Berta Gersten

Gersten was born Berta Gerstenman on August 20, 1893^[a] in Kraków, Grand Duchy of Kraków (present-day Poland) to Orthodox Jewish parents Abraham Gerstenman^[b], a religious and Hebrew teacher, and Mesha Gerstenman (née Timberg).^[1][2][5]

In 1899, the family immigrated to New York City where Gersten's father worked as a courthouse translator and her mother as a dressmaker for actresses.^[1][2][6] Her acting debut happened because her mother was working for an actor who needed a child for a production.^[1] In 1918 she was recruited by Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre troup performing notable Yiddish works and dramatic classics like Chekhov Ibsen and Shakespeare in Yiddish.^[6] Stayed with the theatre for 25 years frequently in leading roles with Jacob Ben-Ami.^[7]

A film adaptation of the play Mirele Efros was made in the United States in 1939. It was directed by Josef Berne with Gersten in the title role and Ruth Elbaum as Shaindl. It was made in Yiddish with English subtitles.^[8]

Gersten acted in Yiddish plays, but in 1954 she took a role in an English-speaking play "The World of Sholom Aleichem" on Broadway. She was known for acting in the theatre, but she played Benny's mother in the 1956 film The Benny Goodman Story. This was her only Hollywood film appearance.^[1] Other significant Broadway productions of The Flowering Peach (1955), A Majority of One (1959), and Sophie (1963) included Gersten in the cast. Her lasting acting role was in My Father's Court in 1971.^[7]

On July 10, 1911 Gersten married to Irwin H. Fenn (né Isaac Hershel Finkel; died 1960), a professor of mathematics and physics at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute.^[1][2][4][9] The couple had one son, the photojournalist Albert Fenn.^[1][2][10] Gersten was the daughter-in-law of the Yiddish theater actress Annetta Schwartz and Moishe Finkel, an actor, theatre director and manager.^{[1][11][12][13][14]}

During the last years of her life Gersten lived with Ben-Ami.^[1] On September 10, 1972 Gersten died at Montefiore Hospital.^[1][2][6] Gersten is included in the 1971 work Notable American Women, 1607–1950; A Biographical Dictionary.^[15]