta, which gave wider scope to his varied talents.

After many years on the road with travelling shows, he finally became a star in Warsaw in 1912-13, where he was known as Der Litvisher Komiker. This was the start of a lifetime career in the theatre, interrupted only by a brief period of military service in Kerensky's Revolutionary Army in Harbin, Manchuria. Eventually he gathered all his savings together to buy his way out of the army, and began a long trek to the United Stales by way of Siberia. Manchuria, China and Japan. All in all, he spent a year barnstorming in the Orient and in that time managed to master one dialect of Chinese.
Whcn he finally arrived in New York in 1920. he scored an immediate personal success at Boris Thomashcfsky's storied National Theatre in a play called Liovka Molodez. Thus began sixteen years on Second Avenue, during which he played a full season each year, never missing even a week. Ever gay, in his straw hat and faultlessly tailored clothes, he seemed to many the Maurice Chevalier of the Yiddish stage. He became famous for roles like The Rumanian Litvak, and though after awhile his vehicles assumed a typed character, the audiences loved him. The New York Times in a review in October 1932 commented that he delighted the public in roles in which he was invariably "an ingratiating provincial who is always the victim of misfortune in the first act, only to shine forth resplendent with simoleons and a slick sennet in the closing act."

At sixty-one, when he was stilt playing romantic leads (albeit wearing a hat to hide a receding hair fine), he divulged to a reporter for the New York American his formula for perpetual youth: "Dress well, eat and drink what you like, and remain constantly in love." Though he was surrounded by adoring females wherever he went, he remained happily married to the actress Vera Lebedeff (Rebecca Shehtman).

Even the rise of talking pictures and the decline of the Yiddish stage dimmed his luster only slightly, for he went on to star m Yiddish vaudeville at the National and Clinton Theatres, where Yiddish talkies and eight live acts shared the bill. To list all the ephemeral Yiddish plays in which he appeared is almost impossible. Among his notable musicals were My Malkele (1937) and Bublitchki (1938) in which he co-starred with Molly Picon, Yankele Litvak,  Yoshke Chvat, Motke from Slobodke, Money Talks, (with Michael Michaclesko, 1952),  The Magic Melody (1953) and My Weekend Bride (1955). In 1953 he was one of the famous Yiddish stars honored at a special anniversary performance for Israel Bonds at the National Theatre (and the only one, true to his usual form, who was called back for several encores).

It is interesting to note that Lebedeff wrote many of his Yiddish and English lyrics himself. Most of the lines virtually defy translation, for they are highly idiomatic, with a humor that is difficult to render into English. Ail the songs breathe nostalgia and are magically evocative of the Russian-Rumanian milieu and the immigrant world in New York. The allusions to food and drink are  legion; the homesickness is for the village life of the vanished prewar world. For sheer exuberance and uninhibited merry-making, few performers can match Aaron Lebedeff at his best.

Helen Stambler

[78RPM]

A Green Meidele (Jacob Jacobs - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff Brunswick 67120 B 1928

A Lesson In Liebe (Joseph Tantsman - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion A 13034 1926

A Malke Oyf Peisach (Louis Gilrod) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 14521 A 1922

A Sach Meloches Wenig Broches (Morris Rund - Herman Wohl) Aaron Lebedeff Brunswick 67091 B 1928

Blimelakh Tsvey (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 13011 A 1923

Der Trombenik (Morris Goldstein - Aaron Nager) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 13014 A 1924

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 8226-F (CO 29722) 1941

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 10084 (CO 29722)

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 20.294 B (CO 29722)

Dudki, Brat (Louis Gilrod - Herman Wohl) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 14523 A 1922

Far Nile, Nokh Nile (Aaron Lebedeff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 8242F B

Gib Mir Bessarabia (Aaron Lebedeff) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 8242F A

I Like She (Jacob Jacobs - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 13060 A 1927

In Odess (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Brunswick 67058 A 1926

Lozt Arayn (Joseph Jaffe - Yosef Rumshinsky) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion A 67168 1929

