caption death_date death_place birth_place other_names birth_date image article_title name occupation
r-l mogulesko , rudolf marx , mr. krastoshinsky and david kessler : , 1888 in new york jacob adler , zigmund feinman , zigmund 4 february 1914 , age 55 new york , united states kalarash , bessarabia ; now călăraşi , moldova zelik selig mogulesko , zigmund , siegmund , zelig , 16 december 1858 david-kessler krastoshinsky rudolf-marx zigmund-mogulesko zigmund-feinman jacob-p-adler-1888 . jpg sigmund mogulesko
 sigmund mogulesko yiddish singer , actor , and composer
sigmund mogulesko

sigmund mogulesko -lrb- 16 december 1858 -- 4 february 1914 -rrb- -- yiddish : זעליק מאָגולעסקאָ `` zelik mogulesko '' , first name also sometimes spelled as zigmund , siegmund , zelig , or selig , last name sometimes spelled mogulescu -- was a singer , actor , and composer in the yiddish theater in new york city .
he was born in kalarash , bessarabia -lrb- now călăraşi in moldova -rrb- and began singing in the local synagogue choir .
before reaching adolescence , he was paid nearly three times what teachers made , to sing in the synagogue of chişinău .
he moved on to bucharest , romania , where he was paid to sing in churches as well as synagogues , and started acting .
he was a star in abraham goldfaden 's first bucharest-based theater troupe -- and the playwright wrote the title role of `` shmendrik '' for him .
mogulesko soon founded his own troupe and dominated yiddish theatre in romania for a decade .
after immigrating to the united states , he eventually founded the rumanian opera house on new york city 's lower east side , one of the great venues of yiddish theater .
the `` jewish encyclopedia '' described him in 1904 as `` the best comedian on the yiddish stage ... he is known also as a leading composer of music for the yiddish stage . ''
