Irving Jacobson

Irving Jacobson (June 18, 1898 – December 17, 1978) was an American stage and film actor whose career spanned Yiddish theater, vaudeville, and Broadway. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he came from a theatrical family: his parents, Joseph and Bessie Jacobson, were both actors, and his siblings included his brother Hymie Jacobson and his sister Henrietta Jacobson, who married Julius Adler.

Jacobson began his stage career performing juvenile roles in Pinkhas Thomashefsky's troupe and went on to appear in films directed by Sidney Goldin. He spent two years performing with Goldenburg at Philadelphia's Garden Theater and, in 1929, toured Paris and Romania alongside May Shoenfeld. He later transitioned away from vaudeville to establish himself as a comic actor on the Yiddish stage, where he became widely recognized. Together with his brother Hy, he co-owned several Yiddish theaters in New York City's Yiddish Theater District, among them the National Theater and the Second Avenue Theater. The two brothers also collaborated as writers, co-authoring the novelty song A Bisl Fefer, A Bisl Zalts (A Little Pepper, A Little Salt), which was recorded by Pesach Burstein.

Under the comic character name Schnitz'l Putz'l, Jacobson recorded the songs Az men muz, muz men (If You Gotta, You Gotta) and Zets in Gis Kalet Vaser, both with Abraham Ellstein's Orchestra. He starred in William Siegel's comedy Don't Worry alongside Leo Fuchs and Miriam Kressyn. In 1940, he headlined Josef Seiden's Yiddish-language film The Great Advisor, appearing with Yetta Zwerling, Mae Schoenfeld, and Lazar Freed, among others. That same year he appeared in the Yiddish film Eli, Eli.

Jacobson's Broadway career ran from 1963 to 1972 and included credits in Enter Laughing and Man of La Mancha. In the original Broadway production of Man of La Mancha, he played the role of Sancho Panza. His film work in English included a role in The Art of Love (1965). He was the uncle of actor Bruce Adler, and he shares a star on the Yiddish Walk of Fame on Second Avenue with his brother Hy. Jacobson is buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Queens, New York.