Molly Picon

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Molly Picon (Yiddish: ; born Malka Opiekun; February 28, 1898 – April 5, 1992) was an American actress, screen, radio, and television, as well as a lyricist and dramatic storyteller.

She began her career in Yiddish theatre and film, rising to a role in English-language films before transitioning to character roles.

Early life

Picon was born Malka Opiekun (Anglicized first to Pyekoon, later Picon) in New York City, to Polish-Jewish immigrants Clara (née Ostrow), a wardrobe mistress, and Louis Opiekun, a shirtmaker. Opiekun is a Polish word that means "guardian" or "caretaker." When she was three years old, the family moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Personal life

Picon was married to actor and playwright Yankel (Jacob) Kalich from 1919 to his death from cancer in 1975. They had no children at the time.

Picon died of Alzheimer's disease in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on April 5, 1992, aged 94. In Flushing, Queens, New York City, she and her husband are laid to rest in the Yiddish Theater section of the Mount Hebron Cemetery.

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Career

Picon debuted as a child actor in the Yiddish Theatre at the age of six. She appeared at the Arch Street Theatre in Philadelphia and became a member of the Yiddish Theatre District in 1912, and was active in plays in the District for seven years. Picon was so popular in the 1920s that several shows featured Molly in their titles. She opened the Molly Picon Theatre in 1931.

Picon appeared in several films, beginning with silent films. Her early films were made in Europe; one of the first and earliest to survive was Yiddish, East and West, a film version of the 1921 play Mezrach und Maarev produced in Vienna in 1923. The film depicts a clash between New and Old World Jewish cultures. She is a daughter of a US-born girl who flies with her father back to Galicia in East Central Europe. Jacob Kalich, her husband, was one of her close relatives.

Yidl Mitn Fidl (1936), Picon's most famous photograph, was shot on location in Poland and shows her wearing male clothing throughout the majority of the film. The tale revolves around a child and her father who are compelled by poverty to embark on the road as wandering musicians. She disguises herself as a child for her protection, which is inconvenient when she falls in love with one of the troupe's other actors. Mamele, another of her films, was shot in Poland.

Picon hosted The Molly Picon Project, a musical comedy radio show on WMCA in New York City in 1934. I Give You My Life, a 1938 radio show, appeared on WMCA's "I Give You My Life." "Combined music and dramatic episodes that purported to be the story of her life" on the show. Molly Picon's Parade, a variety show on WMCA, two years later.

Picon made her English language debut on stage in 1940. She appeared in the Jerry Herman musical Milk and Honey in 1961 on Broadway. During previews in Philadelphia in 1966, she was forced to leave Chu Chem; the show was out before it reached Broadway.

Picon appeared in The Naked City, 1948 film as the woman operating a news stand and soda fountain towards the film's climax. Frank Sinatra played her first major Anglophonic role in the films. In the 1971 film version of the Broadway hit Fiddler on the Roof, one of her best-known film roles was as Yente the Matchmaker.

Where Are You? Picon appeared as Molly Gordon in an episode of CBS' Gomer Pyle, USMC, and had a recurring role as Mrs. Bronson in the CBS police comedy Car 54. She appeared as an elderly madam ("Mrs. Cherry") who orchestrates a disastrous stint for Barbra Streisand as a call girl in the comedy For Pete's Sake (1974). Natalie's grandmother appeared on television shows as she later appeared on The Facts of Life as Natalie's grandmother. Picon's last act in the comedies Cannonball Run and its sequel Cannonball Run II was 1981 and 1984, respectively.

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