Pesach Burstein

Pesach Burstein was born in 1896 in Pułtusk

Pesach Burstein was born on April 15, 1896, in Pułtusk, then part of the Russian Empire. He was named Pesach because he was born on Passover. His family later moved to Berdiansk, where his father ran a clothing business.

As a teenager he ran away from home and joined a traveling Yiddish theater troupe. During World War I the Russians arrested him on suspicion of spying. His parents were killed in a robbery in 1921.

In 1923 Boris Thomashefsky brought him to the United States, and he signed a 20-year recording contract with Columbia Records. He became known for the songs "Odessa Mama" and a Yiddish version of "Sonny Boy". He married actress Lillian Lux, and in 1939 the couple left a tour in Poland for the United States days before the German invasion.

In 1945 the couple had twins, Michael and Susan, who began performing with them at age 7. The family troupe, the Four Bursteins, played in the Catskills, on Broadway and in Israel, including Itzik Manger's Megille Lider. He opened his own theater in Brooklyn and later settled in Israel for a time, but left because of a tax on Yiddish theater.

He played a small role in the film Shnei Kuni Leml, starring his son. His autobiography, written with his wife, appeared in Yiddish in 1980. He died on April 6, 1986, and received the Itzik Manger Prize that year.