Seymour Rexite

Seymour Rexite (b. January 18, 1908, Piotrków Trybunalski, Poland; d. October 14, 2002, New York City), originally Rechtzeit, was an actor and singer of the Yiddish theater, film and radio in the United States, and for some time president of the Hebrew Actors Union. Born in Poland, and a child prodigy, Rexite emigrated to the United States in 1920, along with his father, a cantor, and his older brother Jack Rechtzeit, an actor and songwriter. As immigration quotas prevented Seymour's mother and sisters and brother from immigrating from Poland, the young Rexite sang a song, which his brother Jack had composed, before President Calvin Coolidge which so moved the President that he granted the entry visas.

Rexite, known for his high, sweet tenor voice, performed Yiddish translations of pop music standards as well as songs written in his native language. He married Miriam Kressyn, another star of the Yiddish stage, in 1943. Kressyn died in 1996; they had no children.

External links

*imdb name|id=0714474|name=Seymour Rexite
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE7DC163DF935A25753C1A9649C8B63 New York Times obituary]
* [http://yiddishradioproject.org/exhibits/rexite/ Yiddish Radio Project article]
* [http://www.milkenarchive.org/articles/articles.taf?function=detail&ID=1 Milken Archive article]