Meier Tzelniker

Meier Tzelniker (1 January 1894 – 8 October 1980) was a Romanian-British actor. He appeared mainly in Yiddish theatre, but was sometimes a character actor in English-language plays and films.

Biography Tzelniker was born and raised in the city of Hotin, located in the Bessarabia Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine), the son of a Romanian Jewish yeast manufacturer. He was a boy chorister in a synagogue when he got his first stage role in Yiddish theatre, and toured eastern Europe with a Yiddish theatre company. He studied at the Odesa Oblast Academic Drama Theater, and spent three years acting in Russia. He emigrated to London in 1927, co-founding the Yiddish National Theater Company.

Personal life Tzelniker was married to actress Brana Freit, they had two children including Anna Tzelniker, also an actress.

Death A long-time resident of Stepney in the East End of London, Tzelniker died there on 8 October 1980, aged 86.

Partial filmography

Mr. Emmanuel (1944) - Mr. Silver It Always Rains on Sunday (1947) - Solly, his father Last Holiday (1950) - Baltin Venetian Bird (1952) - Mayor of Mirave The Teckman Mystery (1954) - John Rice Make Me an Offer (1954) - Wendl The Woman for Joe (1955) - Sol Goldstein The Extra Day (1956) - Lou Skeat Stars in Your Eyes (1956) - Maxie Jago The Long Haul (1957) - Nat Fine A Night to Remember (1958) - Mr. Isador Straus Expresso Bongo (1959) - Mayer Jungle Street (1960) - Mr. Rose Let's Get Married (1960) - Schutzberger A Circle of Deception (1960) - Barman His and Hers (1961) - Felix McGregor The 25th Hour (1967) - Abramovici The Sorcerers (1967) - Jewish Baker The Killing of Sister George (1968) - Mr. Katz