Berta Gersten

Berta Gersten (1894–September 10, 1972), born Berta Gerstenman in Kraków, was a Polish-born American actress who built a career spanning Yiddish theater, film, and Broadway. Her family relocated to New York City in 1899, where her father, Avrom Gerstenman, worked as a translator and her mother, Meshe (née Kopps), as a dressmaker. Gersten's entry into acting came through her mother's employment with an actor who required a child for a production.

In 1918, Maurice Schwartz recruited Gersten into his Yiddish Art Theatre troupe, where she remained for approximately 25 years, frequently in leading roles. The company performed notable Yiddish works alongside dramatic classics by Chekhov, Ibsen, and Shakespeare, all presented in Yiddish. Jacob Ben-Ami was among her frequent co-performers during this period. In 1939, Gersten took the title role in the American Yiddish-language film Mirele Efros, directed by Josef Berne, with Ruth Elbaum appearing as Shaindl. The film was produced with English subtitles.

Gersten transitioned to English-language stage work in 1954, appearing in The World of Sholom Aleichem on Broadway. Her subsequent Broadway credits included The Flowering Peach in 1955, A Majority of One in 1959, and Sophie in 1963. In 1956, she appeared in the Hollywood film The Benny Goodman Story, playing Benny's mother — her sole Hollywood film role. Her final significant acting credit was My Father's Court in 1971, the same year she was included in the biographical reference work Notable American Women, 1607–1950. Gersten died in a hospital in the Bronx at the age of 78.