Komediant, A Khasene in Shtetl (A Wedding in the Village) and other Yiddish-language productions all over the world, although Susan did not remain in the acting business. The family also performed at resorts in the Catskills, in Sullivan County, New York, a resort circuit colloquially known as the "Borscht Belt". He toured extensively through Eastern Europe before World War II. Pesach Burstein opened his own theater ("The Hopkinson") in Brooklyn. His troupe (advertised as the Four Bursteins, the twins appearing under the stage names Motele and Zisele) won critical acclaim in Israel and on Broadway for performing Itzik Manger's Megille Lider, the longest running Yiddish production to date in Israel, released on Broadway as Megilla of Itzik Manger. After the Holocaust, due to a drastic reduction in the size of the Yiddish audience, he was instrumental in finding out diasporic communities as far afield as South America, and Eastern Europe, as well as Israel. He initially settled in Israel but later left due to the state tax levied on Yiddish theater for promotion of the Hebrew language, and problems with authorities. Later years Pesach Burstein performed a small role in the Israel Becker-directed movie Shnei Kuni Leml, starring his son. On the 100th anniversary of his birth, director Arnon Goldfinger directed a documentary film about the lives and careers of the Burstein family – The Komediant (the title a reference both to Burstein's career in general and to the name of one of his shows). Autobiography His autobiography, What a Life!, was co-authored with his wife in Yiddish (Geshpilt a Lebn, 1980) and later translated into English. Death Pesach means Passover in Yiddish, and Pesach-ke Burstein was so named because he was born on the day of Passover in 1896; he died a few hours before Passover in 1986, a week and two days short of his 90th birthday. He was interred in the Yiddish Theater section (Block 67) of the Mount Hebron Cemetery. References External links The Komediant website 1896 births 1986 deaths People from Pułtusk American male musical theatre actors American people of Polish-Jewish descent Polish emigrants to the United States Polish cabaret performers American emigrants to Israel Israeli Ashkenazi Jews Israeli male film actors Israeli male musical theatre actors Jewish cabaret performers Jewish American male actors Jewish American comedians Vaudeville performers Yiddish-language singers Yiddish theatre performers 20th-century American male actors 20th-century American singers 20th-century American comedians 20th-century