Seymour Rexite (January 18, 1908 – October 14, 2002), originally Rechtzeit, was a Polish American singer and actor. He was a pioneer of Yiddish theatre in the United States. He also served as the president of the Hebrew Actors' Union. Born in Piotrków Trybunalski, Congress Poland, and a child prodigy, Rexite immigrated to the United States in 1920, along with his father, a cantor, and his older brother Jack Rechtzeit, an actor and songwriter. Several years later, immigration quotas prevented Seymour's mother and other siblings from emigrating from Poland, so Seymour sang a song, which his brother Jack had composed, before President Calvin Coolidge which so moved that he granted them entry visas. Rexite performed Yiddish translations of pop music standards as well as songs written in his native language. He starred in a musical featuring Yiddish music at a theatre on Second Avenue in the Yiddish Theater District opposite the famous soprano Isa Kremer which was entitled The Song of the Ghetto. He married Miriam Kressyn, another star of the Yiddish stage, in 1943. Kressyn died at age 86 in 1996; they had no children. Rexite died in 2002 in New York City. The couple is buried under the family name Rechtzeit in Block 67 of Mount Hebron Cemetery. This section is reserved for those who were part of New York Yiddish theater and is maintained by the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance. In 1924, he had enough money to bring the rest of his family but he couldn't. References External links New York Times obituary Yiddish Radio Project article biography at the Milken Archive Children's biography from scholastic.com 1908 births 2002 deaths People from Piotrków Trybunalski People from Piotrków Governorate Polish emigrants to the United States American people of Polish-Jewish descent Yiddish theatre performers Yiddish-language singers American male stage actors Jewish American male actors 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City)