Moyshe, Mach Es Nokh Amol (Fishel Kanapoff - Aaron Lebedeff & Fishel Kanapoff) Morris Goldstein Victor 77544-B 1924

Nit Gefonfet (Aaron Lebedeff - Herman Wohl) Julius Nathanson Victor 73222-A 1922

Odesser Hore {aka Lebedik Freylekh} (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Brunswick 67058 B 1926

Oy, Di Meydelech (Aaron Lebedeff & Wolf Shumsky) Pawel Brajtman Syrena Electro 19554 1929

Oy, Di Meydelech (Aaron Lebedeff & Wolf Shumsky) Abraham Moskowitz Columbia E7015 1921

Oy, Oy Vos K'hob Gevolt, Hob Ikh Oysgefert (Louis Gilrod - Herman Wohl) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 14523 B 1922

Peisach Zeit (Rubin Doctor) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 14521 B 1922

Petrograd (Jacob Jacobs - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 13060 B 1927

Skrip, Klezmerl, Skripe (Chaim Towber - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 8227F-A 1941

Tate Du Lakhst Az Vey Iz Dayn Gelekhter (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion 13011 B 1923

Tzimblen (Jacob Jacobs - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff Brunswick 67120 A 1928

Vu Zaynen Mayne Zibn Gute Yor? (David Meyerowitz) Aaron Lebedeff Vocalion B13005 1923

Wus Tate Mame Hoben Lieb (Morris Rund - Aaron Lebedeff) Aaron Lebedeff Brunswick 67091 A 1928

Zorg Nit Mama {aka Ne Platch Mama} (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Banner B-541 A (A-386)

Zorg Nit Mama {aka Ne Platch Mama} (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Melodie B-541 A (A-386)

[45RPM]

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Columbia 4-10084 (ZSP 5093)

[33RPM]

A Lesson In Liebe (Joseph Tantsman - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 56 1964

A Malke Oyf Peisach (Louis Gilrod) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 46 1964

A Sach Meloches Wenig Broches (Morris Rund - Herman Wohl) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CG 664 1965

Blimelakh Tsvey (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CG 664 1965

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CGY 631 1963

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 58 1964

Dos Oybershte Fun Shtoysl (Oscar Ostroff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 182 1970

Dudki, Brat (Louis Gilrod - Herman Wohl) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CG 664 1965

Far Nile, Nokh Nile (Aaron Lebedeff - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CGY 631 1963

Gib Mir Bessarabia (Aaron Lebedeff) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CGY 631 1963

Gib Mir Bessarabia (Aaron Lebedeff) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 182 1970

I Like She (Jacob Jacobs - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 56 1964

In Odess (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 46 1964

Kurtn (Ben Gailing - Aaron Lebedeff) Ben Gailing TR Productions TR 1034-A

Lozt Arayn (Joseph Jaffe - Yosef Rumshinsky) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CG 664 1965

Odesser Hore {aka Lebedik Freylekh} (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 46 1964

Oy, Oy Vos K'hob Gevolt, Hob Ikh Oysgefert (Louis Gilrod - Herman Wohl) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 46 1964

Peisach Zeit (Rubin Doctor) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 46 1964

Petrograd (Jacob Jacobs - Alexander Olshanetsky) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 56 1964

Praven Veln Mir A Khasene (Aaron Lebedeff) Anna Rappel & Pinie Goldstein Hataklit HT 30027

Praven Veln Mir A Khasene (Aaron Lebedeff) Anna Rappel & Pinie Goldstein Tikva Records T-66

Praven Veln Mir A Khasene (Aaron Lebedeff) Anna Rappel & Pinie Goldstein Tiqva T-66

Praven Veln Mir A Khasene (Aaron Lebedeff) Anna Rappel & Pinie Goldstein Zemer PSP-LP-1007

Rumenye, Rumenye (Aaron Lebedeff) Florence Reid MGM E4177 1963

Skrip, Klezmerl, Skripe (Chaim Towber - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CGY 631 1963

