Staging the Jew: The Performance of an American Ethnicity, 1860-1920

This work attempts to uncover the roots of Jewish characteristion in popular culture by inestigating a forgotten era in American show business. The author examines early Jewish performers who were instrumental in creating the image of the Jew on the American stage and screen. Covering a "forgotten era" in show business, the text takes in broad scope of performance genres and "stars" from M.D. Curtis, David Warfield, director D.W. Griffith and other early Jewish performers to Fanny Brice, Al Jolson and the Marx Brothers to modern performers such as Sarah Berhardt.