RG 1955: Fraydele Oysher

Fraydele Oysher was born on October 3, 1913 in Lipkany, Bessarabia into a family of cantors. While still a child, she and her family, which included her older brother, Moishe Oysher, immigrated to Montreal. Moishe Oysher later became a cantor, actor, and star of classic Yiddish art films, and was known as "The Master Singer of His People." After moving to New York, Fraydele performed in radio and in concerts, and entered Louis Kramer's acting troupe at the Amphion Theatre, where she acted for several months. In 1935, she married Harold Sternberg, a basso profundo opera singer of the Metropolitan Opera House. During their honeymoon the following year, in Argentina, the two performed in various Yiddish stagings, with Ms. Oysher being billed simply as "Fraydele." Following th in New York's National Theatre, in Cuba, and for several weeks in Los Angeles, in A khazendl oyf Shabes (A Little Cantor on the Sabbath). In the 1930s, she also performed on Philadelphia-based radio programs. A number of plays were written specifically to showcase her special vocal and comedic skills, including The Cantoress by Louis Freiman; Fraydele's Wedding; The Sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham Goldfaden; The Little Queen; The Cantor's Daughter; and A Night in Paris!, an operetta by Isidore Lash. Among her later stage appearances was the Yiddish musical It's Never Too Late for Happiness, in which she performed on October 19, 1968 at the Yiddish Anderson Theatre in New York. Fraydele Oysher died on January 5, 2004 in New York.