Skrip, Klezmerl, Skripe (Chaim Towber - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 58 1963

Skrip, Klezmerl, Skripe (Chaim Towber - Sholom Secunda) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 182 1970

Vu Zaynen Mayne Zibn Gute Yor? (David Meyerowitz) Aaron Lebedeff The Greater Recording GRC 56 1964

Wus Tate Mame Hoben Lieb (Morris Rund - Aaron Lebedeff) Aaron Lebedeff Collectors Guild CG 664 1965

Zorg Nit Mama {aka Ne Platch Mama} (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Banner BA-1007-A

Zorg Nit Mama {aka Ne Platch Mama} (Louis Gilrod - Peretz Sandler) Aaron Lebedeff Banner LP 056 B

Дайте мне Бессарабию	gib mir bessarabia
*Aaron Lebedeff*
Для чего мне уезжать на поиски счастья И выглядеть дураком. И после всего вернуться обратно, И еще больше мучатся. Здесь знают меня и я знаю всех. Здесь у меня есть моя красивая невеста. Бессарабия -мой дом, Здесь я себя вольготно чувствую. Об этом поет румын За стаканчиком красного вина. Он пьет и поет следущее: "Скажите ,где живут хорошо и вольготно? В Бессарабии. Где пьют хорошее вино? В Бессарабии. Живешь без забот и мучений. Чувствуешь себя хорошо и вольготно. Удовольствие быть в Бессарабии." А где получают хорошенький стейк? А где едят свеженькое ребрышко? Мамалыгу со свежей брынзой, И кувшинчик кисло-сладкого вина, Голубцы из свежей капусты? И котлетку с чесноком - объеденье, Запивают вином И прекрастно себя чувствуют? Бум!!! Есть пирожок - дай немножко! Коли нету, так не давай! Для чего мне эти счастья-прелести? Дайте мне, братья, Бессарабию! Бульончик-обьедение, цимес с малиной Булочку, полочку, варенники со сметаной, Свеженький пирожок, вкусные и прекрасные колбаски? Рогалик ,бублик и к ним стаканчик вина. Бессарабия была моим любимым домом! В Бессарабии я чувствую себя вольготно! Мне хорошо, мне прекрастно Лучше и быть не может. Бессарабия была моим домом. Так это когда-то было.	vus darf ich furn zichn glik in oyszeyn vi anar. in nacher kimen du tsirik, in hubn noch fil tsar. du ken men mich, in ich ken ale, du hob ich mir mayn sheyne kale. besarabie iz mayn heym, du fil ich zich bakneym. vi zigt der rumeyner, bay a gleyzl vayn a reynem, er trinkt zich in er zingt sich ot azoy: zugt vi leybt men git in fayn? in besarabie. vi mi trinkt a gitn vayn? in besarabie. lebst un zorgn, leybst un payn, filst zich git in filst zich fayn, fargenign iz tsi zayn in besarabie. in vi krigt men a gitenkn steykele? in vi est men a frishenke fleykele, a mamaligele mit brinze frishe, in vayn a krigele zoyere-zise, a kastrovetele mit frishn sarae, in a kotletele mit knobl a mechae? vi trinkt men deym vayn? in mi filt zich gants fayn? zets!!! host a knish?gib mir epes. host doch nisht,gib mir nisht. vus toygt mir glikn ,di antikn, gib mir brider besarabie. a yaychele a maychele, a tsimesl oy mit maline, a bulkele, a pulkele, krepelech mit smetane, a knishele a frishele,karnatselech geshmak in fayn, a reygele a beygele in dertsi a gleyzll vayn. besarabie iz geveyn mayn libe heym. in besarabie ich fil zich mir bakveym. s'iz mir git, s'iz mir fayn, beser ken doch gurnish zayn. besarabie iz geveyn mayn heym, azoyiz dus a mul geveyn.

aidishemame

Last update 15-12-2023